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Cottin’s Hardware & Rental in Lawrence, Kansas, starts the fall season off each year with a scarecrow building contest to raise money for local schools. Several years ago, a customer approached store owner Linda Cottin with the idea. “Our customer …

John Venhuizen, Ace Hardware president and CEO, recently took questions from Hardware Retailing about the co-op’s purchase of The Grommet, an e-commerce startup company. Ace announced the purchase Oct. 3. Hardware Retailing (HR): Why did Ace purchase a majority stake in The Grommet?  John Venhuizen (JV): There …

Independent retailers have a variety of tools they can use to encourage customers to visit their businesses. In some communities, taking out an ad in the local newspaper or a radio spot is the best way to market their business. …

Ace Hardware Corp. announced Tuesday that it has purchased the majority stake in e-commerce startup The Grommet. The Grommet operates an e-commerce website that markets and sells new and innovative products created by independent entrepreneurs, also known as makers, according to Ace. The Grommet has …

Ace Hardware Corp. hosted its first Maker to Market™ Day, an event created to allow entrepreneurs and inventors to pitch product ideas that could end up for sale in co-op stores. Ace employees who make purchasing decisions for more than 5,000 …

Click the picture to download a PDF of this story. By Melanie Moul mmoul@nrha.org 10th Street and Beyond As someone who only recently became a part of the independent home improvement industry, Steve DeShong had heard a lot of stories …

As retailers begin planning ahead for their busy spring selling season, those attending the True Value Fall Reunion were also encouraged to think in the moment. The buying show, which the co-op hosted in Chicago at McCormick Place, ran Sept. …

U.S. consumer confidence rose in the second quarter of 2017, showing a nearly 25 percent increase over year-to-year 2016 levels. Prices of existing home sales also continued to climb, buoyed by a June 2017 peak.  The Consumer Confidence Index rose …