Research and Guides

According to a new Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) report, social media is shaping how homeowners start, plan and spend on projects. The home improvement shopping journey is complex, and marketing teams need to understand how the demographics are researching …

The 2025 Cost of Doing Business Study presents the North American Hardware and Paint Association’s (NHPA) annual financial and operational profile of independent hardware stores, home centers, lumber and building materials (LBM) outlets and paint and decorating outlets. This study …

Provided by the Home Improvement Research Institute Smart home technology continues to expand its footprint in U.S. households. New insights from The Home Improvement Research Institute’s (HIRI) 2025 Secondary Homes Report reveal that secondary homeowners are significantly outpacing primary homeowners …

Understanding how independent home improvement operations are performing throughout the year helps retailers in the channel compare themselves to others and use that data to make improvements to their operations. Since 2022, the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA) …

In the July issue of Hardware Retailing magazine, retailers shared insights on the importance of a returns policy and what has worked for their operation. To gain additional insight, the North American Hardware and Paint Association conducted a survey of …

Empowering Employees to Share Skillsets Enhances Workplace Knowledge   By Dan Kurash Perhaps the number one service an independent home improvement store can offer a customer is quick, knowledgeable advice in particular categories. When there’s a leak or a light out, …

For more than 125 years, the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA) has helped retailers improve merchandising effectiveness. Through the years we’ve written thousands of magazine articles, developed merchandising-focused training programs (both online and in-person) and conducted research to …

Home main­te­nance and ser­vices are a cru­cial aspect of home­own­er­ship, impact­ing both the finan­cial and func­tion­al well-being of a house­hold. In its 2024 Home Services Study, the Home Improvement Retail Institute discovered that 35% of homeowners hired professionals to complete …