News

After months of nominations, voting and campaigning, it’s finally official: The winner of this year’s America’s Main Streets Contest is Main Street Wellington in Wellington, Ohio. This historic neighborhood earned its place as America’s favorite Main Street with a compelling …

For the last four years, shop-local organization Independent We Stand has hosted the America’s Main Streets Contest. The public votes for its favorite Main Street, and the winning town wins prizes from contest sponsors STIHL, Do it Best Corp. and …

Snacking isn’t just associated with junk food, and snack foods that contribute to better health are expected to continue growing in popularity. Key wellness-related reasons for eating snack foods include the “Nutritious/health benefit,” a “Healthy start to the day” and …

The U.S. home remodeling market grew by more than 50 percent since the end of the Great Recession, and home improvement spending reached $425 billion in 2017, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University’s Improving America’s …

Orgill Inc., the world’s largest and fastest-growing independent hardlines distributor, will be expanding its network of distribution facilities with the addition of a 780,000-square-foot distribution center in Rome, New York. The new facility will be Orgill’s eighth full-service distribution center, …

Knowledge is power. For more than a century, independent hardware stores, home centers and lumberyards have relied on the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) Cost of Doing Business Study to see how their businesses compare to typical and high-profit …

Jonathan Gold, a trade expert for the National Retail Federation, answered questions from Hardware Retailing about the effects of recent Chinese tariffs. He provides insight into new 25 percent trade duties levied on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese …

Whether your operation focuses on the lawn and garden category or not, mark your calendar to attend the annual Independent Garden Center Show (IGC). All independent home improvement retailers can gain something from attending the show, held Aug. 13-15 at …