Operations

When Sears Holdings recently announced it has “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue its business, it confirmed the fact that the retailer has many more struggles to face. While Sears was once considered “America’s largest retailer,” its recent problems provide lessons for independent …

To see a full PDF of this story, click here. It was almost a decade ago when Rob Gardiner, owner of Damariscotta Hardware in Damariscotta, Maine, was approached by a local contractor to see if he would be interested in installing solar …

Depending on where you live, solar energy and signs of its use can range from ubiquitous to entirely foreign. Yet the ever-increasing number of products that use and provide solar energy is putting the one-time fad of a green movement …

Spring has sprung in many parts of the country–and where it hasn’t, it will soon. The weather is getting warmer and your customers are ready to do some spring cleaning and tackle the outdoor projects they’ve been thinking about over …

What does it take to be the largest, most successful retailer in Southern France? I visited Quincaillerie Aixoise to find out. Quincaillerie Aixoise is a multistore operation headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with five locations in Aix-en-Provence and the surrounding cities. …

To view a PDF of this story, click here. Ask the next 20-something-year-old who walks into your store about their morning routine. They’ll likely say they check social media, and Snapchat is probably part of the mix. What is Snapchat? …

Snapchat isn’t just for teenagers anymore. The photo- and video-sharing app was released in September 2011. Since then, the social media platform has continued to grow in popularity among millennials. In the March issue of Hardware Retailing, we introduced the basics …

If you’re thinking using the slower early part of the year to spend some extra time training your employees, you have many options available. In addition to specialized vendor training, online product knowledge courses and group training sessions, many retailers …