Retail: Home Furnishing, Home Improvement, Hardware Franchises

Home Center and Hardware Store, Home Improvement Retail

This industry includes close to 23,000 hardware stores and home centers with combined annual revenue of approximately $145 billion. The Home Depot, Lowe’s Companies, True Value and Ace Hardware are just some of the home improvement and home center franchises available.

Home centers offer more appliances and building supplies such as lumber and flooring than hardware stores.

Demand is driven by home remodeling and repair as well as new homebuilding. The profitability of individual businesses depends on low-cost purchasing, effective merchandising and competitive pricing. Competition includes building supply wholesalers and distributors, lumberyards, mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs and Internet retailers.

Major products for home centers include lumber and building supplies (30 percent of sales); hardware, tools, and plumbing and electrical supplies (30 percent); and lawn and garden products (10 percent), and paint and sundries (10 percent). Hardware stores tend to make more of their sales (about 50 percent) from hardware, tools, plumbing, and electrical supplies. Building supplies include doors, windows, masonry supplies, cabinets, and countertops. Lawn and garden supplies include lawn care machinery; outdoor nursery stock (trees and shrubs); and fertilizers. Home centers often carry a full line

Home Furnishings

Over 22,000 stores with combined annual revenues of over $23 billion make up the home furnishing stores industry. Franchises such as Bed Bath & Beyond, IKEA and Williams-Sonoma make up the industry.

Customer income drives the demand with competition for home furnishing stores including department stores, mass merchandisers, home improvement stores and mail order retailers.