Upward trend once more

America’s housing market is still suffering. Back a few years ago, when houses were expected to keep increasing in price, people who couldn’t actually afford them bought them. When prices fell, people owed more than their houses were now worth. People defaulted on their mortgages; homes were foreclosed. Few new homes were – or are – being built. That problem persists. Unemployment remains too high in the United States, at or above nine per cent in some areas, meaning too little income to embark on many major home improvement projects. However, with more free time on their hands, Americans have been undertaking minor home improvements such as painting and small repair jobs, with the result that hardware store sales have benefited while home centres, relying more on big-project sales, lagged behind during much of the year. However, during the latter part of 2011 that segment of the industry was showing signs of life. Estimates of the overall market size vary somewhat, but it is generally agreed to have been about $ 270 billion to $ 284 billion during 2011. Sales were up an estimated 2.8 per cent in 2011 and are projected to grow four per cent in 2012. The world’s two largest home centres, Home Depot and Lowe’s, accounted for approximately 42 per cent of the 2011 total. Hardware stores racked up $ 38 billion in sales while lumber yards accounted for $ 69 billion, according to the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA). Other home centres, excluding the two giants, totalled an additional $ 60 billion. Menards, a privately-owned midwestern chain of 262 stores, accounted for an estimated $ 8 billion of that number. NRHA estimates that there are 19 940 hardware stores in the U. S. at present, plus 9 750 home centres and 9 775 lumber yards. It is this latter form of retailing that was devastated by the burst of the housing bubble and saw sales fall by 25 per cent or more. Chains like 84 Lumber closed dozens of stores as builders quit building. While some hardware stores closed, other new ones opened as laid-off employees decided to be their own bosses. America’s full-line wholesalers provide a wide range of marketing and merchandising services to encourage new store ownership as well as to help existing retailers survive. Two of the more interesting and effective trends in 2011 were “Made in America” promotions and the “green” movement. The “green” movement, particularly, was favoured in certain regions of the country and among certain demographics…