A growing threat

Competition in the US hardware industry has been going on for decades, with tools, toys, housewares, lawn and garden items and outdoor living products promoted by other retailers, often at promotional prices. What makes today's competitive picture somewhat strange is that many of the products sold by hardware stores and home centers are not fast-moving, high demand items, yet non-traditional retailers find that cherry-picking some of them generates extra sales. Many are products that consumers buy only when they are needed, so what makes them attractive to other kinds of retailers?
Who are these competitors? What kinds of items do they stock that compete with hardware/home center inventories? How competitive are they, price-wise? Are they aggressively promoted and/or advertised? Are they stocked year-round or just as in-and-out merchandise?
Unfortunately for hardware and home center retailers, the answers vary by type of competing retailer, though Walmart ranks number one. It stocks a broad assortment year-round at competitive prices.
Today's chain supermarkets now rank as one of the biggest current competitors, not for basic hardware, but for seasonal and frequently bulky items such as grills, charcoal, outdoor furniture, plus limited assortments of small tools, household gadgets, minor plumbing and electrical items such as batteries, etc.

Supermarket competition is not limited to the U. S. According to a study done in the United Kingdom, 75 per cent of the hardlines products bought in supermarkets there are impulse purchases, with tools and kitchen gadgets leading in popularity.
Aldi, the German-based discount food chain, which has nearly 2 000 stores in the U. S. and is a major factor in the UK, regularly features hardware-related products in its aggressive, price-oriented non-foods merchandise promotions.
Kroger, the second largest food retailer next to Walmart, also continually stocks a sizeable range of hardlines, housewares, lawn and garden and outdoor living products.
What makes supermarkets a formidable competitor, even though of a limited range of products, is that consumers visit these stores much more frequently as they shop at hardware stores or home centers, often more than once a week. And supermarkets are weekly advertisers…