In terms of sales, Lowe's is the world's second-largest hardware store chain, behind which retailer?
Hardware store average 10 employees each. Even in the face of competition from large chain stores (commonly referred to as big-box or destination hardware stores, e.g., The Home Depot, Lowe's and Menards) new hardware stores in the U.S. are still opening all the time. In the U.S. there are four major nationwide wholesale suppliers to hardware stores. All four report more than $1 billion (US dollars) in sales annually. Three of them operate as retailers' cooperatives: Do It Best Corp, from Fort Wayne Indiana, True Value Company from Chicago Illinois and Ace Hardware from Oakbrook Illinois. Hardware store owners purchase stock in
Hardware store in 1994, the big-box store concept has changed how new hardware stores are built. In 2004, Mitre 10 built its first supercentre Mitre 10 "MEGA" with an average store size of 13,500 m. These were later either closed or turned into large-concept Mitre 10 stores. In 2011 Masters Home Improvement entered the market and has since opened more than 49 stores, with an average footprint of 13,500 m. Masters Home Improvement, which was the second-largest hardware chain in Australia, closed in December 2016. Hardware store Hardware stores (in a number of countries, "shops"), sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household