Before Home Depot and Lowe’s took over the market, local hardware stores served as the center of many communities. Yes, they sold hardware and building supplies, but they also functioned as a general store.
I remember visiting stores like this as a kid, where you would buy shovels, mailboxes, or duct tape, but also paper towels and some barbecue grill supplies. Because these stores were local and locally operated, their owners had the option of stocking what was needed.
Home Depot and Lowe’s, to be fair, stock every item named above, but they are impersonal big-box stores, not community retailers where the owners know most of the customers by sight. That’s not a diss on the big chains, just a reality of how the market has changed.
According to IBISWorld, by 2025, there will be approximately 12,906 businesses classified as “hardware stores” in the US.
The number of hardware-store businesses has seen a slightly negative growth rate in recent years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -0.6% between 2020 and 2025, shared the same IBISWorld report.
The percentage of hardware stores that are truly independent (mom and pop style) has declined over the decades, from 47% in 1992 to 42% by 2018, The Handbuilt City reports.
According to a 2024/2025 survey of independent home improvement retailers, among respondents, 69% operated only one store, 47% were small stores (less than 10,000 square feet), and nearly half were located in rural areas, according to Hardware Retailing.
Among independent retailers in Q2 2025, only 38% reported year-over-year sales increases versus 37% reporting declines, while 25% saw flat sales, indicating a broadly stable environment, the same study found.
“The average independent hardware retail store owner — the neighbor who makes your keys or sells you paint — is turning 60 and his kids aren’t rushing to take over the store, the North American Retail Hardware Association told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
More retail:
This is leading to more store closures.
“It’s a big issue that we’re focused on,” said Scott Wright, executive director of the Leadership Institute for the NRHA. “A lot of those retailers don’t have a succession plan to pass that on to the next generation or someone within the company.”
Now, another family-owned local hardware store will soon close for good.
“For nearly 100 years, Tupelo Hardware has been synonymous with the city’s downtown area. Its location has become a beacon for residents and tourists alike, with its name in all capital letters, painted bright white atop the building at the corner of Main and Front streets,” shared the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
That will change on New Year’s Eve, December 31, when the store closes its doors for good.
The company shared this news on its Facebook page.
“It is with a heavy heart that we would like to announce the closure of our historic, downtown location at 114 W. Main Street. To all of our loyal customers and dedicated team members throughout the years, we wish you a heartfelt “Thank You” for 100 memorable years in downtown Tupelo,” the company shared.
But what has happened to many family-owned hardware stores is not a sad ending; This is a new beginning.
“Our last day of business will be December 31st. Rest assured that this space and its historic location in the downtown community will be preserved and improved. If you haven’t had a chance to visit our new location on McCullough Boulevard, we invite you to stop by,” Tupelo Hardware added.
Closing the historic location was a difficult decision, according to George Booth III, the third generation of the family to operate the store.
“If you Google Tupelo, Mississippi, the dot lands on the corner of Front and Main,” the younger Booth told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. “It’s the center of the city. And it’s hard to talk about; it’s hard to think about. But unfortunately, we have to close this location. Things have changed. The world has changed. And if you’re in retail, you have to make changes, and there’s no way around it.”
Booth’s grandfather opened Tupelo Hardware in 1926. His father, George Booth II, had been part of the business his entire life but recently had to leave due to health problems. That was the impetus for the difficult decision to close the store, he told the paper.
“The city’s interest is that downtown provides opportunities for visitors and its residents, and those opportunities are aligned with really unique retail, hotels, bars and restaurants,” Booth told the Daily Journal.
“For the type of retail we do, and the years we’ve done it, our customer base needs parking for larger vehicles and trailers, and that’s something we can accommodate at McCullough.”
The closing is part of a larger trend of stores closing and moving away from downtown areas.
From 1995 to 2021, more stores closed each year than opened. According to Morgan Stanley, this trend became popular as the “retail apocalypse”.
RELATED: Home Depot, Lowe’s Rival NABS Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Some of the changes come from population shifts and more people working from home.
According to research by Stanford University economist Nicholas Bloom, the average office worker is now spending $2,000 to $4,600 less per year in city centers.
“U.S. retailers have announced they will close 7,100 stores by the end of November 2024. That’s a 69% jump from the same time last year,” GlobalData managing director Neil Saunders shared on his LinkedIn page.
He doesn’t blame the internet or the economy for this.
“It’s easy to blame the economy for this. And it’s easy to blame online. And none of these things should be completely dismissed. However, when you get under the skin of the shutdown, it’s clear that the primary cause is generally a chronic failure to align with demand,” he wrote.
Stanford Business School data shows that populations have shifted away from downtown, bolstering moves like those made by Tupelo Hardware.
“Using detailed household microdata from the United States, we show that three-fifths of households that have left city centers in large cities have moved to the suburbs of the same city. This is likely explained by the rise of hybrid work, in which employees still commute to the office some days of the week. The enduring popularity of hybrid work also suggests that Dawn will leave 2020 at 200. Large metropolitan areas remain intact,” Stanford Business School’s How Working From Home Recipes Cities report shows.
Related: 79-Year-Old Appliance Chain Closes All Locations, No Bankruptcy
This story was originally published by TheStreet on December 7, 2025, where it first appeared in the Retail section. Add TheStreet as a preferred source by clicking here.
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