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Home improvement

Why home improvement retailers are going after pro contractors

by Stephanie Hughes
May 21, 2024
Lowe’s reported that first quarter sales are down from the same period last year, but spending by professionals is up.
About 25% to 30% of Lowe’s sales are to professional contractors.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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On Presidents Day, many elect to shop, despite prices 

by Stephanie Hughes
Feb 20, 2023
Retail sales were up 3% in January from the month before, but some categories — like building supplies — were mostly flat.
While overall retail sales were up 3% in January from the month before, business at building materials stores was mostly flat.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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Will that kitchen remodel pay for itself when you sell your house?

by Amy Scott
Feb 17, 2023
Most home improvement projects don't break even, a new study says. But the value of an upgrade may be more than financial.
A desire for dedicated office space "blossomed" into a major renovation at Matt Hampton's house in suburban Baltimore.
Amy Scott/Marketplace
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My Economy

This Connecticut contractor says rising demand has left him “overwhelmed”

by Richard Cunningham
Aug 25, 2022
Bruce Ridenour has been a contractor for 40 years and said local contractors in Danbury, Connecticut don't have bandwidth to handle all the new demand.
“As the work comes more and more, faster and faster, it just comes more and more to those of us who are left,” Bruce Ridenour said.
ljubaphoto/Getty Images
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Aging housing stock fuels home improvement boom

by Amy Scott
Feb 23, 2022
Among the beneficiaries: Lowe's and Home Depot.
Lowe's and Home Depot, chains that sell renovation products, reported strong financial results this week. The trend is tied to the undersupply of new homes.
Mandel Ngan/AFP Getty Images
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Does the DIY home improvement boom have staying power?

by Amy Scott
Dec 14, 2021
Do-it-yourself projects were declining. Then the pandemic arrived.
Jessa Wais is co-director of the Station North Tool Library in Baltimore, where members can borrow tools and take home-repair classes.
Amy Scott/Marketplace
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Adventures in Housing

We're doing shutters all wrong

by Amy Scott
Feb 25, 2021
And historic preservationist Scott Sidler is on a mission to change that.
These shutters on the home of famed French painter Henri Matisse? Functional. The shutters of so many homes in the U.S.? Dysfunctional.
Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images
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Adventures in Housing

Pandemic home improvement can lead to remodelers' remorse

by Amy Scott
Jan 28, 2021
All this time at home has a lot of us rethinking our living spaces — with sometimes regrettable results.
Chee Gin Tan via Getty Images
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COVID-19

Winter is coming for home improvement retailers

by Andy Uhler
Nov 18, 2020
As people spend less time outdoors, will they keep shopping at places like Home Depot and Lowe's?
A shopper pushes her cart while people wait in line to enter a Home Depot in Marina del Rey, California, earlier this year.
Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images
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COVID-19

How are retail sales numbers higher than they were last year?

by Marielle Segarra
Aug 14, 2020
People are still shopping — just for different stuff.
A Florida man puts newly purchased wood into his truck. Sales at home and garden stores in July were up almost 15% over July of last year.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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