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Volume 51 No. 2 •
The newspaper for retailers serving homeowners and contractors
• February 2025
50 years of industry news Nationwide HBSD report
At Dart Home in Charlottesville, Va., stockboys using a forklift to retrieve a bathtub stored atop display racks are ignored by a shopper.
The year was 1975. An innovative business concept swept across the retail landscape: the home center, a combination of hardware stores and lumberyards, with a bit of a supermarket mixed in. It was a new kind of store that represented a new way of thinking about home improvement. It was the age of Wickes and Builders Emporium; Hechinger and Handy Dan; Rickels and Pay ‘N Pak. Into that mid-70s scene came National Home Center News, the forerunner of Hardware & Building Supply Dealer. NHCN was the biweekly
“Into that mid-70s scene came National Home Center News, the forerunner of Hardware & Building Supply Dealer.”
newspaper edited exclusively for the home center market. This cover in your hands now recreates the historic front page of the Vol. 1 No. 1 issue. A half century ago, the headlines included: • Gamble’s gears for ‘75 do-it-yourself drive; • Dart design emphasizes self service; and • No more nuts and bolts; It’s Warner Home Center. Fifty years later, we’re still here covering the operations of home centers and lumberyards, as well
as their distributors and suppliers. The game has changed in ways perhaps unimaginable to industry leaders of 1975. And it will continue to change. But one lesson learned from 50 years of covering the industry: never underestimate the power of exceptional service combined with high-quality products. In this issue, HBSDealer celebrates its 50th anniversary, but also the success, growth and innovation of the industry. Turn to page 18 for more.
1975 newsbreaks U.S. tax credits could spur sales
• SPIT AND POLISH—The fun and games at this year’s 84 Lumber Christmas parties included contests for store employes in old-time lumbering and carpentry skills. There was competition in nail driving, wood cutting, log rolling . . . and tobacco spitting.
• MAMMOTH GOING DIY—Full-scale home improvement departments are expected to be added this year to some stores of Mammoth Mart, the discount chain that recently successfully completed chapter XI. • NEXT STOP, AKRON—After opening in Chicago, Forest City’s next jump will be to Akron, where the Cleveland chain already has one store. • WON’T BE LONG—Builder’s Emporium will open its first Long Island store March 1 at Seldon, N.Y.
Jan. 13, 1975—New York
A Ford Administration proposal would let homeonwers deduct 15% of the cost of insulation, up to a maximum of $200. Part of a comprehensive energy con-
servation program adopted after a series of meetings in Vail, Colo., and Washington, the insulation tax cut is expected to get quick approval from Congress. Turn to page 18.