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 acted as a sort of general store.
I remember visiting such stores as a child, where you would buy a shovel, a mailbox, or duct tape, but also paper towels, and maybe some barbecue grill supplies. Because these stores were local and locally operated, their owners had the option to stock what was needed.
Home Depot and Lowe’s, to be fair, stock every item mentioned above, but they are impersonal department stores, not community retailers where the owners know most customers by sight. That’s not a diss on the big chains, just the reality of how the market has changed.
As of 2025, there are approximately 12,906 businesses classified as “hardware stores” in the United States, according to IBISWorld.
The number of hardware store businesses has had a slightly negative growth rate in recent years, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -0.6% between 2020 and 2025, the same IBISWorld report shared.
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 reported.
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 decreases, while 25% saw flat sales, indicating a generally stagnant environment, the same study showed.
“The owner of the average independent hardware retail store — the neighborhood Joe who makes your keys or sells you paint — is turning 60 and his kids are in no rush to take over the store, the Retail Brick Hardware Association of North America told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
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That will lead to more shops closing.
“It’s a big issue that we’re focused on,” said Scott Wright, executive director of the Leadership Institute for the NRHA. “Many of those vendors don’t have a succession plan to pass it on to the next generation or anyone in the company.”
Now, another local family hardware store will soon close its doors for good.
Hardware stores were a significant part of the community.Shutterstock” loading=”lazy” height=”540″ width=”960″ class=”yf-1gfnohs loader”/>
Hardware stores were a significant part of the community.Shutterstock
“For nearly 100 years, Tupelo Hardware has been synonymous with the downtown area of the city. Its location has been a beacon for residents and tourists alike, its name in all capital letters, painted bright white on the building at the corner of Main and Front streets,” shared the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
This will change on New Year’s Eve, December 31, when the store closes its doors for good.
The company shared the news on its Facebook page.
“It is with a heavy heart that we would like to announce the closing of our historic downtown location at 114 W. Main Street. To all of our loyal customers and our dedicated team members over the years, we want to wish you a heartfelt “THANK YOU” for 100 memorable years in downtown Tupelo,” the company shared.
But unlike what has happened to so many family hardware stores, this is not a sad ending; it is a new beginning.
“Our last day of regular business will be December 31st. Rest assured that this space and its historic place 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,” added Tupelo Hardware.
Closing the historic location was a tough decision, according to George Booth III, the third generation of the family to work at 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. “This is the center of downtown. And it’s hard to talk about; it’s hard to think about. But unfortunately, we have to close this place. Things have changed. The world changes. And if you’re in retail, you have to make changes, and there’s no way around that.”
Booth’s great grandfather opened Tupelo Hardware in 1926. His father, George Booth II, was part of the business all his life but recently had to step away due to health issues. This was the impetus for the difficult decision to close the store, he told the paper.
“The city has an interest in making sure that downtown provides opportunities to its visitors and residents, and those opportunities really come down to unique retail, hotel, bar and restaurant,” Booth told the Daily Journal.
“For the type of retail we’ve done, and for how many years we’ve done it, our customer base needs parking for large vehicles and trailers, and that’s something we can accommodate on McCullough.”
This closure is part of a larger trend of store closures and stores moving away from downtown areas.
From 1995 to 2021, more stores closed each year than opened. The trend has become popularized as the “retail apocalypse”, according to Morgan Stanley.
Related: Home Depot, Lowe’s rival NABS files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Some of the change comes from population shifts and more people working from home.
The typical office worker is now spending about $2,000 to $4,600 less a year in city centers, according to research by Stanford University economist Nicholas Bloom.
“US retailers have announced more than 7,100 store closings through 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.
Don’t blame the internet or economic conditions for that.
“It is easy to blame the economy for this. And it is easy to blame the internet. And none of these things should be completely denied. However, when you get under the skin of the closure, it is obvious that the primary cause is usually the old failure to align with demand”, he wrote.
Stanford Business School data shows that populations have moved away from downtown, forcing it to move like what Tupelo Hardware did.
“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 a few days a week. intact,” shows the report How Working from Home Reshapes Cities by Stanford Business School.
Related: 79-year-old appliance chain closes all locations, no failures
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.
