Home Improvement

Manchester, N.H. - Velcro Industries plans to open a retail pop-up store in the SoHo area of Manhattan. Styled as the "Holiday HackShop," the Velcro-branded pop-up store will be open Dec. 1 – 19.

Joe Arcuri, vice president and general manager of Procter & Gamble's North American beauty business, has been hired as president of home solutions for Newell Rubbermaid. He'll start the new job on Dec. 1.  

"Joe brings an incredible set of global leadership experiences, a consistent pattern of excellent results and immense personal potential to the company as we continue the drive to make Newell Rubbermaid a larger, faster growing, more profitable, more global company," said Michael Polk, CEO of Newell Rubbermaid.  

CHICAGO - Best Buy’s 43 Chicagoland stores are sporting a fresher look and assortment upgrades after the retailer’s $20 million overhaul earlier this year.

The stores’ face-lifts cover multiple areas, from new fixtures, carpeting, lighting and paint, to new customer experiences and shopping areas in stores.

Store enhancements include:

Mooresville, N.C. — Lowe’s Companies raised its full-year profit and sales forecast as strong home improvement spending boosted its profits and sales in the third quarter. An improving job market has led to increased homeowner spending on renovation projects, spurring Lowe’s strong performance. In addition, higher pretax earnings helped improve total net earnings.  

Mooresville, N.C. - Ross W. (Bill) McCanless will be joining Lowe’s Companies Inc. as general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer, effective Jan. 12, 2015. McCanless will replace Gaither M. Keener, who announced plans to retire from the company following 30 years of service.

Environmental advocates and building industry pros have long circled each other in conflict and cooperation, but it seems that there's a loud and growing faction of activists putting a relatively new issue on the map.

That's because bees are dying -- suddenly, and often at once, numbering in the millions -- a troubling effect known as Colony Collapse Disorder that has been linked to the use of neonicotinoids, a type of insecticide that can be found on Lowe's and Home Depot shelves nationwide.

New York -- Ramping up for Black Friday, Amazon increased its product listings by 43% in the third quarter of 2014, adding four times as many SKUs to its website between July and September than it did in the entire first half of 2014. According to a report by CommerceHub, the online retail giant primarily grew products within the categories of electronics, home improvement and health & beauty.  

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in September 2013 versus September 2014 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. In the aftermath of back-to-school season, Walmart and Staples appear to be trying to clear out all remaining school and office supplies. Staples accomplished this by improving its previous offer of $5 off with purchase of $30 to $10 off and also cut backpack prices by 50%. Walmart shifted the focus from school to office, with a “Run Your Business for Less” promotion.