Home Improvement

New York -- Cool weather affected sales at Lowe's for the first quarter ended May 3. 

Lowe’s saw net earnings of $540 million for the quarter, a 2.5% increase over the same period a year ago. Sales for the quarter decreased 0.5% to $13.1 billion from $13.2 billion in the year-ago quarter, while comparable-store sales decreased 0.7%. 

The world’s second largest home improvement retailer reported its results a day after rival Home Depot announced first-quarter sales of $19.1 billion, up 7.4%.

Originally developed by Midwest Glove to grow gardening category sales, the "Head-to-Toe" spinner has just received a Gold Merchandising Award at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas for merchandising distinction. 

The innovative floor stand allows retailers to offer a customized mix of hats, gloves and footwear manufactured by Midwest Gloves. In addition to the customizable assortment capabilities, a small 1.25-sq.-ft. footprint means the display can be strategically located to maximize sales without disrupting customer traffic.

The Home Depot shrugged off bad weather, and thanks, in part, to a recovering housing market, the company reported first quarter sales of $19.1 billion, up 7.4% from last year's quarter, which had one less week. 

On a like-for-like basis, comparable store sales for the first quarter were positive 4.3%. U.S. stores comps were positive 4.8%, also on a like-for-like basis.

Atlanta – The Home Depot reported sales of $19.1 billion during first quarter fiscal 2013, a 7% increase from $17.8 billion in the same quarter of 2012. Home Depot credited $574 million of this $1.3 billion increase to the addition of an extra week to the first quarter of this year. Net earnings rose 20%, from $1 billion to $1.2 billion.

INDIANAPOLIS — Speaking to the collected body of Do it Best Dealers during the co-op's Merchandising Market Preview here, Steve Markley described light bulbs as a high-interest, high-reward category. 

He encouraged dealers to visit the GE booth, as well as that of new vendor TCP. Vendors and Do it Best executives say that as more options -- and more questions -- hit the light bulb category, the more the hardware store format will benefit. If they have the right products and the right product knowledge, light bulbs can result in big gains. 

CHICAGO — Indianapolis-based appliance and electronics retailer HH Gregg is looking to Leo Burnett USA and Spark SMG, a full-service media agency of Starcom MediaVest Group, to help it expand brand awareness for its products.

"From the beginning, Leo Burnett and Spark demonstrated a deep understanding of our business and our vision for the future," said Jeff Pearson, SVP of marketing. "After a diligent process we chose Leo Burnett and Spark as the best agencies to help us build a winning national brand."

Chicago -- General Growth Properties said that its Oakbrook Center property in Chicago has welcomed Fixtures Living, an experiential showroom concept based in San Diego.

The Oakbrook Center store is the company’s first outside of California. It is slated to open in spring 2014 and will be Fixtures Living's fifth overall and the second one situated within a luxury retail center – the other being Glendale (Calif.) Galleria.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in April 2012 vs. April 2013 and noticed some common overall trends across top retail chains.  While looking at the data, the biggest change from April 2012 to April 2013 came from Lowe’s Home Improvement.