Home improvement retail grows in the USA

Sales by home improvement retailers in the USA are growing, in contrast to the general trend of declining retail sales. In March, sales at building material, garden equipment and supplies dealers rose by 1.3 per cent compared to February according to reports by the Hardware Retailing magazine with reference to the US Department of Commerce. In contrast, the retail trade (excluding food service) lost a total of 6.2 per cent in sales from February to March. That is significantly more than during the previously strongest decline in November 2008 when the industry forfeited 3.9 per cent.
There are currently no further official figures or details from companies in the home improvement industry, however industry observers assume that in the past few weeks, hardware stores had excellent sales, especially in product categories such as lawn and garden, cleaning supplies and paint. This has also been confirmed by non-representative surveys of hardware retailers who are reporting double-digit percentage growth.