53-year-old Home Depot rival closing down, no bankruptcy

Home Depot And Lowe’s It has dominated the home improvement and hardware retail industries for decades, continuing to overtake hardware co-ops True Value Hardware and Ace Hardware, making life even harder for independent hardware retailers.

In recent years, Amazon has also surpassed True Value and Ace as the No. 3 destination for home decor products.

Home Depot averaged 28% of sales in the home improvement market in 2025, while Lowe’s captured 17% of the market and Amazon approximately 11% of sales. Numerator Home Renovation TrackingUpdated on February 4.

With Home Depot, Lowe’s and Amazon accounting for a combined 56% of the market’s sales last year, hardware co-ops and independent retailers have struggled to compete and stay in business.

Ace, True Value, and independent hardware stores are a convenient source for tools and other home improvement items for me; because I can quickly navigate a smaller store for my needs, unlike much larger stores.

I find that employees at small stores near me have often been there for years and are quick to respond to my needs.

But even longtime community hardware stores that have been in business for more than 50 years are struggling to stay open.

Independent hardware store C&H Hardware of Yakima, Wash., which has been in business for 65 years, had enough trouble competing with hardware and home improvement chain giants, but the store couldn’t compete against lower online prices and closed permanently in November 2025.

“This year has been tough because everyone is shopping online now,” said C&H store owner Jay Fleck before closing his doors permanently. “You can get things cheaper online than you could come and pay us.”

Fleck said business was good at C&H before the Covid-19 outbreak, but things got worse afterward.

“Everything was smooth sailing until Covid came along,” Fleck said. “Obviously, we were lucky to stay open. A lot of other places had to close. So, we got through Covid pretty well. And after that, it was just kind of over. It’s been in decline ever since.”

And now the 53-year-old Home Depot rival Blossom True Value Hardware It will close its doors for the last time when its lease expires in the summer of 2026.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based hardware store will close permanently after losing about half of its business since the Covid-19 pandemic subsided, longtime store owner Paul Zeitman said. Mountain Landscape Sound.

“Every year it’s worse than the last. People are buying less and less,” Zeitman said.

Zeitman explained that the monthly rent for the store was reasonable but was no longer affordable.

The store owner said Blossom True Value, as an essential business, was allowed to remain open during the pandemic and benefited from people purchasing hardware and home decor items to fix their homes until the pandemic was over.

More closures:

The retailer has lost half its business as regular customers drift away and e-commerce expands further since the end of the pandemic, according to the Mountain View Voice.

Ace Hardware’s expansion and opening of new stores in the area has also negatively impacted the retailer’s business, the store owner said.

Zeitman said the final factor in the decision to close was rising tariffs.

Most of Blossom True Value’s products are imported from China and have been hit by the Trump administration’s high tariffs, which have increased prices and reduced profits, with sales falling, he said.

According to Mountain View City Councilman John McAlister, who is also Blossom’s retail neighbor, retailers’ distress was due to high rents and labor costs, online shopping and competition from big-box retailers.

Home Depot And Lowe’s The closest stores to Mountain View are in neighboring Sunnyvale, California.

• Home Depot, 28% of sales in 2025

• Lowe’s, 17% of sales in 2025

• Amazon accounted for 11% of sales in 2025

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This story was first published by . Street First appeared on February 18, 2026 Retail section. Add TheStreet at: Preferred Source by clicking here.