The Hardware Store

How these numbers were built: retail wages come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS series for Retail Salespersons (SOC 41-2031); establishment counts and industry size come from the U.S. Census Bureau for Hardware Stores (NAICS 444140); gross margin, payroll share and profit before taxes come from the North American Hardware and Paint Association’s Cost of Doing Business Study; the owner cash flow (SDE) band, the default store size and resale multiples come from BizBuySell’s hardware store sales from 2021 to 2025; the cost to open is the opening kit, priced item by item from dealer pages and Ace Hardware’s franchise disclosure; financing terms and the size standard come from the SBA 7(a) program; and survival and failure context comes from the Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Every source below links to the underlying public material so you can check any figure yourself. These are starting assumptions; the moment you enter a real store’s sales, cost of goods, labor, rent, and mix, your numbers should replace ours.

The owner cash flow (SDE) band and tiers come from BizBuySell’s hardware and building supply store sales from 2021 to 2025; gross margin, payroll and profit figures come from NHPA’s Cost of Doing Business Study; turns, sales per square foot and contractor share are estimated from general NHPA industry context, so treat those as directional.