2025 Beacon Awards

Honorees to Be Recognized During Awards Gala at the 2025 IHI Conference, July 30–31 at JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Fla.

Hardware Connection will present its annual Beacon Awards during the 2025 Independent Home Improvement (IHI) Conference, July 30–31 in Orlando, Fla. Now in its 14th year, the Beacon Awards program honors standout performers in the hardware retailing industry. Winners will be recognized during the Awards Gala the evening of July 30 at the JW Marriott Grand Lakes.

Since 2013, the Beacon Awards have recognized independent hardware retailers across North America for excellence in customer service, innovation, leadership, and business growth. Each award celebrates a commitment to improving operations and strengthening communities through exceptional performance.

“This year’s award recipients represent the very best of independent retail,” said Doug Donaldson, editor of Hardware Connection. “Their accomplishments reflect the strength, creativity, and resilience of the hardware industry—and we’re honored to spotlight their work.”

This year’s Beacon Awards are made possible through the generous support of our sponsors. Do it Best, Orgill, and True Value—wholesale partners dedicated to independent retail success—anchor the program. Additional sponsorship from Ettore, Epicor, and Fluidmaster reflects a shared industry commitment to celebrating innovation and excellence. Hardware Connection sincerely thanks all sponsors for their essential support.

2025 Beacon Award Honorees

Retail Beacon Award 

Honors individuals or companies with a lifetime of contributions to the hardware retail industry.

• Randy Andes, Randy’s Hardware, Ruckersville, Va.
• Peter Grebeck, Peter’s True Value Hardware, Milford, Mich.
• Theisen Family, Theisen’s, Dubuque, Iowa

Beacon Award for Best New Store 

Recognizes innovation, design, and execution in launching a new hardware retail location.

• 3 Sons Hardware True Value, Big Lake, Minn.
• Coulee Hardware, Grand Coulee, Wash.
• Matt’s Building Materials, Pharr, Texas

Beacon Award for Digital Excellence 

Sponsored by WD-40 Low Odor, this award honors a retailer whose website, social media, and digital marketing work together to deliver outstanding customer experience.

• Sullivan Hardware & Garden, Indianapolis, Ind.

For a full look at the Digital Beacon Awards—including all category winners—click here.

These winners will be celebrated during the Awards Gala during the IHI Conference on July 30. Full profiles of each honoree will appear in the September issue of Hardware Connection.

Hardware Connection is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Digital Beacon Awards, a new initiative launched this year to honor outstanding achievement in online marketing, social media, and digital presence within the independent hardware retail channel.

These awards highlight how digital tools and tactics help retailers grow customer loyalty, drive sales, and enhance community impact.

The Digital Beacon Awards are presented in proud partnership with WD-40 Low Odor, whose sponsorship underscores the importance of innovation not just in product development, but in how retailers connect with their communities online. We thank WD-40 Company for its support and industry leadership in helping independent retailers achieve digital excellence.

Each category below showcases an aspect of digital engagement, with links to the winning entries that demonstrate standout performance in action:

Beacon Award for Digital Excellence 

This top honor recognizes a retailer that exemplifies industry-leading performance across all areas of digital engagement. As the highest distinction among the Digital Beacon Awards, it represents a best-of-the-best achievement. This recipient will be honored during the Independent Home Improvement Conference Awards Gala on July 30 at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Fla.

• Sullivan Hardware & Garden, Indianapolis, Ind.

Outstanding Community Engagement 

Honors retailers that use digital tools to actively engage with and support their local communities in meaningful and measurable ways.

• Valu Home Centers, Buffalo, N.Y. – Dog Adoption Event 

Top Digital Advertising Campaign Recognizes effective use of paid online campaigns, including search, display, and video ads that drive traffic, sales, or awareness.

• McGuckin Hardware, Boulder, Colo. – McGuckin Tasty Traditions Sale

Best Social Media Campaign 

Highlights a retailer that has created a strategic, consistent, and engaging social media series to build brand identity and connect with customers.

• Taylor’s Do it Center & Pleasants Hardware, Virginia Beach, Va. – 2024 Plantlympics 1, 2024 Plantlympics 2, 2024 Plantlympics 3, 2024 Plantlympics 4

Best Individual Social Media Post 

Celebrates a single social post that resonated with audiences through creativity, timing, or storytelling.

• Valu Home Centers, Buffalo, N.Y. – The Legend of the Do-it Yourselfer

Best Website or E-Commerce Experience 

Acknowledges exceptional design, functionality, and user experience on a retailer’s website or online store.

• Taylor’s Do it Center, Virginia Beach, Va.

Industry Influencers Who Shaped the Digital Beacon Awards

To help evaluate Digital Beacon Award entries, Hardware Connection enlisted a panel of expert influencers with deep roots in home improvement and digital media:

Kathryn Emery is the founder of BeTheBestHome.com and a nationally recognized home improvement expert, bringing a consumer-focused lens to digital communication and strategy.

Brent Gentling is the creator of BYOTools, which include social media and a YouTube channel where he shares expert advice, DIY tutorials, and home improvement solutions from a contractor’s perspective.

Chip Wade is a HGTV personality and founder of Wade Works Creative. With a strong digital brand and a background in architecture, design, and engineering, Wade brought insight into effective online storytelling.

Kelly Wright is a columnist for Hardware Connection and founder of Hello Yuns. Wright offered unique insight as both a digital content creator and a hardware retailer.

“This first year of the Digital Beacon Awards set the bar high,” said Doug Donaldson, editor of Hardware Connection. “With more than three dozen impressive entries, it’s clear that independent retailers are embracing digital platforms not just to sell, but to connect, inform, and inspire. We look forward to celebrating these winners at the IHI Conference and seeing what they and other retailers will do next to redefine the digital landscape within the independent channel.”

Full profiles of all Digital Beacon Award recipients will appear in the September issue of Hardware Connection and, of course, online.