Do you know a standout hardware retailer? Nominations are now open for the 2025 Beacon Awards, presented by Hardware Connection. Winners will be recognized at the Independent Home Improvement (IHI) Conference July 30-31 at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes.
Beacon Award winners will be honored during a ceremony as part of the IHI Conference. In addition to the Beacon Awards, the event will offer independent hardware retailers opportunities to network, share ideas and attend breakout sessions about better business practices.
Introduced in 2013, the Beacon Awards recognize the best of the best independent hardware and home improvement retailers from across the country while encouraging a new generation of retailers to make their mark in the industry.
Do it Best and Orgill are wholesale sponsors of the Beacon Awards. Other 2025 sponsors include Epicor Software Corp., Ettore Products, Fluidmaster and WD-40 Low Odor.
For each participating wholesaler, the 2025 Beacon Awards will honor the Retail Beacon Award winners and Best New Stores. The Retail Beacon Award is a lifetime achievement award for a retailer or company. The Best New Stores category honors existing retailers opening a branch store or a newcomer opening a ground-up business. Recipients of these awards represent the cutting-edge future of the industry.
Here are the 2024 Beacon Award honorees:
Retail Beacon Award—Buchheit, Perryville, Mo., owned by the Buchheit family.
Retail Beacon Award—Nation’s Best, Dallas, with CEO Chris Miller.
Beacon Award for Best New Store—Koopman Lumber, Dennis, Mass., owned by the Koopman family.
Beacon Award for Best New Store—Village Hardware & Home Center, Findlay, Ohio, owned by the Evers family.
New! Announcing the Digital Beacon Awards
The new Digital Beacon Awards sponsored by WD-40 Low Odor will honor hardware stores and home improvement centers that excel in digital marketing, engagement and innovation. Recognizing creativity and effectiveness in the digital space, these awards highlight excellence in categories including Best Social Media Post, Best Social Media Campaign, Best Website or E-Commerce Experience, Outstanding Community Engagement and Top Digital Advertising Campaign.
The highest digital honor, the Beacon Award for Digital Excellence, will be presented to the best overall submission at the Independent Home Improvement Conference. Individual category winners will be featured on Hardware Connection’s website and social media. Nominations are open through May 1, 2025, for digital initiatives launched between May 1, 2024, and May 1, 2025.
For more information and to submit nominations, visit Hardware Connection’s Digital Beacon Awards page, where you’ll provide a brief description and share relevant links.
Deadline for Nominations Is May 1
The deadline to nominate retailers for the Retail Beacon Award, Best New Store Award and Beacon Award for Digital Excellence is May 1, 2025. Retailers can nominate their own stores, and nominations are accepted from wholesalers.
For the Retail Beacon Award and Best New Store Award, judging will be based on the following criteria: financial performance (sales, profits, margins); community involvement; store design; merchandising displays; promotion activities; specialized product areas or niches; employee training and recognition programs; and innovative retailing concepts.
Best New Store nominees must have been open at least one year to a maximum of four years. The store could have been built to replace one destroyed by natural disaster; it could also be a new branch store. Nominated stores must feature all the core departments: electrical, hardware, lawn-and-garden, plumbing, paint and tools.
The 2025 Beacon Awards will be presented during the Independent Home Improvement Conference at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes in Orlando, Fla. Honorees will receive an all-expenses-paid trip for two to the 2025 Independent Home Improvement Conference including conference registration, airfare, ground transportation, hotel and meals. They will also receive a Beacon Award trophy and be featured in an article in Hardware Connection magazine.
Nomination Information
To nominate a store for the Retail Beacon Award or Best New Store Beacon Award, please include detailed information for each of the judging criteria, attach any relevant pictures and list the date the new store opened. Also provide retailer name, store name, square footage, address, phone number and email address. Email nominations by the May 1, 2025, deadline to editor Doug Donaldson at doug@thehardwareconnection.com.
Nominations for the Digital Beacon Awards will be accepted through our website nomination form.
