What 2025 Revealed About Store Growth
Above: The 2025 openings-and-closings map reflects a tale of two markets, with mature regions consolidating and growth areas drawing new locations as overall transaction activity approached 150 deals nationwide.
Store counts shift and independent retailers reshape the map as growth markets, consolidation and strategy influence where stores open and close.
The independent hardware and home center channel spent 2025 in motion. A steady rhythm of acquisitions, new store openings, relocations and closures reshaped local markets across the country, reflecting a sector that continues to adjust rather than retreat.
According to Webb Analytics’ newly released 2025 Deals Report, 59 hardware stores and home centers changed hands during the year, while 88 new locations opened. That matched the number of acquisitions recorded in 2024 and edged new openings slightly higher. These figures reflect the number of physical store locations acquired or opened, rather than the number of individual transactions, which can include multiple stores in a single deal.
The hardware numbers were steady, but the broader construction supply sector saw dramatic change. Four megadeals alone accounted for the vast majority of facilities that changed hands.
Those transactions included QXO’s acquisition of Beacon, SRS Distribution’s purchase of Gypsum Management & Supply and Lowe’s acquisitions of both Foundation Building Materials and Artisan Design Group. Together, those four deals represented roughly 85 percent of all construction supply facilities that changed ownership during the year.
When those megadeals are removed from the equation, the remaining activity paints a more restrained picture. Of the 269 facilities acquired outside those transactions, only about 22 percent were hardware stores or home centers—making 2025 one of the slowest years for lumber and building material mergers and acquisitions in nearly a decade.
Webb Analytics’ Construction 150 shows how a small number of megadeals accounted for most facility changes in 2025, even as independent hardware activity remained steady at the store level.
Big Deals Still Defined the Hardware Headlines
Within the independent hardware channel, a handful of transactions stood out.
Costello’s Ace Hardware led the sector in total store count acquired, purchasing 11 Rommel’s Ace Hardware locations across Maryland and the Eastern Shore. Houchens Food Group followed with the acquisition of eight Kabelin Ace Hardware stores in northern Indiana.
Aubuchon Ace Hardware remained one of the most active buyers by transaction count, completing six deals covering 10 stores. Ace Hardware Corp.’s Westlake Ace Hardware division acquired five stores across four transactions and opened two new greenfield locations, while Ace’s Great Lakes Ace division added another store through acquisition.
Regional and independent operators also remained active. The Pine Creek Group acquired three Newby’s Ace Hardware stores in North Dakota, expanding its footprint to 14 locations. In the West another notable independent transaction was in Oregon, where Gold Beach Lumber purchased the two-store Hennick’s Home Center operation.
On the home center side, expansion leaned heavily toward greenfields rather than acquisitions. For the big boxes and private chains, Lowe’s opened five new stores in 2025, the Home Depot opened three and Jonesboro, Ark.–based E.C. Barton added four.
Continue reading in the February 11, 2026 issue.
