Digital issue: Anniversary edition

On Jan. 13, 1975, National Home Center News published its very first issue, which was described on the masthead as “A newspaper for retailers serving homeowners and contractors.”

Competing for attention on page one were a handful of stories of varying degrees of historical value — from the activities of 84 Lumber’s most recent corporate Christmas party (logrolling, tobacco spitting) to a profile of Dart Home Center’s help-yourself warehouse approach in Charlottesville, Va.

Also on page one, a reader roundup of retailer strategies: “Home centers plan new slump tactics.” Companies were getting lean, and it turns out they were right to do so. Residential construction in 1975 would produce a mere 1.165 million housing starts, the lowest figure up to that time since the government began keeping track in 1959.

In 1975, there was no such thing as Home Depot. Lowe’s was a chain of contractor-focused  lumberyards. Builders FirstSource was decades from climbing to the top of the pro dealer list. Editors witnessed the rise of the warehouse home centers, the entry and retreat of established retailers into home improvement space, the explosion of spending on the house and home, technical advances and at least two massive forces out of the industry’s control: the 2005 housing bust that made 1975 look like a walk in the park, and the Coronavirus shut down of 2020.

During the course of the magazine’s first year, editors produced similar feature articles covering the strategy, merchandising and operations of a long list of home centers that half century ago were powerhouses in home improvement: Rickel, Mammoth Mart, Foster Lumber, Hechinger, Levy’s Lumber, Mr. Panel, Pay ’N Pak, Scotty’s, Grossman’s, Angels, Builders Emporium and Plywood Ranch, to name a few.

See more of the 50th anniversary coverage  here.

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Also in the latest issue:

• From the editor: A disruptive visit to the New York Stock Exchange

• Special Report: The art of the deck. Trends, products, distribution and opportunities in outdoor living.

• Market insights: the on-again, off-again Corporate Transparency Act. 

• Plus: Product Knowledge, Poll Results, Top Showrooms; and People in the News.