Home Centers

After pulling out of a long-planned store project in San Francisco, Home Depot is looking once again at opening its first location inside the city. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the home improvement retailer has filed an application with the city to build a 120,000-sq.-ft. store on 7.9 acres in the Bayview section. 

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. has announced a new marketing relationship with Lowe's, which will be named the sponsor of opening weekend at participating Six Flags parks across the nation.

Lowe's will be integrated into Six Flags' marketing efforts on both the national and local levels this spring. Additional support will include social media outreach, radio promotions and in-park giveaways.

The Empire Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of New Zealand-based Tenon LTD, has been selected as the exclusive distribution partner for Eastman Chemical Company’s new Perennial Wood decking product into Lowe’s stores.

Eastman is a Fortune 500 company with more than 80 years of history in acetylating wood pulp, according to the announcement. In 2010, 13% of Eastman’s total revenues were derived from sales of raw materials to the building and construction industry. 

It’s no wonder The Home Depot CEO Frank Blake was smiling wide in his ALS Ice Bucket Challenge video. He and his leadership team were about to report second quarter net earnings in excess of $2 billion.

“We saw broad based growth in the quarter across all of our geographies,” Blake said during the company’s second quarter earnings call Tuesday morning.

Hardwood flooring company Lumber Liquidators has donated one of its Dura Dance flooring systems to the Cincinnati, Ohio-based Highsteppers Drill Team as part of its Lay It Forward charity campaign.

The 15-year-old drill team recently moved into a new space, but didn’t have a proper floor, which led to Lumber Liquidators installing the Dura Dance system, which features underlying rubber to reduce impact and absorb energy.

Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores is opening up a new Sears Home Appliance Showroom in Arvada, Colorado, with John Hurst at the helm as the new store manager.

"It's often challenging to find top-of-the-line home appliances for a reasonable price," said John Hurst, store manager of the new Sears Home Appliance Showroom in Arvada. "We offer the leading appliance brands, including exclusive Kenmore products, at a competitive price you just can't pass up."

Home Depot is testing the PayPal system at its point-of-sale in five stores, according to an article in American Banker.

Customers can use their PayPal accounts to pay for merchandise by either entering their phone numbers and PayPal PIN, or by swiping their PayPal cards.

Menards is planning to build a 300,000-sq.-ft. project in Richfield, a suburb of Minneapolis, to replace an existing unit, according to an article in the Star-Tribune.

The new two-story building, along with a lumberyard, garden center and warehouse, would require the demolition of the current store, along with a vacant restaurant called Jung Bo.