Home Centers

The Boa Closure System, which replaces traditional shoe strings with a durable closure system, will be featured on certain Red Wing work boots this spring. 

The Boa Closure system is tightened and loosened by a dial and is designed for comfort, safety and closure, the company said.

Unlike traditional shoelaces that can cause uneven pressure due to friction when tied, the Boa Closure System allows the lace to equalize pressure around the foot, creating a customized, glove-like-fit that never comes untied.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia posted sales and revenue declines in 2010, a transformative year for the multi-faceted company, according to Charles Koppelman, executive chairman and principal executive officer.

MSLO posted revenues of $230.8 million in 2010, down 5.6%. Operating loss for the full year was $8.7 million, compared with an operating loss of $12.0 million in 2009.

Lowe's promoted four executives to key positions in merchandising, store operations and strategic planning. Here are the executives and their backgrounds:

Drive into any Home Depot parking lot and you’ll find a collection of rag-tag pick-up and utility trucks parked near the store’s pro entrance. The owners of the vehicles represent almost one-third of Home Depot’s $66.2 billion in annual sales. Yet they only spend, on average, $5,000 a year apiece. 


Home Depot is where they stop if they run short of something or to grab a few items on their way to a job.


The Home Depot has agreed to showcase a high-performance, energy-efficient store built through the Department of Energy’s Commercial Building Partnership, a program dedicated to accelerating energy-saving technologies into standard designs for commercial buildings.  

The new Home Depot store, slated for Rocklin, Calif., will require up to 50% less energy than standard commercial buildings, according to a press release on the project. Funding will come through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Completion is expected in mid-2012.

Three Russian nationals suspected in a series of burglaries at Home Depot were arrested by the California Highway Patrol on April 13, according to an article in the Chico Enterprise Record.

A "stabilized business" has paved the way for an accelerated stock buy-back program at Atlanta-based The Home Depot. 

The home improvement giant announced the pricing of a $2 billion senior note issuance to refinance $1 billion of senior notes that came due in March 2011 and to repurchase $1 billion of outstanding shares through an accelerated share repurchase program with Barclays Capital. 

As Menards prepares to open its first store in Columbus, Ohio, the number-three U.S. home center chain made a deal to acquire more land for a second Columbus store, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

The company's first Columbus store is expected to open in the spring. That's about the same time that work is expected to begin on the second store, on the city's east side. That second store will probably open in spring 2012.