Home Centers

The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation will offer about $2.75 million worth of Home Depot gift cards to Staten Island homeowners recovering from Hurricane Sandy, according to a report in the Staten Island Advance newspaper.

The plan, which is expected to be announced Tuesday at a Staten Island Home Depot, calls for giving out $250 Home Depot gift cards to residents of the New York City borough who live in damaged homes. 

Dev Mukherjee, president of the home appliances business at Sears for the past 16 months, has departed the company, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune. A replacement will be named “in a few weeks,” according to a Sears spokesman.

A Marin County California judge ordered Mooresville, North Carolina-based Lowe’s to pay a $1.6 million settlement over a lawsuit alleging the inaccurate description of structural dimensional building products.

One upshot of the settlement is the intention of Lowe’s to include the actual product dimensions of 2x4 lumber (1.5 inches by 3.5 inches) along with the description of the product as a “2x4.”

Lowe's entered the do-it-yourself ramp market with what it calls an "affordable, configurable" ramp system. 

The Gatehouse Custom Access Ramp System will be available to consumers in Lowe’s stores and on Lowes.com in spring 2012.

The product, which is the latest extension of Lowe's accessible home products for safety and mobility in the home, was unveiled at the 2012 International Builders' Show in Orlando, Fla.

Sears Holdings has hired Kristin Coleman as SVP, general counsel and corporate secretary, where she will oversee the Legal, Corporate Communications, Environmental Services, Global Compliance, Government Affairs, Internal Audit and Product Safety business units.

"I am pleased Kristin is joining our leadership team. She is a proven leader with experience managing legal, compliance and corporate governance issues," said Edward Lampert, Sears Holdings chairman and CEO.

Massachusetts-based lighting company Osram Sylvania announced that it would be expanding it’s lineup of LED light bulbs. This month, Lowe’s will start stocking the seven new bulbs.

Among the company’s new LED bulb offerings are the ones meant to replace 40- and 60-watt incandescent bulbs. The 60-watt LED bulb puts out the same amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent with 8.5 watts of electricity.

Lowe’s will be beefing up its employee ranks for the spring season, hiring a total of 40,000 workers to staff stores around the country, a company spokesman told the Dayton Daily News.

While the number of seasonal hires varies by store, the average is 23 people, according to spokesman Steve Salazar. Applicants can apply online at careers. Lowes.com. Available positions include loaders, cashiers, garden-center workers, stockers and other support personnel.

Woodstock Home & Hardware prides itself on the fact that you can buy animal feed and Brazilian cherry patio furniture. Its assortment is so wide that one of its mottos is: “If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.” The home center keeps refreshing its other axioms, as evidenced by the ever-changing advice on the sign out front. A recent offering: “Avoid the crowds, the riots and the pepper spray. Shop local!”