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The North American Hardware and Paint Association’s 2026 Cost of Doing Business Study is now available for purchase. The report offers financial benchmarks for independent hardware stores, home centers, lumber and building materials outlets, and paint retailers; the supplied figures include gross margin after rebates and dividends.
The North American Hardware and Paint Association has made its 2026 Cost of Doing Business Study available for purchase, offering U.S. independent home-improvement retailers financial benchmarks for comparing their operations with peers. The association’s report covers hardware stores, home centers, lumber and building materials outlets, and paint and decorating outlets.
The study includes data intended to help retailers evaluate business performance and identify areas for closer analysis. Hardware Retailing reported that the study has provided financial information for the independent home-improvement industry for more than 100 years. The association says the current edition is available through its website for purchase.
Selected figures published with the announcement show gross margin after rebates and dividends by business category. Hardware stores recorded a typical margin of 42.7% and a high-profit margin of 42.9%. For home centers, the figures were 33.0% and 32.7%, respectively. Lumber and building materials outlets reported 30.2% typical and 33.0% high-profit margins, while paint outlets reported 38.2% for both groups.
Those are category-specific figures, not a single benchmark for all independent retailers. The supplied material does not define the study’s “typical” and “high-profit” groupings or provide additional details about sample size, data collection, or the full set of measures in the report. The published margin figures should be read within those limits.
Using Margins to Spot Gaps
For independent retailers, comparing results with businesses in the same category can help put internal financial figures into perspective. A margin benchmark may prompt a closer review of pricing, purchasing costs, product mix, or rebate and dividend income, but the figures alone do not explain why one business performs differently from another.
The study’s value, as presented by the association and participating retailers, is as a tool for identifying questions and tracking performance—not as a guarantee of improved profits. Owners will need to account for differences in market, store size, operating costs, and business mix before treating peer figures as a target.
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A Longstanding Retail Benchmark
The study is aimed at independent operators in four segments: hardware, home centers, LBM, and paint and decorating. The association describes it as a longstanding source of financial information for the sector. The October 31, 2026, Hardware Retailing article framed the release as a resource retailers can use to compare their results and conduct gap analyses.
John Samore Jr., co-owner of Vermont Outlet True Value Hardware, told Hardware Retailing that he compares his company’s data with high-performing retailers’ figures and conducts a gap analysis four times a year. He said his review covers sales, cost of goods sold, gross profit, sales per square foot, customer count, and sales per customer. Samore said a recent analysis led him to take steps in response to declining sales. This is his account of how he uses the study, not evidence that the same approach will produce the same results for other businesses.
Sherry Cothron of Coastal Nail & Tool Building Supply Center also endorsed the information in the study, telling the publication: “The results and data are priceless.” The article did not provide further detail about her company’s use of the report.
“I conduct a gap analysis four times a year, honing in on sales, cost of goods sold, gross profit, sales per square foot, customer count and sales per customer.”
— John Samore Jr., co-owner of Vermont Outlet True Value Hardware, quoted by Hardware Retailing
Limits of the Published Figures
The announcement provides only selected gross-margin figures. It does not state the number of participating businesses, the survey period, how the typical and high-profit groups were defined, or whether the published results were adjusted for differences among retailers. The full report may include further information, but those details are not included in the source material.
It is also unclear from the announcement how much the study costs, what other financial measures it contains, and whether its data can be broken down by geography or store characteristics. No independent assessment of the study’s methodology or findings was provided in the article.
Retailers Can Review the Full Study
The association directs retailers to yournhpa.org/2026-cost-of-doing-business-study to purchase the report. Prospective buyers can consult the study for its full benchmarks and accompanying methodology, then decide which comparisons fit their business. The source material does not announce a later release date, event, or additional milestone.
For now, the confirmed development is the study’s availability and the publication of selected category-level margins. Further conclusions about how representative the data is, or what drove differences between typical and high-profit results, require details beyond those provided in the announcement.
Key Questions
What is the 2026 Cost of Doing Business Study?
It is a North American Hardware and Paint Association report that provides financial information for U.S. independent hardware stores, home centers, lumber and building materials outlets, and paint and decorating outlets.
Which gross-margin figures were published?
Gross margin after rebates and dividends was reported as 42.7% typical and 42.9% high-profit for hardware stores; 33.0% and 32.7% for home centers; 30.2% and 33.0% for LBM outlets; and 38.2% for both groups of paint outlets.
Where can retailers get the study?
The association lists the study for purchase at yournhpa.org/2026-cost-of-doing-business-study.
Does the announcement explain how the high-profit group is defined?
No. The material supplied with the announcement does not explain the criteria for the typical and high-profit groups, the sample size, or the study period.
Do the benchmarks show that using the study increases profits?
No such conclusion is established by the announcement. A retailer quoted in the article said he uses the study in periodic gap analyses and has taken steps in response to declining sales, but the article does not report measured outcomes or establish that the study caused a profit increase.
Source: hardwareretailing.com
