The hardware and home improvement retail sectors have been dominated by Home Depot and Lowe’s for decades, displacing hardware cooperatives True Value Hardware and Ace Hardware and ignoring independent hardware retailers.
Home Depot captured an average of 29% of the home improvement market in the third quarter of 2025, while Lowe’s followed with 17% of the market and Amazon had about 11%, according to the Numerator Home Improvement Tracker.
With three national retailers capturing 57% of the market, hardware co-ops and small independent hardware stores are having a difficult time staying in business, including retailers that have been in business for more than 50 years.
The 159-year-old Kreuger’s True Value hardware store in Neenah, Wisconsin, revealed in July 2025 that it would permanently close its business in 12 to 16 months after a liquidation sale.
Another iconic True Value hardware store, 117-year-old Ritter’s True Value Hardware in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, closed permanently on September 30, 2025, and 56-year-old Carnation Ace Hardware in Carnation, Washington, closed its business for good on October 25.
C&H Hardware, 65, based in Yakima, Washington, closed its independent hardware store on Nov. 26, facing rising prices and difficulties competing with online sales, according to KIMA-TV 29.
And now, 80-year-old Benjamin Brothers True Value Hardware will permanently close its Tenafly, New Jersey, location on Jan. 31, 2026, the store’s owners revealed on their Facebook page.
“After 80 years of service, we have made the difficult decision to close our doors on January 31, 2026,” the company said in the post.
“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our customers for their continued support and patronage over the years,” the hardware store said in the post. “It has been an honor to serve Tenafly and the surrounding communities, and we are deeply grateful for the memories, relationships and experiences we have gained along the way.”
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“Thank you to everyone who has been a part of the Benjamin Bros. family. Your loyalty and support has meant more to us than words can express,” the post read.
The store owners did not indicate the reason for the hardware store’s closure.
Benjamin Brothers True Value, which opened in Tenafly in 1946, began as a lumber yard and became a hardware company in 1963, NorthJersey.com reported. The hardware store is independently owned and operated and is part of True Value Hardware Cooperative.