Support Your Local Stores
Find In-Store
Find In-Store
For Independent Hardware Retailers
Get found by the customers
Get found by the customers
who already want you.
National Hardware Group puts independent hardware stores on the map for online shoppers nationwide. We do the e-commerce. You get the foot traffic, the local recognition, and the community impact — without changing how you run your store.
100K+
Products Drive Demand
$0
Tech to Manage
100%
Independent
The Visibility Gap
The customers are looking for you online.
The customers are looking for you online.
They just can't find you.
Independent hardware stores have everything online shoppers want — the inventory, the expertise, the local presence. What's missing isn't the offer. It's the digital storefront big-box and Amazon use to get in front of customers first.
1
Customers search online before they shop.
Most hardware shopping starts with an online search. If your store doesn't show up in those results, customers default to whoever does — usually a big-box site or Amazon — even when your store is closer and better stocked.
2
SEO is a full-time job you don't have.
Ranking for hardware searches takes ongoing content, technical SEO, product data feeds, and ad spend. Running a hardware store is already two full-time jobs. There's no third one available.
3
Building your own site won't fix it.
A standalone store site competes with national retailers for the same Google real estate — and loses. Visibility online doesn't come from having a site; it comes from being part of a catalog big enough to rank.
How It Works
We do the digital work.
We do the digital work.
Customers come to your door.
National Hardware Group runs the website, the catalog, the SEO, and the marketing — built on the same distribution network that supplies thousands of independent hardware stores nationwide. Your store gets discovery and foot traffic. You don't change a thing about how you operate.
Stage 1
National Hardware Group
Runs the website, catalog, SEO, ads, and customer marketing
Stage 2
Online Shopper
Finds the product on nationalhardwaregroup.com · sees your local store on the map
Stage 3 · The Win
Your Independent Store
Customer walks in · foot traffic · local sale · relationship built
Your store stays 100% independent. No website to run, no orders to manage, no operations to change. We just put you in front of the customers already searching for what you sell.
What Partnership Includes
Six ways being in the network
Six ways being in the network
drives business to your store.
Every benefit below is something National Hardware Group delivers — not something your team has to operate. The whole point of partnership is that the work happens on our side.
Featured on the store locator
Customers searching for hardware in your area see your store on the nationalhardwaregroup.com store finder, with hours, address, phone, and a direct route to your front door.
SEO & Google visibility
We rank for thousands of hardware search terms nationally and locally. When a customer in your area Googles "where to buy [product]," NHG — and your store — show up in the results.
100,000+ product catalog drives traffic
The catalog depth that ranks on Google brings online shoppers to NHG. The store locator brings those shoppers to your store. The same distribution network supplies thousands of independents nationwide.
Marketing & ad spend at the network level
Paid search, social campaigns, email marketing, and local promotion all run from NHG — built to drive shoppers to the independent stores in our network. You don't run a campaign, hire a marketer, or set a budget.
"Support Local" positioning, on every page
Every shopper on NHG sees the independent network framed as the smarter, better choice over big-box and Amazon. We do the persuasion. You're the beneficiary when the customer walks in.
Fulfillment partnership (top tier)
Higher membership tiers include the option to fulfill nearby online orders through your existing distribution network — growing your sales beyond your counter. Exact structure is built around your store's setup.
Where Your Membership Goes
We don't charge rent for a listing.
We don't charge rent for a listing.
We charge to fill your aisles.
National Hardware Group isn't a directory — we're an online retailer. Running one costs real money every month: the catalog, the website, the search rankings, the ad spend. A big share of it exists for one reason — to send a shopper through your door instead of to a big-box site. Your membership buys into that work. It doesn't rent you a spot on a list.
01
We spend so you don't have to.
Paid search, social, email, local promotion — all of it runs from our budget, aimed at the independents in the network. You never set a budget, hire a marketer, or write an ad.
02
The fee keeps the engine running.
The catalog, the site, the rankings, the support — it costs more to run than any one membership covers. Your fee isn't profit on a listing. It keeps the lights on and the ads pointed at your town.
03
We only win when you do.
The whole model is sending shoppers to local stores. If they don't walk through your door, none of it worked. We're not your landlord collecting rent — we're spending alongside you to bring the customer in.
Try local first. We'll wait. — that's not a line we hang on the wall. It's where every marketing dollar we spend is pointed.
Joining Is Simple
Listed in days,
Listed in days,
not months.
We do almost everything. Your part is short — share your store details, choose your tier, and let us put you in front of online shoppers in your area.
Step 1
Intro call
We learn your store, your market, and which membership tier fits. Quick conversation, no commitment. Most calls take 20 minutes.
Step 2
Share your details
Send us your store name, address, hours, contact info, and a photo or two. That's the information we need to add you to the network.
Step 3
We list your store
Your store goes live on the NHG store locator, in local search results, and as a destination for shoppers in your area looking for hardware.
Step 4
Customers walk in
Online shoppers find products on NHG, see your store on the map, and visit. You serve them like you would any other customer.
Frequently Asked
The questions store owners ask first.
Direct answers. If yours isn't here, ask it in the form below.
Do I have to run a website or manage online orders?
No. National Hardware Group runs the e-commerce side completely. The website, the catalog, the search rankings, the marketing — all on our end. Your store doesn't get a dashboard, doesn't manage product listings, doesn't process online orders. You serve customers in your store the way you always have.
Where do the products come from — are we competing for the same supply?
We source through the same distribution network that supplies thousands of independent hardware stores nationwide — the network you most likely already rely on. That's intentional. We're not a parallel supply chain trying to undercut yours; we're using the same one, which means every customer NHG reaches strengthens demand across the channel.
The more we sell, the more independent stores in our network sell, the stronger the channel becomes. It's a rising tide for every independent hardware store that joins.
So what do I actually have to do?
Be open for business and serve the customers who walk in. That's the whole job description. We send shoppers to your store; you do what you already do well — help them find what they need, sell them what they came for, build the relationship.
What does the customer experience look like?
A customer searches online for a hardware product. They land on nationalhardwaregroup.com, find what they need, and see local independent hardware stores in their area — including yours. They get the choice to visit your store directly, or, in some cases, have the order fulfilled through the network. Either way, your store becomes part of how they think about buying hardware.
How much does it cost to join?
NHG offers multiple membership tiers designed to fit different store sizes and goals. We share specific pricing on the discovery call once we understand which tier fits your store — we don't believe in one-size-fits-all pricing for businesses that aren't one-size-fits-all.
Do I have to stock the products customers see on NHG?
No. The online catalog runs separately from what you stock. Customers who visit your store will buy what you carry; if they want something you don't stock, the network can fulfill it. You keep stocking what makes sense for your market.
Will my store's name and identity stay mine?
Yes, completely. You stay 100% independent. NHG is a marketing and discoverability partner — not a franchise, not a buyout, not a rebrand. Your store name, your sign, your customer relationships, your local reputation all stay yours.
What's the "fulfillment partnership" you mentioned?
Higher membership tiers can include an arrangement where certain online orders in your area get routed through your store for fulfillment — either shipped to your store for customer pickup, or fulfilled from your existing distribution network. The exact structure depends on your setup and is built collaboratively. This is opt-in, not a requirement.
What if I'm already affiliated with a hardware co-op?
That's fine — most stores in our network are. NHG is a marketing and discoverability layer that works alongside your existing affiliations and distribution relationships. We're not replacing them; we're putting you on the digital map.
A Note From The Founder
I want to live in a world where the local hardware store is still on the corner when you need it.
Nearly two decades ago, we started a small hardware company that ended up shocking our distributor — one of the largest hardware suppliers in the country — with what an independent could do online. That early success built relationships across the channel, and for years I traveled to stores all over the country, spoke at trade shows and conventions, and tried to help independent hardware retailers bridge the gap between their brick and mortar and the e-commerce world that was already eating them alive.
One thing came up in every conversation: "We'll handle the website ourselves." And every time I watched a store try, I watched the same thing happen. They'd burn time and money building a site that couldn't out-rank a national chain, and the focus that should have gone into the store went into tech work nobody at the store actually wanted to do.
That stuck with me. Even after we sold that hardware company and I shifted my focus to my young family and our national HVAC filter supply business, the question never went away. There has to be a better way to support independent hardware stores than asking every one of them to become a tech company.
Years later, with a lot more experience and a clearer vision, I came back to it. National Hardware Group is the answer I couldn't build two decades ago: one network, one digital footprint, one marketing budget — pointed at every independent that joins. Whether your store flies an Ace flag, a Do it Best flag, a True Value flag, or no flag at all, every retailer that comes in makes the whole network stronger for everyone in it.
This isn't about commerce. It's about reinforcing to the customer that cares about more than the cheapest box on their porch in two hours — that the local store is still here, still better, still worth walking into. I want to live in a world where those stores exist when we need them. Not because big-box finally cared. Because we built something that worked.
Let's Talk
Tell us about your store.
Tell us about your store.
We'll set up a call.
Fill out the form and we'll reach out within one business day to schedule a intro call. Or skip the form and reach out directly.