Tackles home projects single-handedly - Connecting with the Customer: Handywoman

DSN Retailing Today, Dec 16, 2002 by Debbie Howell

The home improvement industry is finally shedding its macho image. Faced with the fact that more women than ever are tackling projects themselves or impacting buying decisions, retailers and manufacturers alike are getting in touch with their softer side. As a result, home decor products, designer paint, tools developed for women and sophisticated merchandising are gradually reshaping home centers or hardware stores.

Women influence 80% of the buying decisions in home improvement, according to a Lowe's study. In addition, a survey by Ace Hardware found 62% of women are doing projects themselves. Both Lowe's and The Home Depot report half of their customers are women, a switch from the home center's birth when the primary shopper was male.

Demographic shifts and changing attitudes have pushed women to the forefront of this industry. More than 57% of single women are homeowners, with no man to rely on for fixing leaky faucets or painting the den. But even in traditional married households, female interest in DIY activity is rising. Surveys have shown saving money as the main driver for female DIYers, followed by a desire to improve the home and accomplish a task.

None of this surprises Lou Manfredini, a home improvement expert and spokesman for Ace Hardware. Involved in the building industry for 18 years, Manfredini said women have always been the decision-makers, "but nobody gave it any thought until about 10 years ago."

With surveys showing painting and home decorating favored as projects by women, it's no surprise that change initially came in these areas. Retailers in recent years have added names to their paint selection, such as Martha Stewart, Alexander Julian and Ralph Lauren, to target women.

Lowe's is a leader in marketing to women, with its brightly lit store, wide aisles and expanded home decor offerings that range from window treatments to toothbrush holders.

"Women particularly don't like to be crowded when they shop and don't want to bump into things, so that's why the wide aisles are very important to us," said Lowe's spokeswoman Chris Ahearn.

The Home Depot as well has shifted its mix and merchandising approach to target women. The Designplace initiative, which encourages browsing in decor-related departments through use of vignettes and mini-showrooms, is being rolled out to all stores.

"The Designplace is creating a showroom-type atmosphere within those departments and more visual adjacencies," said Home Depot spokeswoman Mandy Holton. "The response has been wonderful."

Holton said women account for 53% of Home Depot's transactions, quite a change since the retailer opened its first stores. Women are increasingly taking part in the retailer's weekly how-to classes, with up to 65% of participants now female. In addition, the retailer has instituted ladies' classes that are promoted as an alternative to Monday night football.

"Women by nature want to learn. They're inquisitive. They're also much more detail-oriented and want instruction," Holton said.

Increasingly, lines are becoming blurred between hardware and home decor. Home Depot's Expo Design Center concept, first opened in 1991, takes that one step further by offering a wide range of home furnishings and decor items. Sears has also joined in with The Great Indoors, skewing even heavier into home decor and furnishings than Expo.

Traditional hardware stores, perhaps the last of the male retail bastions to turn gender-neutral, are also taking notice of women. Ace Hardware has two company-owned stores in Longview, Wash., and Highlands Ranch, Cob., it calls the Ace Solutions Concept Store that are almost a complete opposite from the stereotypical hardware store in the Ace network. Creative merchandising more akin to Target is a hallmark of the store, along with the addition of departments such as housewares and storage to draw in female shoppers. Wood flooring, upscale fixtures and hands-on merchandising are other elements.

"The store was designed really with the female in mind, of course not trying to chase away our core customer who is a 25- to 50-year-old male," said Ray Griffin, evp of retail for Ace.

Griffin said the stores draw about 60% in female shoppers versus 70% male in a typical Ace Hardware store operated by its 5,000-plus independent members. The Highlands Ranch store brings in about $6 million vs. $1.5 million for a typical Ace, and sales per square foot are running above $200, higher than the cooperative's average of $120.

Vendors, meanwhile, are also targeting women. Tool companies have made products lighter in weight and easier to use, with women in mind, though many are careful not to blatantly target women for risk of alienating the male shopper. And since female DIYers want to be taken seriously, putting pink or pastel-colored handles on tools is out.

With so much female influence at play in home improvement retailing, it's unknown just how far this trend will go without alienating the male shopper. But with women DIYers growing in number and no signs of a turnaround expected, retailers and vendors must rethink how they position and market hardware and home products for both sexes.