Stella Pokrzywa knows her store will feel an impact when Home Depot opens in Aurelius next fall, but she is hopeful Port Byron True Value Hardware will survive a new competitor.
The way she sees it, the biggest blow her company can take already came when the Lowe's chain opened a store in Sennett eight years ago.
“It's going to affect Lowe's, more so,” said Pokrzywa, who serves as president of the Port Byron store, about the Home Depot effect.
The developer of the Fingerlakes Crossing shopping center announced the signing of Home Depot this week, the first of several major retail chains expected to become tenants at the property across from the Fingerlakes Mall.
Other independent hardware retailers in the area have similar hopes that a second national chain in the market will take away some existing Lowe's customers, but not the people who shop the local stores. National retail experts, though, said it is only a matter of time before some mom-and-pop hardware stores shut down in the wake of more national chain competition.
“I think it will cut into all of them, quite frankly,” said Anthony Chukumba, who tracks the home improvement retail sector for Morningstar, a Chicago-based stock research firm. “In the long term, survival comes down to selection and price, and you can't beat Home Depot and Lowe's on these two items.”
Chukumba said Home Depot and Lowe's will certainly battle for customers in the Auburn area, but he said there's no danger of either one pushing the other out. In fact, about 75 percent of Lowe's stores (it is the smaller of the two chains) are within a 10-mile radius of a Home Depot.
“It's certainly not uncommon for Lowe's to go head-to-head with our single largest competitor in any number of markets,” said Jennifer Smith, a Lowe's spokeswoman who was careful not mention Home Depot by name.
When Home Depot enters a new market where Lowe's already exists, it does not expect to drive the Lowe's store out of business. It just believes it can capture some of its shoppers, and gain others that Lowe's has yet to reach.
“It's more or less that there's a big enough pie to go around,” said company spokesman Yancey Casey.
He said the independent stores in a market it shares with Lowe's are more likely to fail.
Home Depot has not officially confirmed it will be building the Aurelius store.
Casey said the company policy is to refrain from comment on future stores until much closer to an opening date, typically after all municipal approvals have been secured.
But he did agree to talk generally about the nature of the retail hardware industry.
Both Lowe's and Home Depot said they do not base store locating decisions on where the other has set up a store.
Instead, they look at factors such as economic growth in the market, population shifts and the general presence of retail in a given area.
Chukumba, the stock analyst, said Home Depot's decision to come to a smaller place such as the Auburn area reflects a shift in its store development strategy that he's noticed recently.
“One issue for Home Depot is that they've reached the point of store saturation in the U.S., so it's going to be increasingly looking into smaller markets,” he said.
The independent stores that do survive are the ones that can differentiate themselves from the chains.
Pokrzywa believes the Port Byron True Value store, which has operated for 54 years, has done that in recent years thanks to the Lowe's store. She remembers going to trade shows in years past to purchase big-ticket items such as vacuum cleaners, hot water heaters and lawn mowers. Now, the store sticks to smaller items.
“They're not going to drive all the way to Auburn to buy a couple of bolts,” she said.
At T&K Lumber, which has locations in Auburn and Elbridge, general manager Chris Komoroski is cautiously optimistic.
He said the 17-year-old business is doing well financially, so it has a cushion to absorb some business loss when Home Depot opens.
“That business will come back when people realize that service is still important,” he said.
Komoroski said he expects some local stores won't survive because their business is weak already.
“Home Depot and Lowe's will fight each other more than they'll fight the locals, as long as the locals are strong,” he said.
“It's going to affect Lowe's, more so,” said Pokrzywa, who serves as president of the Port Byron store, about the Home Depot effect.
The developer of the Fingerlakes Crossing shopping center announced the signing of Home Depot this week, the first of several major retail chains expected to become tenants at the property across from the Fingerlakes Mall.
Other independent hardware retailers in the area have similar hopes that a second national chain in the market will take away some existing Lowe's customers, but not the people who shop the local stores. National retail experts, though, said it is only a matter of time before some mom-and-pop hardware stores shut down in the wake of more national chain competition.
“I think it will cut into all of them, quite frankly,” said Anthony Chukumba, who tracks the home improvement retail sector for Morningstar, a Chicago-based stock research firm. “In the long term, survival comes down to selection and price, and you can't beat Home Depot and Lowe's on these two items.”
Chukumba said Home Depot and Lowe's will certainly battle for customers in the Auburn area, but he said there's no danger of either one pushing the other out. In fact, about 75 percent of Lowe's stores (it is the smaller of the two chains) are within a 10-mile radius of a Home Depot.
“It's certainly not uncommon for Lowe's to go head-to-head with our single largest competitor in any number of markets,” said Jennifer Smith, a Lowe's spokeswoman who was careful not mention Home Depot by name.
When Home Depot enters a new market where Lowe's already exists, it does not expect to drive the Lowe's store out of business. It just believes it can capture some of its shoppers, and gain others that Lowe's has yet to reach.
“It's more or less that there's a big enough pie to go around,” said company spokesman Yancey Casey.
He said the independent stores in a market it shares with Lowe's are more likely to fail.
Home Depot has not officially confirmed it will be building the Aurelius store.
Casey said the company policy is to refrain from comment on future stores until much closer to an opening date, typically after all municipal approvals have been secured.
But he did agree to talk generally about the nature of the retail hardware industry.
Both Lowe's and Home Depot said they do not base store locating decisions on where the other has set up a store.
Instead, they look at factors such as economic growth in the market, population shifts and the general presence of retail in a given area.
Chukumba, the stock analyst, said Home Depot's decision to come to a smaller place such as the Auburn area reflects a shift in its store development strategy that he's noticed recently.
“One issue for Home Depot is that they've reached the point of store saturation in the U.S., so it's going to be increasingly looking into smaller markets,” he said.
The independent stores that do survive are the ones that can differentiate themselves from the chains.
Pokrzywa believes the Port Byron True Value store, which has operated for 54 years, has done that in recent years thanks to the Lowe's store. She remembers going to trade shows in years past to purchase big-ticket items such as vacuum cleaners, hot water heaters and lawn mowers. Now, the store sticks to smaller items.
“They're not going to drive all the way to Auburn to buy a couple of bolts,” she said.
At T&K Lumber, which has locations in Auburn and Elbridge, general manager Chris Komoroski is cautiously optimistic.
He said the 17-year-old business is doing well financially, so it has a cushion to absorb some business loss when Home Depot opens.
“That business will come back when people realize that service is still important,” he said.
Komoroski said he expects some local stores won't survive because their business is weak already.
“Home Depot and Lowe's will fight each other more than they'll fight the locals, as long as the locals are strong,” he said.