I’m writing this article on a journey from Los Angeles to Perth, having just spent a week in the U.S.A.

On Thursday, Home Depot and Lowe’s announced their quarterly results.

Both are showing a drop in hardware sales, down 9% and 18% respectively. But, the highlights are the growth in paint and gardening.

At the same time, I am identifying a drift from consumers preferring global retailers to local retailers.

I got off the plane in Brisbane to connect to my domestic flight and picked up the newspaper to read. The headline in “The Australian” read “Woolies bid to nail Bunnings”.

Woolworths, our local supermarket, has joined forces with Lowes to develop a new hardware chain to go head to head with Bunnings, Australia’s national hardware chain.

The global scene can change during an airflight. The new Woolworths/Lowes partnership is buying Dank’s who have supplied 900 independent retailers, plus retailers in a garden buying group; Plants Plus (66 stores), and two hardware groups; Thrifty Link Hardware (312 stores) and Home Timber and Hardware (205 stores).

Australian retailing has weathered the recession better than any other first world country. One result of this is that the garden and hardware industry will change forever.

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