In the annual Scoreboard report, combined home
channel sales slip 5.1%, but bright spots shine
through the gaps.

The 2009 Home Channel News Top 500 Retail Scoreboard
shows total sales of $237.4 billion, a 5.1% decline
from the previous year. That’s only the second decline
in the history of the Scoreboard, and it’s the second
decline in a row. But here’s another way to look at the
numbers: fourth best of all time. Only the Scoreboards
of 2007, 2006 and 2005 had higher total revenues.To be
sure, there were pockets of high performance, even in
the pro dealer sector, which has struggled in the face of
extreme housing start declines.