Boucherville, Quebec-based RONA, the Canadian hardware retailer and distributor, saw a sales increase of 1.8% in the first quarter of 2012, as the company narrowed its net loss.

Consolidated same-store sales were down 0.8% for the company that is putting more of an emphasis on what it calls its “proximity” stores designed for convenience and service.

Last year, the original 50 Home Channel News Hardware Store All-Star honorees established a high bar and a hard act to follow. But the 2012 crop rises to the challenge. This year’s Hardware Store All-Stars, one from each of the 50 U.S. states, have at least one thing in common: Ask them what makes them special and you can bet they’ll include “excellent customer service” in the answer. From there, every path to stardom is unique.

Price trumps sales and special deals, customer service and convenience as a factor in deciding where to shop for the majority of U.S. consumers, according to a survey by The NPD Group.

NPD’s The Economy Tracker, a monthly monitor of consumer sentiment about the economy and spending, found that in the most recent survey, 85% of U.S. consumers said that price will be an extremely important/important factor in deciding where to shop in the near future, 10% more than those who feel sales and special deals are extremely important/important.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced Monday that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for March, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $411.1 billion, an increase of 0.8% from the previous month.           

Compared with the same month last year, sales were up 6.5%.

Reacting quickly to an early spring, Brentwood, Tenn.-based Tractor Supply Co. said its first-quarter sales increased 22% to $1.02 billion.

Same-store sales for the quarter increased 11.5%. The country’s largest farm-and-ranch retailer, which will release its full first-quarter earnings results April 25, said the same-store sales increase was driven, in part, by early spring weather in 2012.

An organized retail theft ring that targeted 70 Home Depot stores in six states has been taken down by multi-agency task force after the arrest of three men in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Two other suspects are still be sought. 

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had increased in February, pulled back slightly in March. The Index now stands at 70.2 (1985=100), down from 71.6 in February. The Present Situation Index, however, increased to 51.0 from 46.4. The Expectations Index declined to 83.0 from 88.4 in February.

During the Reliable Distributors 2012 Annual Management & Marketing Conferences in Phoenix, president Allan Meyer offered the following advice: “Members need to embrace change.” 

Meyer also said the 26-year-old group is still growing and attributed the success of the group to the fact the Reliable Membership is comprised of small to middle-sized distributors that have each found a special niche in their marketplace. 

An article about a U.S. Commerce Department ruling that some imported bottom-mount refrigerators were sold at prices unfair to American competitors led to several letters.

“There is no way that free enterprise businesses can compete and win against companies being underwritten by their countries.

“There is a core group of Americans who are being ignored in this NEW GLOBAL FREE TRADE economy. Not everyone can go to college or be trained for high tech jobs.

“The last four years have been tough for the building community, especially the smaller, family-run stores. 

“It has been hard to deal with changing bank regulations after you have been in business more than 30 years, and everything as you knew it has changed. We have watched many of our friends go down, both competitors and customers. We are still standing, but every day is a challenge. 

The monthly sales tally from the U.S. Census Bureau showed gains in February – sales were up 1.1% from the previous month, and up 6.5% from the same month last year.

Leading the sales charge are businesses classified as building material & garden equipment and supplies dealers – NAICS code 444, inclusive of home centers and hardware stores. No other kind of business tracked by the bureau has grown faster in the first two months of 2012.