The Home Channel Hall of Fame will welcome Do it Best Corp. CEO Bob Taylor during an induction ceremony at the 2012 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas.

The Home Channel Hall of Fame has been recognizing outstanding service to the hardware and home improvement industry since 2004. Recent inductees include Larry Stone (2011), president emeritus of Lowe’s, and Pat Farrah (2010), one of the original founders of The Home Depot.

Las Vegas — Four years ago, Larry Stone sat in the audience at a Golden Hammer Awards ceremony, while his friend and colleague Robert Strickland, chairman emeritus of Lowe’s Cos., entered the Home Channel Hall of Fame.


Click here for video of Stone describing the "Five Traits of Leadership."

With a stirring introduction from his longtime Lowe's colleague Greg Bridgeford, Larry Stone entered the Home Channel Hall of Fame during the National Hardware Show Wednesday.

The Hall of Fame induction of Stone, a 43-year Lowe's veteran, was one of the highlights of the 27th annual Golden Hammer Awards, a Home Channel News event.

If you follow Lowe’s as an investor, a supplier or a competitor, you’re familiar with Larry Stone and his role at the nation’s second largest home center chain. He’s the man who runs the stores, and it’s his North Carolinian accent that — for the past 10 years, at least — has grown almost inseparable from the company’s image.


In the 1980s, when Lowe’s decided to change from a chain of southeastern contractor yards to a nationwide big-box retailer, the company knew it wouldn’t happen overnight. But a steady vision, stable leadership and good relations with Wall Street made the goal a reality. Today, the North Carolina-based company has more than 1,725 warehouse-sized stores in all 50 states plus Canada and Mexico. 

Now it’s time for another change. 


It was almost painful to watch. Quarter after quarter of negative comparable-store-sales figures emanating from Atlanta and Mooresville in a period of negativity that extended for more than three years.

The negative-comps streak officially ended last month, when the two biggest players in home improvement retailing both posted positive comps for the first time since late 2005 (See chart). The reversal is clearly good news not only for Home Depot and Lowe’s, but also for the home improvement industry in general.