Retailers do not remodel their stores all at once. They treat the store base like a portfolio, refreshing a set number of locations each year so the whole chain improves on a predictable schedule. One hardware retail group with multiple regional banners is running that kind of program with a new brand-centric store concept, remaking roughly 20 locations per year over a five-year window after piloting the design in a single store. The approach matters to anyone involved in retail construction, commercial interiors, or franchise expansion, because it shows how a pilot store, a phased budget, and a repeatable design package turn one concept into a chain-wide program. Even a single building project follows the same logic that drove the engineering of the floating glass dome retail store at Marina Bay Sands, where the architecture itself became the brand experience.
Why Retailers Phase Remodels Across Years
A chain of dozens or hundreds of stores cannot close everything for a remodel at once. Capital budgets, contractor capacity, and lost sales during construction all force a phased approach. The program targets about 20 locations annually, which spreads the investment across five years and lets the company learn from each wave of stores before the next one starts.
The pilot store comes first
A pilot location was remodeled in 2024 to test the new concept. A pilot store does more than validate the layout; it tests the construction details, the fixture package, the merchandising plan, and the staffing model in one real building. The first full rollout store followed in Raleigh, North Carolina, and every store after it benefits from fixes made during the earlier builds.
The 20-per-year pace
Twenty stores a year is a deliberate number. It matches the contractor capacity the company can line up, the capital available in each budget cycle, and the size of the internal team managing the projects. A slower pace would leave the chain inconsistent for too long; a faster pace would strain quality and cash flow. The same math applies at every scale, and the budgeting and planning that homeowners do for a single renovation project is the same discipline, just with smaller numbers.
Budgeting and Scheduling a Multi-Store Program
A five-year remodel program is a rolling budget, not a single project. Each year’s tranche of stores has to be funded from operating cash flow or debt, and the return has to show up in sales before the next tranche starts. Cost drivers in retail renovation stay consistent from store to store.
Cost drivers in a retail remodel
- Fixtures and display systems, which usually get replaced entirely
- Lighting retrofits, which change both the look and the energy bill
- Flooring, especially when departments move and old footprints get resurfaced
- Mechanical work, including HVAC changes when walls and ceilings move
- Signage and graphics, including department headers and brand messaging
- Labor to move, protect, and reset inventory during construction
Measuring the return
Retailers measure remodel payback in sales per square foot, basket size, and traffic counts before and after the change. A store that lifts sales per square foot by 10 percent can justify a remodel cost that would look high in isolation. The planning side is where most projects go sideways, and the top five challenges when planning a home remodel mirror what commercial teams face: scope creep, budget overruns, schedule slips, contractor coordination, and decisions made too late.
Programs like this also fund themselves over time. Stores remodeled in year one generate the sales evidence that supports the year three budget, and the concept keeps improving as the company sees what works.
| Department | Typical remodel move | Shopper outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor cooking | Grills, fuel, and accessories shown together | One-stop trips for grilling season |
| Power tools and outdoor power | Tool brands paired with battery-powered equipment | Clear battery platform choices |
| Paint and home preservation | Centralized paint studio with mixing service | Faster project completion |
| Specialty shops | Kitchen and apparel stores within the store | Destination visits and larger baskets |
Department Redesign: Where the Money Goes
The most visible part of any store remodel is the department layout. Hardware retail has settled on a few high-traffic categories that drive the design: outdoor cooking, power tools and outdoor power equipment, paint and home preservation, and specialty shops. Each department gets its own merchandising logic, and the remodel program treats every one as a mini-project. Department priorities have shifted over the history of home goods and building supply retail, and remodel programs are where those shifts become visible in fixtures and floor plans.
Outdoor cooking as a showroom
Grills are a destination purchase, so the department is designed like a showroom. Fuel and accessories sit beside the grills themselves, so a shopper who comes in for a tank of propane leaves with a plan for the whole cookout. Associates get training aids that help them match a customer to a specific model, which turns product knowledge into a selling tool.
Power tools and battery platforms
Brand name is the leading decision driver for power tool purchases, and shoppers increasingly prefer rechargeable batteries that work across multiple tools. That preference reshapes the department: tools and outdoor power equipment are displayed together so customers can see one battery platform spanning a drill, a trimmer, and a chainsaw. Combining tool brands and outdoor power brands in a single integrated section is still rare in the category, and early customer response to the layout has been positive.
Store-Within-a-Store and Specialty Zones
Beyond the core departments, remodel programs add specialty zones that give shoppers a reason to make a special trip. Two concepts illustrate the range: a kitchen shop and an apparel shop, both operated as stores within the store. The specialty zone approach borrows from retail flagship store design, where a single category gets a destination-scale treatment with its own fixtures, lighting, and staffing.
The kitchen shop
A kitchen shop inside a hardware store carries gourmet foods, cookware, utensils, and linens, with frequent samplings and seasonal tastings. Food drives foot traffic on days when nobody needs a hammer, and the tasting events create a schedule of reasons to visit. The mix pairs established cookware brands with smaller lines that a general hardware aisle would never carry.
Space allocation
Every square foot in a remodeled store has a job. Space planners allocate floor area by sales per square foot, then tune it with category strategy: high-margin categories get premium positions, traffic drivers go to the back to pull shoppers through the store, and service counters anchor the departments that need staff help, such as paint mixing. Store-within-a-store formats complicate construction because each zone has its own finishes, lighting, and power needs, so the electrical and HVAC design has to be settled before the walls go up, not after.
From Concept to Construction: Executing the Remodel
A remodel program only works if the construction side can deliver the design at scale. The execution sequence repeats for every store, and it looks like this:
- Audit the existing store and freeze the new floor plan, including department relocations and fixture counts.
- Finalize the construction documents, from electrical and lighting layouts to flooring and ceiling plans.
- Pull permits and schedule the contractor tranche, clustering nearby stores to keep crews mobilized.
- Protect or relocate inventory, often with overnight moves and temporary aisles so the store can keep trading.
- Build in phases by department, opening each zone as it finishes instead of closing the whole store.
- Train the staff on the new layout and the new service routines before the grand reopening.
- Measure results against the pre-remodel baseline and feed the lessons into the next tranche.
Working around open hours
Retail remodels are built around the store’s trading hours. Night shifts, rolling closures of individual departments, and temporary aisle layouts keep revenue flowing during construction. That constraint drives the schedule more than the construction work itself, and it is why fixture packages are designed for fast changeover.
Standards and specifications
Executing at scale means working to retail construction and design standards that cover floor loading, aisle widths, lighting levels, and fixture anchoring. When the same standards apply to every store, the contractor learns the details once and repeats them, which is how a 20-store year stays on budget.
Measuring Results and Planning the Next Wave
The real test of a remodel program is in the numbers. Sales per square foot, transaction size, and traffic counts before and after the change tell the company whether the concept works, and the five-year horizon gives it room to adjust. Departments that underperform get redesigned in the next tranche, and categories that surprise get more space. Assortment decisions matter too, and the reasons why tool brands disappear from store shelves show how a remodeled department can change which vendors get shelf space and which ones do not.
Staff training is the quiet half of a remodel. A new layout only pays off if the people on the floor know where everything moved and how to use the new service tools. The chains that run these programs budget training time into every store opening, because the store experience is the product.
Multi-year remodel programs work because they are deliberately repetitive. Pilot, budget, build, measure, repeat. The stores that opened this year teach the stores that open next year, and the concept keeps improving without ever starting from scratch. For contractors, designers, and property owners, the lesson is that a remodel is a system, not an event, and the stores that treat it that way are the ones that stay current.