When domestic retail data is released in 2026, the average daily number of people entering the street hardware store is only about 25, which is far less than that of community supermarkets. However, the annual net profit of a single store is at least 150,000, and can reach 500,000, and about half of the stores earn more than 300,000 per year.
What secret is hidden behind this?
Most street hardware stores are mom-and-pop stores. This model seems backward, but it is the key to making money.
From a cost perspective, a mom-and-pop shop does not need to hire anyone. The proprietress maintains the shop while the boss handles maintenance and delivery. Labor costs are greatly reduced.
Data from 2024 shows that the operating costs of mom-and-pop stores are nearly half lower than those of chain stores.
Moreover, there are many categories of hardware accessories, high inventory pressure, and high supply chain costs, which also lead to relatively high prices.
However, mom-and-pop stores are highly flexible and can quickly respond to customer needs. In 2024, the survival rate of domestic mom-and-pop hardware stores will be more than ten percentage points higher than that of chain hardware stores.
The hardware store’s profits mainly come from ToB business, and bulk orders from decoration teams and industrial parks are the real cash cows.
There is a hardware store in Yongkang, Zhejiang, which made 1.8 million yuan from bulk orders in the first 11 months of 2025.
In addition, door-to-door installation and maintenance services also have higher profit margins, and you can earn tens of thousands more yuan a year.
Many people are confused by the deserted hardware store. In fact, those who enter the store have actual needs, and the conversion rate is extremely high.
The development of hardware stores has gone through different stages. In the early days, they grew wildly during the urbanization and decoration boom. After the rise of e-commerce, customer flow declined. However, the bosses actively expanded their business. Nowadays, the demand for convenience in the community has become prominent, and the advantages of hardware stores have been fully demonstrated.
China is the world’s largest hardware producer and exporter, and there is a strong hardware manufacturing industry behind the street hardware stores.
Taizhou, Zhejiang, has achieved outstanding results in exporting sewing machinery parts, and Yongkang’s hardware companies have also performed well in the African market.
European and American hardware chain stores also rely on Chinese supply chains, and Chinese hardware stores will also introduce high-end European and American brands.
Although the EU’s introduction of new hardware environmental protection regulations in 2026 will have a certain impact, China’s hardware industry has broadened its market and deepened cooperation with Africa and Southeast Asia.
Compared with hardware stores in Europe, America and Southeast Asia, Chinese street hardware stores have obvious advantages.
Hypermarkets in Europe and the United States have high operating costs and cannot meet immediate demand; hardware stores in Southeast Asia have low levels of industrialization and low profits.
Chinese hardware stores have formed a model of “community mom-and-pop stores + regional chains + online linkage”, which is highly adaptable and can solve the last 100 meters of emergency needs. Value-added services can also bring considerable income.
Street hardware stores rely on low-key and pragmatic operations to reduce costs and expand business. With the support of China’s strong supply chain, they not only make money quietly domestically, but also gain a foothold in the global market.
