Metro by metro
The leading hardware store chains in every South Carolina metro area
Tracked hardware store chains ranked by consumer spend in each metro area, Q4 2025–Q3 2026. Harbor Freight Tools leads in 6 metro areas, Ace Hardware in 1 metro area, and Grayco Hardware & Home in 1 metro area. Against their share in South Carolina as a whole, Ace Hardware stands out in 4 metro areas, Harbor Freight Tools in 3 metro areas.
By tracked consumer spend, Q4 2025–Q3 2026
-
Ace Hardware
Relative #1 in 4 metro areas
Greenville, SC 1.7× · Columbia, SC 1.1× · Spartanburg, SC 1.4× · Hilton Head Island, SC 0.9×
-
Harbor Freight Tools
Relative #1 in 3 metro areas
Charleston, SC 1× · Myrtle Beach, SC 1.4× · Charlotte, NC (SC part) 1.6×
Not enough tracked stores: Augusta, GA (SC part) · Sumter, SC
No ranked chain with 5% of the metro area's spend and 3 stores there: Florence, SC
-
Harbor Freight Tools
#1 in 6 metro areas
Columbia, SC · Charleston, SC · Myrtle Beach, SC · Spartanburg, SC · Charlotte, NC (SC part) · Florence, SC
-
Ace Hardware
#1 in Greenville, SC
-
Grayco Hardware & Home
#1 in Hilton Head Island, SC
Not enough tracked stores: Augusta, GA (SC part) · Sumter, SC
A metro area shows a ranking once it has at least 2 tracked hardware store chains and 10 tracked stores. Relative to South Carolina compares a chain's share of the metro area's spend with its share in South Carolina as a whole. It ranks the 7 biggest chains in South Carolina and the chains that lead a metro area by spend, wherever a chain has at least 5% of the metro area's spend and 3 stores there. Metro areas are the Census Bureau's metropolitan statistical areas; the rest of South Carolina is light gray. A metro area crossing the state line counts only its stores in South Carolina. Colors match the store map; other tracked chains are gray.
Growth ranking
Fastest-growing tracked hardware store chains
Ranked by year-over-year growth of share of tracked local spend. Arrows show movement in the rankings since last year. Each dot in the chart is one tracked chain: bigger market position to the right, faster growth higher up, more tracked stores in a bigger dot. Colors match the store map below. Gateway Supply Co. and Harbor Freight Tools sit in the high-growth half.
| Rank | Chain | Rank movement | YoY growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gateway Supply Co. | - | +14.2% |
| 2 | Harbor Freight Tools | - | +1.7% |
| 3 | Landscapers Supply | - | +1.2% |
| 4 | Ace Hardware | - | -2.0% |
| 5 | Direct Tools Factory Outlet | - | -2.6% |
| 6 | True Value | - | -10.9% |
| 7 | ProSource Plumbing Supply | - | -29.4% |
- Harbor Freight Tools
- Ace Hardware
- Grayco Hardware & Home
- Gateway Supply Co.
- Landscapers Supply
- Tyler Brothers
- Westbury's Ace Hardware
- Other tracked chains
Store footprint
Store map
291 tracked store locations in South Carolina. The 7 largest tracked chains are highlighted. The top 5 chains by store count run 119 of the 291 stores (41%); 153 of the 164 tracked chains have a single store here. 4% of the tracked retail stores here are hardware stores, the same share as across the United States.
- Harbor Freight Tools (37)
- Ace Hardware (51)
- Grayco Hardware & Home (6)
- Gateway Supply Co. (11)
- Landscapers Supply (4)
- Tyler Brothers (1)
- Westbury's Ace Hardware (1)
- Other tracked chains
Top tracked chains by store count
- 1 Ace Hardware 51
- 2 Harbor Freight Tools 37
- 3 True Value 13
- 4 Gateway Supply Co. 11
- 5 Direct Tools Factory Outlet 7
- 6 Grayco Hardware & Home 6
- 7 Landscapers Supply 4
- 8 ProSource Plumbing Supply 3
- 9 East Bay True Value Hardware 2
- 10 Blanton Building Supplies 2
- 11 Thomas Supply Co Inc 2
- 12 Fairfield Hardware 1
- 13 City Electric Supply Indian Land 1
- 14 Bluffton Winsupply 1
- 15 Trailer Parts 4 U 1
- 16 Northern Tool + Equipment 1
- 17 Cross Hill Hardware and Supply 1
- 18 Windy Hill Hardware 1
- 19 Sellars Hardware and Electric 1
- 20 Greenwood Hardware Company 1
- 21 Abbeville Hardware 1
- 22 Robinson Tools 1
- 23 Service Industrial Supply 1
- 24 Hartsville Outdoor Equipment 1
- 25 Summerton Hardware 1
- 26 Handyman's Market 1
- 27 Shell Small Engine 1
- 28 Carolina Plumbing Supply 1
- 29 Smith Turf & Irrigation Co. 1
- 30 Outdoor Equipment Plus 1
- 31 The Lumberyard 1
- 32 Oconee Welding Supply 1
- 33 Walsh Supply 1
- 34 Allendale Hardware & Builders 1
- 35 Calhoun Supply 1
- 36 Florence Lock & Key 1
- 37 Coastal Fasteners & Supply 1
- 38 Longley Supply Co 1
- 39 Fairfax Hardware 1
- 40 Wades Hardware 1
- 41 Hemingway Power Equipment 1
- 42 Carson's Nut-Bolt & Tool Co 1
- 43 Kershaw Hardware 1
- 44 Pittman Discount Building Supply 1
- 45 Scotts Hill Hardware and Supply 1
- 46 Carson's Nut Bolt and Tool Co 1
- 47 Folly Hardware 1
- 48 B and F Small Engine 1
- 49 Newberry Supply and Equipment 1
- 50 Fortner Outdoors & Hardware 1
More trends