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Knob Hardware & Tool Store in Connelly Springs, North Carolina, says its plumbing department contributes about 10% to 12% of total store revenue. Owner Sanu Silwal attributes the category’s role to a broad product range and staff who help customers identify parts and solutions; the source report does not provide sales comparisons or independently verified financial data.
Knob Hardware & Tool Store in Connelly Springs, North Carolina, says its plumbing department accounts for about 10% to 12% of total store revenue, according to a report by Hardware Retailing. Owner Sanu Silwal says the store has built the category by carrying a range of standard and specialty parts and training general sales staff to help homeowners and contractors match products to repair needs.
Founded in 2023, Knob Hardware sells products across departments that include hunting and fishing, plumbing and electrical, and offers services such as U-Haul rentals and screen repair. The plumbing section is only a few years old, Silwal told Hardware Retailing, but includes faucets, pumps, drain and waste products, pipes, valves, fittings, supply lines and hoses. The store also carries sewage pumps, leak-monitoring products and specialty replacement parts.
Silwal said the department serves both DIY customers and professional contractors. Homeowners often need help identifying a fitting, size or replacement part for a specific repair, while professionals may prioritize finding familiar products quickly. The store does not have a plumber or a dedicated plumbing sales team on site. Instead, general sales staff assist across departments, with more experienced employees handling complicated questions, he said.
The report describes a layout organized around product type and customer needs: larger items are placed on shelves, while smaller fittings and repair parts are arranged on peg hooks and in bins. Silwal said standard items are sold as readily available, high-volume products; staff use application-based recommendations for specialty items, asking about factors such as size, capacity, connection and intended use.
How Advice Supports Plumbing Sales
The department’s reported revenue share illustrates how plumbing can contribute to a small independent retailer’s sales mix, but the source offers one store’s account, not evidence that the same approach will produce similar results elsewhere. Its practical point is that parts availability and customer assistance are linked: a shopper who cannot identify the right connection or replacement part may leave without a solution, while a professional needs products that are easy to locate.
Hardware Retailing also points to customer education as a way retailers can support repairs and encourage repeat visits. Its suggestions include online demonstrations for common problems, in-store product demonstrations and grouped emergency-repair kits, potentially paired with QR codes linking to instructional videos. These are recommendations in the report, not initiatives that it says Knob Hardware has already adopted.
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Homeowners Often Delay Repairs
The report cites a SupplyHouse survey of 1,001 U.S. homeowners. It found that 93% said they delay plumbing or HVAC repairs at least sometimes; 13% said they waited six months or longer to address their most recent issue, and 8% said they did not address it at all. These figures describe survey responses and should not be read as measurements of all U.S. homeowners.
The survey also found that 71% of homeowners with plumbing issues tried a DIY fix before calling a professional. Of those attempts, 51% did not resolve the issue or made it worse, according to the report. Minor leaks and clogged drains were the problems respondents said they put off longest. The findings help explain why stores may encounter customers seeking both parts and guidance, but they do not establish that any particular retailer’s advice changes repair outcomes.
“We train our staff on the basic plumbing product categories, including product applications, sizing, fittings, connections and common repair situations.”
— Sanu Silwal, owner of Knob Hardware & Tool Store, as quoted by Hardware Retailing
Sales Data and Results Remain Limited
The 10% to 12% revenue figure comes from Silwal’s account in Hardware Retailing. The report does not state the period used to calculate it, provide store revenue totals, or compare plumbing sales with the department’s sales when it opened. It also does not independently verify the figure or quantify the costs of stocking the category.
The source does not report whether Knob Hardware has introduced the suggested videos, demonstrations or repair kits, or measure whether staff guidance improves customer satisfaction, sales or repair success. SupplyHouse’s survey provides homeowner responses, but the supplied report does not provide further methodological detail beyond its sample size and U.S. homeowner population.
Retailers’ Next Steps on Education
Hardware Retailing’s report does not identify a scheduled expansion, sales update or other next milestone for Knob Hardware’s plumbing department. The next steps it outlines are recommendations for retailers: make common repair information available online, demonstrate products in stores and group supplies for specific emergency repairs. Whether Knob Hardware will adopt any of these measures, or report new results from the department, remains unknown.
Key Questions
How much of Knob Hardware’s revenue comes from plumbing?
Owner Sanu Silwal told Hardware Retailing that plumbing brings in around 10% to 12% of total store revenue. The report does not specify the calculation period or provide audited figures.
Does Knob Hardware employ a dedicated plumber?
No dedicated plumber is reported on site. Silwal said general sales staff help customers across the plumbing department, with more experienced employees assisting on complicated questions or projects.
What plumbing products does the store carry?
The reported assortment includes faucets, pumps, drain and waste products, pipes, valves, fittings, supply lines and hoses, along with specialty items such as sewage pumps and leak-monitoring products.
What did the SupplyHouse survey find about DIY plumbing?
In a survey of 1,001 U.S. homeowners, SupplyHouse found that 71% of respondents facing plumbing issues tried a DIY fix before calling a professional. The report says 51% of those attempts either failed to resolve the issue or made it worse.
Source: hardwareretailing.com
