Builders Square

Builders Square was a chain of big-box home improvement stores operated by Kmart from 1984 until 1997. It was then operated as a subsidiary of Hechinger until 1999, when all locations were renamed HQ and then closed.

Home Centers of America and Kmart acquisition
Builders Square was founded by Frank Denny in 1983 as Home Centers of America. Denny had previously been the president of Grace Home Centers, a similar home improvement retailer operated by W.R. Grace and Company. The first location was opened in San Antonio, Texas. Unlike many other retailers of the time, Home Centers of America was founded as a public company.

Kmart acquired Home Centers of America in 1984 for $88.2 million. The stores were renamed Builders Square. Denny continued to work for the company as president of Builders Square. During the 1980's, the chain was considered to be one of many major home-improvement retailers, with competitors such as National Lumber, HomeClub, and The Home Depot.

Hechinger merger and renaming
By the late 1990's, the chain had 162 stores in 28 states, including Puerto Rico. However, Builders Square struggled to maintain profitability and in some markets was unable to compete with growing competitors like The Home Depot and Lowe's. On July 18, 1997, Kmart announced that Builders Square would be merging with Hechinger, a similar chain. The new merged company would be owned by Leonard Green & Partners and would have a combined 279 stores.

Dozens of Builders Squares would be closed by Hechinger following the merger. On June 12, 1999, Hechinger filed for bankruptcy and announced that the remaining 16 Builders Square locations would be converted to the Home Quarters Warehouse (HQ) name. On September 10, 1999, the company confirmed that it would be liquidating all stores.

Brief revival
The Builders Square name and online domain were acquired by Home Decor Products in 2006, and the chain's website was revived as an online shopping site selling home and garden products. Two years prior, the same had been done with Hechinger. However, Home Decor Products filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in April 2009 and shut down all operations. Former executives acquired some of them and continued to operate them under a new name, HomeClick, but Builders Square was left abandoned and has not come back since.

Resources

 * Builders Square/List of locations