What hardware stores boycott Trump?
Executive summary
Grab Your Wallet — the advocacy group that catalogs retailers that do or do not carry Trump-family brands — specifically notes that the cooperative hardware chain Do It Best does not carry Trump-branded products [1], while mainstream reporting from Business Insider and others shows that some home‑improvement retailers have sold Trump Home lines in the past, and that retailer lists and company decisions have changed repeatedly over time [2] [3]. There is no single, definitive industry-wide “hardware stores boycott” list in the provided reporting; the evidence shows spotty, changing practices and disputes over what counts as a boycott [4] [5].
1. Grab Your Wallet’s claim: Do It Best is singled out as not carrying Trump brands
The clearest, direct assertion in the sourced material is from Grab Your Wallet’s compilation of retailers that “do NOT carry or sell Trump Products,” which specifically mentions Do It Best Hardware as a chain that does not carry Trump-family brands [1], and the organization’s broader retailer pages enumerate stores it advises shoppers to avoid or support depending on whether those stores carry Trump Home, Ivanka Trump, or related lines [4].
2. Other hardware/home‑improvement chains have mixed histories — some sold Trump Home, others dropped lines
Business Insider’s reporting documents that at least one “home improvement retailer” had sold the Trump Home line historically, and that retail relationships shifted: chains and department stores have removed or reintroduced Ivanka and Trump products at various times for reasons ranging from licensing expiration to poor sales [2]. Trade and lifestyle reporting likewise catalogues a patchwork of companies that have cut ties, quietly removed products, or toggled availability in response to boycotts or sales performance [3] [6].
3. Activist pressure and consumer action have targeted hardware-sector names but with differing effects
The Guardian reports protests and consumer pressure directed at home‑improvement stores — including demonstrations outside Home Depot tied to immigration enforcement and broader political disputes — illustrating that activist energy has focused on big-box hardware and home-improvement retailers even when those companies’ policies about Trump products are not uniform [7]. Such pressure has at times produced public relations responses or product removals, and at other times merely amplified public debate without a formal “boycott” declaration from the retailer [3].
4. Why lists differ: definitions, donations, and what constitutes a “boycott”
Observers and fact‑checkers warn that lists of companies “for” or “against” Trump often conflate product sales, individual executive donations, and corporate action; Snopes emphasizes that companies themselves cannot legally donate to campaigns and that many circulation lists mix individual donor activity with corporate policy, which skews conclusions about corporate political alignment [5]. Business Insider’s coverage similarly shows that retailers have been added and removed from boycott lists as circumstances change, demonstrating that “boycott” status depends on the compiler’s criteria [2].
5. The most accurate conclusion the reporting supports
Based strictly on the provided sources, the only hardware-specific, sourced claim of a store not carrying Trump-branded merchandise is Grab Your Wallet’s note about Do It Best [1]; other home-improvement chains have sold or dropped Trump lines at different times, and broader boycott lists and news accounts show fluidity and disagreement about who belongs on a boycott roster [2] [3] [4]. The reporting does not offer an audited, industry‑wide list of hardware stores that have formally “boycotted” Trump beyond advocacy tallies and episodic product removals, and fact‑checkers caution readers to treat some circulation lists with skepticism [5].