I have developed a product that somewhere down the line I would like
to market to large Do-It-Youself chains like Home Depot, Loews and
Menards. My question is in three parts: Do these large chains
typically or exclusivly order from distributors? What are their
typical profit margins on lawn and garden products? And, How much
benefit is there (if any) to offering a product that has accessory
items that can be sold with the main product?

<Profit margins ? Lawn and garden products.

Home centers typically buy directly from the manufacturer.
Source: Referencefor business.com
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/industries/Retail-Trade/Hardware-Stores.html

Retail Nurseries, Lawn & garden supply stores.
These establishments tend to buy from wholesalers.
Source: Referencefor business.com
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/industries/Retail-Trade/Retail-Nurseries-Lawn-Garden-Supply.html

------------------------------------

Mark-up
The gross product margin in Home Centers is 42%. In hardware stores it
is 39%. Lawn and garden equipment has a 4.5% share of the home center
industry. Source: IBIS World.
http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:ltHk_fGAVzkJ:www.ibisworld.com/industry/segmentation.asp%3Findustry_id%3D1031+%22lawn+and+garden%22+%22mark+up%22&hl=nl&ct=clnk&cd=8

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Becoming a supplier.
Home Depot
Home Depot has a system in place for prospective suppliers. A
Merchandising Supplier is a supplier that sells product to The Home
Depot for resale in their stores, interacting with our merchandising
teams to determine an interest for the product and to establish a
program with product and cost parameters.
Contact email  partner_communications@homedepot.com 
https://suppliercenter.homedepot.com/wps/portal/WhatIs#2
The company has a supplier registration system that takes 30 to 60
minutes to complete.
Details that need to be supplied are:
Tax ID number
Company ownership information.
Workplace/facilities information: number of employees, number of
locations, and workplace policy questions.
Financial data
Insurance and bonding information
Minimum of three references.
Bank reference(s)
Any professional licenses.
https://app.suppliergateway.com/homedepot/Login.aspx?sdms=y

---------------------------------------
Lowe?s
To be considered as a supplier for Lowe?s you need to submit a product
proposal in the form of a letter.
Address:
Lowe?s Merchandising Office
PO Box 1000
Mooresville, NC 28115.

Attention: Merchandiser of (your product)

It is not necessary to submit a sample at this stage. The
merchandising team will contact you if your product is selected for
review.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=pg&p=CustServ%2FcustSvcVendorInquiry.html&rn=RightNavFiles%2Fno.html

---------------------------------
Menard Inc
To apply to have your product sold by Menard you need to send product
information with your contact details to:

Menard, Inc
Purchasing Dept
4777 Menard Dr
Eau Claire, WI 54703
http://www.menards.com/FAQs.do;jsessionid=D297A50C8DABF2CC4BA9950B1DE5A62D#q19

----------------------------------------

Offering accessories
According to this report Lowe?s new system contains employee prompts
to encourage upgrades and add-on products. Source: Home Channel News.
http://www.edgenet.com/newsroom/PDF/1702401097HCNLowes-eprint.pdf

Add-on sales are encouraged by retailers.
Source; Generating add-on sales. Do-It Yourself Retailing.
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1:15535313/Generating+add-on+sales~R~+(includes+related+article)+(Customer+Service+Survival+Kit)+(Cover+Story).html?refid=SEO

According to this article customers can be persuaded to buy add-on
items by sales staff and by merchandising. Source: Retail hardware
industry profile. Edward. D. Horgan.
http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:An5L9jbt7NIJ:www.sbaer.uca.edu/profiles/industry_profiles/20.pdf++Do-It-Yourself+Retailing++addon&hl=nl&gl=be&ct=clnk&cd=14>

-----------------------------------------

<Additional links:>

<Report ? home centers in the US. Source: IBIS>
<http://www.ibisworld.com/industry/segmentation.asp?industry_id=1031>

<Trade show>
<The International Home & Housewares Show.>
<http://www.housewares.org/ihshow/exhibitorinfo.asp>

<Lawn and Garden Marketing & Distributors? Association.>
<http://www.lgmda.org/>

<Luxury consumers continue to invest in their homes ? report from unity marketing.>
<http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/reports2/luxury/luxury2Q2005.html>


<Search strategy:>

<"lawn and garden" "mark up">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=nl&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2006-12%2CGGLG%3Aen&q=%22lawn+and+garden%22+%22mark+up%22&lr=>

<"lawn and garden" "add on products">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=nl&q=%22lawn+and+garden%22+%22add+on+products%22&lr=>

<Do-It-Yourself Retailing  addon>
<://www.google.be/search?q=+Do-It-Yourself+Retailing++addon&hl=nl&lr=&start=10&sa=N>

<"consumers  "add on" survey "lawn and garden">
<://www.google.be/search?hl=nl&q=%22consumers++%22add+on%22+survey+%22lawn+and+garden%22&btnG=Zoeken&meta=>


<Hope this helps.>

Home Depot supplier information center including applications, guides and FAQs.

https://suppliercenter.homedepot.com/wps/portal/WhatIs#2

https://suppliercenter.homedepot.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/.cmd/cs/.ce/7_0_A/.s/7_0_P5/_s.7_0_A/7_0_P5



How to become a Wal-Mart supplier, might be useful because the basic
process will be the same.

http://sbinfocanada.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=sbinfocanada&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.startupjournal.com%2Fhowto%2Fsuccessstories%2F20050920-bounds.html

http://sbinfocanada.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=sbinfocanada&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.findarticles.com%2Fp%2Farticles%2Fmi_m0DTI%2Fis_n1_v26%2Fai_20313437

if you ever need to find suppliers for your thing, you can try www.axonai.com