Back in June, Home Depot said it intended to defend its position as power tool market share leader. Now the giant chain finds itself a defendant in a lawsuit filed by Orchard Supply Hardware.

In a 43-page complaint, San Jose, Calif.-based Orchard said it's being iced by power tool makers Milwaukee and Makita at the urging of the world's largest home improvement retailer. "Orchard Supply vs. Home Depot, Milwaukee Electric Tool and Makita USA" was filed in December in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. OSH claims the defendants are running an unlawful group boycott.

San Jose, Calif.-based Orchard Supply Hardware reported second-quarter sales of $194.1 million for the quarter ended July 28, down 1.2% from the same quarter last year.

The company also posted a second-quarter net loss of $26.7 million, compared with earnings of $3.9 million in the second quarter of 2011.

Comp-store sales, however, inched up 0.9%.

Orchard Supply Hardware reported first-quarter net sales of $155.0 million, down 5.37%, as comparable-store sales declined 3.1%. The company posted a loss of $4.5 million, compared with a loss of $1.0 million in the first quarter of 2011.

The company, which describes itself as a retail concept that occupies the space between the big box and the hardware store, still expects to turn its comp-store sales into the black for the full year.

In his company’s first earnings call since its spinoff from Sears, Orchard Supply Hardware CEO Mark Baker introduced his company to analysts as a unique player, operating, at about 44,000 sq. ft., between the big boxes and the small independents. He described his newly public company’s focus on three high-margin categories: repair and maintenance, backyard, and paint. He also explained Orchard Supply was in transition mode — an 80-year-old company turning around several years of negative comps, with upgraded merchandising and stores.

In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News, former Home Depot merchant Mark Baker -- now the CEO of the newly public Orchard Supply Hardware -- talks about his expansion plans for the California chain, last year’s net losses ($15 million to $17 million), his favorite mode of transportation (a Cessna Caravan) and his motorcycle (a Harley-Davidson Road King). 

Reuters news service has reported that the shareholders of Sears Holding Corp. will end up with 80% of the common stock in Orchard Supply Hardware stores, following an attempt to spin off the California hardware chain into a separate unit.

Orchard Supply Hardware has gone through a lot of changes in its 80-year history, but the California chain — now numbering 89 units with $660.7 million in annual sales — has weathered them all. Changes in ownership, leadership, store design, color scheme and signage have come and gone. But the stores’ customers — known for their exceptional loyalty — have generally stuck with the chain. 


San Jose, Calif.-based Orchard Supply Hardware chain opened a 60,000-sq.-ft. store in a former Mervyns location, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal. 

The official opening was Saturday. The store is a relocation of a previous store located in nearby San Jose. It will feature a new format unveiled two years ago in Santa Rosa, Calif.

San Jose, Calif.-based Orchard Supply Hardware tapped Vertis Communications to supply marketing services in a new three-year deal.

Under the agreement, which extends a 15-year relationship between the two companies, Vertis will manage Orchard Supply Hardware's advertising inserts program from its local Sacramento facility.

Orchard Supply Hardware is among Vertis' growing portfolio of home improvement retailers including Lowe's, Ace Hardware and Menards.