There’s nothing like the feeling of doing something on your own; repairing something broken or building something new. Remember when you were a kid and you went to the store alone for the first time, how proud you felt, how accomplished. As adults, we can have a similar feeling when building a piece of furniture or fixing something broken in the house.
It’s an amazing sense of independence and purpose. My husband and I have spent countless hours working on our house together and not only have we made a wonderful home, but we have grown even closer. Unfortunately, today, people have less and less time or resources to deal with home improvement.
Two home improvement giants, Home Depot and Lowe’s, both saw declines in foot traffic, particularly in the first half of 2025. In Q1, year-over-year foot traffic fell 3.8 percent for Home Depot and 3.5 percent for Lowe’s due to a “slow housing market and other headwinds,” according to data from Placer.
While the second half of the year was better for both big retailers, fewer people visited these types of stores overall, “due to price increases, job losses and higher interest rates,” explained Todd Campbell, longtime Wall Street analyst and co-editor-in-chief of TheStreet.
In November 2025, Campbell wrote about Home Depot under pressure from changes in customer behavior such as:
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Fewer visits: Decrease in pedestrian traffic.
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Project scaling: Instead of massive, lavish renovations (like a full kitchen remodel), homeowners are limiting themselves to smaller, essential repairs or DIY projects.
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Budgetary tension: High mortgage rates and the rising cost of living have made it difficult for people to take out loans, such as home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), to cover major home improvements.
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Focus on value: Customers are much more focused on finding deals and upgrades with high ROI rather than just aesthetic updates.
To address all these challenges, Home Depot just made two major strategic moves, enhancing high-tech utility with AI-based project planning and on-site convenience through partnerships with Wahlburgers.
The home improvement king announced Jan. 26 that it is launching a new Material List Builder AI to help professional renovators, builders and specialty tradespeople create actionable project material lists in minutes.
The new feature uses AI technology to interpret the intent of the project and generate a grouped list of materials needed for the entire job.
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Natural language: Users can describe the project in plain English, for example: “We are doing a major bathroom remodel, replacing the double sink with a more modern one, adding new recessed lighting, two new mirrors, and a new toilet.”
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Voice-to-Text: Contractors can create hands-free lists.
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File uploads: Professionals can copy and paste existing lists directly from spreadsheets, texts, emails, notes apps or other documents, and AI will automatically identify the right Home Depot products.
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Starter Templates: For common jobs such as bathroom renovations, kitchen renovations or installation on floors, AI provides a pre-fabricated foundation to build on.
Source: Home Depot
“Professors often tell us that the most valuable resource for any job is time, so we’re focused on providing solutions that enable professionals to work smarter and faster. Material List Builder AI generates reliable and comprehensive job lists in a fraction of the time it takes to complete this process manually, and professionals can spend more time focusing on their customers and the job at hand,” said Home Depot Executive Vice President Mike Rowe Pros.
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Home Depot has always prided itself on offering expertise in addition to standard retail service. In fact, its reputation for expertise was built on a deliberate strategy of hiring retired professionals.
In 2004, Home Depot was the first major retailer to form a national partnership with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), The Seattle Times reported.
However, newer reviews on platforms such as retirement.jobs suggest a shift in recent years, with some older workers claiming the company has started recruiting younger workers.
The latest strategic moves indicate that Home Depot aims to restore its authority in the experience and take it to another level through the use of modern technology.
“Customers expect the retailer to be an authority on their home improvement projects, and that level of customer service needs to carry over to AI-driven interactions,” Jordan Broggi, president of online and EVP of customer experience, told CX Dive.
By automating the project list creation process, Home Depot is banking on more loyalty from professionals who want to spend less time in the aisle and more time on the job site.
This isn’t the only key move Home Depot has made this year in an attempt to increase foot traffic and reassert dominance in the home improvement retail sector.
On January 26, Wahlburgers, the popular burger brand founded by Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg and his brothers Donnie and Chef Paul, announced new high-traffic locations and the expansion of strategic partnerships, including the one with Home Depot.
And while Home Depot almost always had food offerings, they were usually local hot dog vendors, making these Wahlburgers trailers sort of a modern, upscale version of the old hot dog stand that longtime customers remember from the ’90s.
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Food Trailers: Instead of building full restaurants inside, Wahlburgers is deploying custom food trailers parked right outside the stores.
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Current release: The pilot has already been launched in three locations in Florida (Rockledge, Stuart and Vero Beach), with massive national expansion planned throughout 2026.
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The objective: For Wahlburgers, this is part of a growth strategy to meet customers where they already spend time, whether it’s a hardware store or an airport. For Home Depot, however, the goal is to enhance on-site convenience for its customers.
Source: Wahlburgers
Industry experts agree that these two latest moves should mesh well with today’s consumer demands.
“Home Depot is moving towards experience in a smart way. AI tools make projects easier, but Wahlburgers trailers give people a reason to come and hang out. Foot traffic is down, and that shows that if you want shoppers back, you have to give them something they can’t get online. Consumers want experiences,” RTMNexus CEO Dominick said in a statement to The MiserandinoStreet.
More retail:
Recent industry data confirms that consumers are no longer reluctant to use AI assistance for shopping purposes. In fact, 71% of consumers want to shop with the help of generative AI, according to December 2025 data from Capital One Shopping.
Furthermore, a Global Retail Industry Outlook 2026 by Deloitte suggests that in 2026, “retailers may face a structural shift towards the pursuit of value, considering what constitutes a fair price.”
To compete in a value-seeking environment, retailers should evaluate their consumer offering based on price, quality, experience and trust factors.
“The winners in this new era will likely be those who invest in technology-based capabilities that can give brands the power to improve quality, attitude and trust, and create personalized experiences that feel worth the price,” Deloitte concludes.
Through these two strategic moves, Home Depot aims to provide a more efficient and hospitable service that could be a winning ticket.
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This story was originally published by TheStreet on January 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the Retail section. Add TheStreet as a favorite source by clicking here.