Article: Prices under the gun: housewares issue at hardware show. (National Hardware Show)

CHICAGO--The heat is on at the National Hardware Show here and it has nothing to do with the outside temperature.

With the high cost of raw materials putting pressure on housewares vendors, and slow consumer sales squeezing retailers, some heated discussions are likely this week as the two sides look for ways to drive business without sacrificing profits in the second half and beyond.

"One of the biggest issues is price increases, and what's going to be acceptable," said the buyer for a major hardware co-op.

In most categories, price increases continue to be a challenge. Earlier in the year vendors in a number of categories, including home storage, ...

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