The metro Toledo market was vacated just a few years ago by national chains of home-improvement stores, but by next year it will be battleground for three megachains.

The remarkable turnaround stems from the added stores of Home Depot, the entrance this year of Lowe's, and the expected entrance by next year of Menard's. Those will give local hardware and lumber stores, along with The Andersons general stores, tough competition.

Much like in the recent grocery and drugstore wars locally, consumers could benefit, at least in terms of convenience and possibly in prices. One analyst said Toledoans should benefit, forcing each store to hold down its prices and step up marketing.

``We'll have a lot of choices of where to buy hammers,'' said Dave Long, a commercial real estate agent with C.B. Richard Ellis/Reichle Klein in Springfield Township.

The metro area has four Home Depot stores, three stores owned by The Andersons, two Sears Hardware stores, and bevy of lumber yards either privately-owned or part of a chain.

But four to six new home-improvement stores are expected, each 80,000 to 115,000 square feet, by the end of 2003.

The latest is a store under construction by Lowe's Cos., of North Wilksboro, N.C., on Central Avenue between McCord and King roads in Sylvania Township. The firm also bought in January the site of the former Cub Foods stores at 5501 Airport Hwy. where it plans to put another store.

Lowe's, which had $22 billion in sales in last year and is the No. 2 home-improvement chain behind Home Depot, is negotiating for sites on Alexis Road in Toledo and on State Rt. 20 in Rossford.

Meanwhile, Atlanta-based Home Depot, which had $40 billion in sales last year, has asked Oregon officials to approve what would be its fifth local store at the southwest corner of Navarre Avenue and Lallendorf Road.

And Menard's, a family owned chain based in Eau Claire, Wis., last week purchased land in a shopping plaza at 1801 Spring Meadows West Dr. in Springfield Township . The plaza now has a Farmer Jack's store.

It is unlikely Menard's will settle for just one local store, Mr. Long said.

``It'll be interesting,” said Sam Zyndorf, a commercial real estate agent with Toledo's Zyndorf/Serchuk LLC. “It's like the grocery stores. They can't all survive.''

Lowe's and Menard's are likely to steal customers, Mr. Long said, from area lumber yards and Sears, plus paint specialty stores, and department stores like Kmart that have home d cor departments.

Jim Hinkle, head of retail operations for The Andersons, said the Maumee agribusiness probably will try to distinguish itself from the home improvement chains. For example, last year the company added a fine-meats department at its Maumee general store and is doing the same now at its Talmadge Road store.

``We don't want to get into a battle with them, there's no doubt,'' Mr. Hinkle said. ``Price doesn't seem to be an issue. We've got to be right there with them. If they make an adjustment, we'll make an adjustment.''

Still, he said, he is concerned about the sheer number of home-improvement stores in the area, making it more convenient for customers than driving farther to an Andersons. “Those cutoffs tend to be critical and that concerns us,'' Mr. Hinkle said.

Mike Porter, an analyst with Morningstar, Inc. in Chicago who has watched the three national chains battle each other in Illinois, said the Toledo scene is not unusual.

Menard's is expanding, while Home Depot and Lowe's, driven by Wall Street expectations, are going head-to-head more frequently than they did in the past.

``To the everyday consumer, there's very little differentiating between the (Home Depot and Lowe's),'' Mr. Porter said.

``They're both very large stores. Generally what happens is when Lowe's comes to town, it grabs the people who are fed up with Home Depot. Lowe's has seen what Home Depot has done right and done wrong and adjusted their store mix accordingly.''

While that could hurt local Home Depot stores, at least initially, the Atlanta company has moved moved aggressively to cater to building contractors, most of whom have shown great loyalty to the retailer in the past.

While Toledo customers should be helped by the intense competition, Mr. Porter said, Menard's feels ``less warehouse-y'' than Lowe's or Home Depot. Menard's doesn't have high stacked shelves to the ceiling and resembles Handy Andy before that retailer went bankrupt, he added.

Maureen Carini, an analyst with Standard & Poor's in New York, called the fixtures in Lowe's more consumer friendly than Home Depot, but said their merchandise is similar. Lowe's tend to attract more female shoppers, she added.

But most consumers won't notice much difference, she said. ``They'll be stealing customers from each other,'' she said.

First Published April 10, 2002, 7:35 a.m.