Walmart expands private brands with hardware overhaul, Mainstays Kids launches
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Walmart is advancing its private label strategy with a major overhaul of its home and hardware divisions.
The retailer announced Wednesday that it is revamping its hardware department with an exclusive Greenworks Pro line of tools and expanded Hyper Tough offerings. At the same time, Walmart is launching Mainstays Kids, its first home brand in five years.
Courtney Carlson, senior vice president at Walmart, told FOX Business that the strategy is focused on bringing more choice, innovation and value to customers.
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Customers shop at a Walmart store on May 13, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois. (Photos by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“We always want to bring more variety to our customers so they have choice, variety, and to offer them more solutions,” Carlson said. “Our private brands are an important part of that strategy because our vision is to create brands that deliver unmatched quality through exceptional designs, innovation, and value to our customers.”
Continued demand from do-it-yourself (DIY) consumers helped drive the decision to restart the hardware department, according to Carlson.
“For us it’s about investing in what we see our customers doing, and we have a lot of DIY customers,” he said.
The launch of Mainstays Kids comes as parents increasingly seek more personalized and design-oriented environments for their children, according to Carlson.
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Customers shop at a Walmart store on May 13, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois. (Photos by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“What we’ve seen is that parents really want to invest in their kids’ rooms, design their kids’ rooms, and see it as an extension of their own home,” said Carlson. “But they want it to be able to specialize in what their kids like.”
Carlson said Walmart developed the brand with a lot of feedback from parents and kids throughout the design process. The seller tested the products directly with families and children.
“We put the customer at the center and developed and designed with them all the way through,” Carlson said.
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A shopper carries a bag at Walmart in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Andrej Ivanov/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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The expansion of Walmart’s private label strategy follows the company’s extensive investment in its physical environment. Last month, Walmart announced plans to remodel more than 650 of its stores in the US and open about 20 new stores in 2026 and early 2027.
The pressure also comes as retailers increasingly use branded products and special assortments to compete on price, differentiate retailers and appeal to increasingly value-conscious shoppers.
“This investment is intended to create jobs, help strengthen the local economy, and make shopping faster and easier for our customers,” Walmart said at the time, adding that the new stores and renovations will boost construction jobs during the projects while creating long-term roles in store, pharmacy and retail leadership.
Eric Revell of FOX Business contributed to this report.
