“To make your company competitive and attractive to job candidates you must offer an exceptional total benefits package” (Obringer, 2003, par.1). This is especially true in the current economic environment. Employee needs are changing, so companies are being forced to reconsider their compensation and benefits packages. The home improvement industry is no exception to this phenomenon. Companies like Ace Hardware, Lowes Home Improvement and The Home Depot have had to adapt their benefits packages to stay competitive in an industry with ever-changing employee demographics. The following pages will include a comparison of all the benefits offered by Ace Hardware, Lowes Home Improvement, and The Home Depot, as well as a look at whether or not their strategies appear to have been successful. Most of the benefits are available to all employees, but some of them are only available to company team members. To ensure all available benefits are covered and for comparison purposes, the focus of this report will be on the company level of benefits. Also due to the wide salary ranges between entry-level employees and corporate employees, this report will not focus on salaries. Before comparing each company's benefit plans, it is worth discussing the history of the three companies. According to lowes.com, Lowes Home Improvement was founded in 1946, there are more than 1825 stores, employ more than 240,000 people and is the second largest home improvement retailer in the world (nd). According to homedepot.com, The Home Depot was founded in 1978, which makes it quite young compared to the other two companies, but it is the largest home improvement retailer in the world (nd). Acc...... middle of paper ......and Hardware are three very similar companies when it comes to benefits packages. Each offers a wide range of benefits to meet the needs of any employee. The way each company handles the business and customer service aspects is not the same and may not always be successful, but all three have been successful when it comes to having an attractive benefits plan. Works Cited About Lowe | Lowe's Press Room. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2014, from http://media.lowes.com/about-lowes/Ace Hardware. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2014, from http://www.acehardware.com/corp/index.jsp?page=aboutObringer, L. (2003). HowStuffWorks "How employee compensation works." Retrieved from http://money.howstuffworks.com/benefits.htmOur Company. (n.d.). Retrieved February 7, 2014, from https://corporate.homedepot.com/OurCompany/Values/Pages/default.aspx