Many HomeBase stores have already been padlocked in the wake of the company's Tuesday announcement that it would permanently close 22 of its stores and convert 62 others to House2Home stores. The company's House2Home concept, in which everything from furniture to wallpaper is sold under the same giant roof, made its debut at a handful of Southern California locations earlier this year.

Though HomeBase's withdrawal is the first major casualty of the nation's fierce war between home-improvement stores, most experts agree that it won't be the last. Despite signs that the HI industry's revenue growth is slowing, most of the nation's home-improvement chains--often anchor tenants in new retail projects--continue to open stores at a fevered pitch.

In a way, HomeBase's fate was cast when archrivals Home Depot and Lowe's, the nation's two largest HI chains, each began aggressive expansion efforts in Southern California. Home Depot's SoCal charge began in earnest around 1998, while Lowe's joined the fray only last year.