| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NYSE: LOW S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Retail Home Improvement |
| Founded | North Wilkesboro, North Carolina (1946)[1] |
| Headquarters | Mooresville, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Number of locations | 1,749 (January 2011)[2] |
| Area served | United States Canada Mexico |
| Key people | Robert Niblock (Chairman and CEO) |
| Revenue | US$ 48.815 billion (FY 2010)[2] |
| Operating income | US$ 3.560 billion (FY 2010)[2] |
| Net income | US$ 2.010 billion (FY 2010)[2] |
| Total assets | US$ 33.699 billion (FY 2010)[2] |
| Total equity | US$ 18.112 billion (FY 2010)[2] |
| Employees | 234,000 (2011)[2] |
| Website | Lowes.com Lowes.ca |
Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a U.S.-based chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores. Founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the chain now serves more than 14 million customers a week in its 1,710 stores in the United States and 20 in Canada. Expansion into Canada began in 2007, with the opening of a store in Hamilton, Ontario, in early 2008. Lowe's started the construction of two stores in the Mexican city of Monterrey officially entering the Mexican market.[3] In 2011, Lowe's released plans to build over 150 stores in Australia over the coming 5 years, hoping to compete with the AUD$46 billion industry. Lowe's Companies, Inc. is 43 on the Fortune 500[4] list. As of 2010, the chain is based in Mooresville, North Carolina, near Charlotte, North Carolina. Lowe's is the second-largest hardware chain[5] in the U.S. behind The Home Depot and ahead of Menards. Globally, Lowe's is also the second-largest hardware chain, again behind The Home Depot and ahead of the European stores B&Q and OBI.
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Lucius S. Lowe opened Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in 1921. The business was inherited by his daughter, Ruth, when Lucius died in 1940. She sold the company to her brother, Jim, that same year. Jim Lowe and Ruth's husband, Carl Buchan, both served in World War II, and during the war, the store was run by Ruth and her mother. Jim took on Carl (honorably discharged after receiving an injury) as a partner in 1943.
Under Buchan's management, the store focused on hardware and building materials. Before then, the product mix had also included notions, dry goods, horse tack, snuff, produce, and groceries. The company bought a second store in Sparta, North Carolina, in 1949.
Carl Buchan and Jim Lowe differed on expanding the company to new areas, and they split in 1952, with Buchan taking control of the hardware and building supply business, and Lowe taking other joint ventures the two controlled, including a car dealership. Buchan became the sole owner of Lowe's. Lowe started the Lowes Foods grocery store chain in 1954.
Buchan quickly expanded, opening stores by 1955 in Asheville, Charlotte, and Durham, North Carolina. More stores opened through the 1950s.
In 1960, Carl Buchan died of a heart attack at age 44. His five-man executive team, which included Robert Strickland and Leonard Herring, took the company public in 1961. By 1962 Lowe's operated 21 stores and reported annual revenues of $32 million.[1][6]
Lowe's continued to expand throughout the southeast United States.
It suffered in the 1980s, due to market conditions and increasing competition from the new big-box chain, The Home Depot. For a while, Lowe's resisted adopting the mega-store format, partly because Lowe's management believed that the smaller towns where Lowe's mostly operated would not support huge stores. However, Lowe's eventually had to adopt the big-box format in order to survive. Today most Lowe's stores are of the big-box variety, though some classic format stores remain in smaller markets.
Lowe's has since grown nationally, aided by the purchase of Eagle Hardware & Garden in 1999. It is now the second-largest home improvement chain in North America and has begun expanding outside the United States, starting with the Southern Ontario area. The first store outside of United States was in Hamilton, Ontario, at Barton Street and Woodward Avenue.
Lowe's announced on August 25, 2009, that it had entered a joint venture with the Australian retailer Woolworths to enter the Australian market with 150 big box style superstores. Trading under the brand Masters Home Improvement, the first store opened in Braybrook, Victoria, to tradesmen on August 31, 2011, and the general public on September 1, 2011.
Lowe's Companies is based in Mooresville, North Carolina.
The headquarters of subsidiary Lowe’s Companies Canada, ULC are located in Toronto, Ontario and opened in 2006.[7]
Lowe's is organized geographically into Divisions (Northeast, Southeast, North Central, South Central, and West), Regions, Districts and then the individual store. It is decentralized. A Lowe's store can have anywhere from 80 to over 400 employees depending on the size and sales volume.
Lowe's is also one of the top 50 trademark applicants according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.[8] As with other large retailers across North America, Lowe's also owns and exclusively sells certain brands.[9]
Lowe's has won eight consecutive ENERGY STAR awards (2003–2010), including four ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year awards for educating consumers about the benefits of energy efficiency. On March 1, 2010 Lowe's also became the first winner of the ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award in Retail. The award recognizes Lowe's long-standing leadership as a retailer of energy-efficient products. Lowe’s was awarded for its outstanding contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through promoting energy-efficient products and educating consumers and employees on the value of the Energy Star program.[10] In 2000, Lowe’s released a policy promising that all wood products sold would not be sourced from rainforests. "Our new environmental policy represents a major victory for the forests and our customers," said Bob Tillman, Chairman and CEO of Lowe's. "Our customers expect Lowe's to deliver the best quality lumber and wood products that have been responsibly harvested and produced by our suppliers."[11] However according to a new report released by the Environmental Investigation Agency, wood used in flooring that Lowe’s has been selling is coming from the forests of Indonesia’s remote Papua Province, where 80 percent of logging is estimated to be illegal.[12] As part of Lowe's ongoing effort to preserve the environment, the company uses direct deposit for its payroll. Employees without a bank account receive a Chase Payroll Card. As of 5/2010, over 250,000 Lowe's employees participate in direct deposit.
Lowe's has two flagship locations both in the cities of Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
In 2006, Lowe's partnered with designer Marianne Cusato to develop and offer affordable house plans for the hurricane-affected Gulf region. Lowe's is the exclusive retailer for both the plans and building materials for the Lowe's Katrina Cottage. They offer easy construction and affordability, as well as the possibility of expansion. Moreover, they meet all international building codes and exceed hurricane codes.[13]
Lowe's has a wide variety of television and radio commercials. A significant number of different racing-inspired commercials can be seen and are often played outside of television race coverage. Gene Hackman's voice can be heard on many commercial advertisements for Lowe's. However, Ben Yannette is currently doing the Lowe's advertising campaign voice-overs.[14]
In 2006, Lowe's began sponsoring the radio broadcast booth of the New York Yankees. Frequently during every game Yankees announcer John Sterling states "We are coming to you live from the Lowe's Broadcast Booth. Lowe's: Let's build something together.". The tag line has been changed in September 2011 to 'Never Stop Improving'.
Lowe's and other landscaping companies landscape some areas of Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
The domain lowes.com receives at least 7 million unique visitors per month.
Lowe's purchased naming rights of Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, in 1998, and the speedway changed names to Lowe's Motor Speedway. After the ten year naming rights expired, Lowe's extended naming rights by one year. After the one year extension expired, Lowe's discontinued naming rights, and as of the 2010 racing season the racetrack returned to its original name. Lowe's is an associate sponsor of several Speedway Motorsports, Inc. properties such as Atlanta Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.
The corporation is the primary sponsor for five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson in the #48 Chevrolet Impala SS and a part time sponsor of the #5 Nationwide Series team; both teams are owned by Hendrick Motorsports. Prior to the current sponsorship deal with Hendrick Motorsports, Lowe's was the sponsor of the #31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing driven by Mike Skinner and Robby Gordon from 1997 to 2001. Prior to the RCR deal, Lowe's was the primary sponsor of the #11 Ford driven by Brett Bodine for Junior Johnson And Associates, and later, Brett's own team, Brett Bodine Racing (after Bodine bought the #11 team from Johnson).
Lowe's also sponsors Fernandez Racing in the American Le Mans Series and previously sponsored the team in the Rolex Sports Car Series; in that series, Lowe's sponsors the #99 Gainsco Stallings Racing Pontiac in events where Johnson is driving.
Lowe's withdrew its advertising from the TLC reality television show All-American Muslim in December 2011.[15] One organization that criticized the show was the Florida Family Association, which claimed that the TV show was "propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda's clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values."[16] A spokesperson for Lowe's said that "we understand the program raised concerns, complaints, or issues from multiple sides of the viewer spectrum, which we found after doing research of news articles and blogs covering the show."[15]
Lowe's faced a backlash from several quarters, including Muslim-American and Arab-American organizations. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee called upon members to contact Lowe's to urge it to reverse its position.[17] The Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations met to consider possible actions, including boycotts and protests.[18] Several celebrities also called for a boycott.[18] California State Senator Ted Lieu called Lowe's decision "naked religious bigotry" and said he would consider legislative action if Lowe's did not apologize to Muslim-Americans and reinstate the ads.[16] Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League expressed similar views.[19] Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, criticized Lowe's decision to "uphold the beliefs of a fringe hate group and not the creed of the 1st Amendment."[18] Representative John Conyers of Michigan called on Lowe's to apologize. Michigan state representative Rashida Tlaib contacted the company's corporate headquarters, reporting that Lowe's declined to change its decision.[17]
Based in Toronto, Ontario, Lowe's opened its first three stores in Canada on December 10, 2007, in Hamilton, Brampton and Brantford. On February 1, 2008, they opened three more stores in Toronto, East Gwillimbury and a second store in Brampton as well as a new location in Maple (Vaughan).[20] Currently, additional stores are under construction, with 19 now open in the province of Ontario. Lowe's also recently announced expansion into Western Canada, starting with three new stores in Calgary, Alberta. One of the three locations opened in late September 2010. The other two are projected to open in early 2011.
Each store represents an average investment of $20.5 million ($20.4 million USD).[21]
Trading as Masters Home Improvement, the first store opened in Braybrook, Victoria to tradesman on 31 August 2011, and the general public on 1 September 2011. Masters is a joint venture of the Lowe's Companies Inc. and Woolworths Limited to compete against Wesfarmers' owned Bunnings Warehouse which operate in the large bigbox format similar to Lowe's and Home Depot.
The stores will be 1/3 owned by Lowe's Companies Inc.(USA) and 2/3 owned by Woolworths Limited (Australian Owned Public Company Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
Six company holidays are standard including New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. All holidays except Thanksgiving and Christmas are working holidays, with full-time employees receiving eight hours of holiday pay which can now be banked and utilized, and part-time employees receiving four.
Full-time hourly employees are entitled to two weeks of vacation after one year of service, three weeks after five years of service, and four weeks after fifteen years of service, while salaried corporate employees with prior experience often receive two weeks of vacation immediately. Lowe's also offers a comprehensive service reward to long-term employees, such as additional vacation time and a series of gifts, ranging from a two-year pin to a thirty-year Rolex watch.[22]
Lowe's offers health, vision, and dental plans for full-time employees. In addition, part-time employees are eligible for health benefits as well, although the part-time employees' health plan is more limited than those offered for full-time employees. Lowe's further offers a variety of other health-and-wellness benefits including optional pre-paid legal services and a program called LifeTrack, which offers programs and rewards to encourage healthy behavior in employees (including smoking cessation and weight-loss programs and incentives).[22]
Lowe's offers a 401(k) plan for employees after six months of employment. Employees are given a wide selection of mutual funds to invest in, as well as company stock. In addition, Lowe's contributes a baseline match to all employees following 180 days of service. Employees can contribute up to 50% of their paycheck, and the company will fully match the first 3% and partially match up to 6% after the employee has been enrolled in the program for a full year. In addition to the 401(k) plan, employees may also elect to participate in a stock-purchase program in which employees contribute either a flat dollar amount or a percentage of their paycheck for a period of 6 months, after which the company purchases Lowe's stock for the employee at a discount equal to 15% off the price of the stock on the last day of the 6 month period.[22]
Lowe's was involved in a small cluster of class action lawsuits, that all revolve around Lowe's employee payment system. The cases focused on a pay practice known as "variable rate overtime". Variable rate overtime has the effect of paying a decreasing overtime rate the more hours a person works in a week. The suits alleged that salaried managers who worked between 40 and 50 hours per week, were improperly compensated for that time. The variable rate overtime ended in the first quarter of 2006.
The first case was filed in October 2002 by employees of the Lowe's store in Shawnee, Kansas. In September 2005, the cases were certified as class action. Lowe's has four similar cases in New York, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The lawsuits for New York, Indiana and Kansas resulted in an out-of-court settlement on September 22, 2006.[23]
The lawsuit in Pennsylvania became a class-action lawsuit in June 2004, with 550 employees.[24][25]
The case in Ohio was filed by ten former Lowe’s employees, in August 2004.[26]