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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.<ref name="Lowe's History">[http://lowes.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=history Lowe's History]</ref><ref>"Carolinas FYI: About Lowe's and Lowes," ''The Charlotte Observer'', March 16, 2003.</ref>
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.<ref name="Lowe's History">[http://lowes.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=history Lowe's History]</ref><ref>"Carolinas FYI: About Lowe's and Lowes," ''The Charlotte Observer'', March 16, 2003.</ref>

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 store|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 (Hamilton, Ontario)|Barton Street]] and Woodward Avenue.

Lowe's announced on August 25, 2009, that it had entered a joint venture with the [[Australia]]n retailer [[Woolworths Limited|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 [[tradesman|tradesmen]] on August 31, 2011, and the general public on September 1, 2011.


==Corporate affairs==
==Corporate affairs==

Revision as of 17:39, 30 August 2012

"Lowes" redirects here. For other uses, see Lowes (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Loews.
Lowe's Companies, Inc.
Company typePublic
NYSE: LOW
S&P 500 Component
IndustryRetailing
FoundedNorth Wilkesboro, North Carolina (1946)[1]
HeadquartersMooresville, North Carolina, U.S.
Number of locations
1,749 (January 2011)[2]
Area served
United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia
Key people
Robert Niblock
(Chairman and CEO)
ProductsHome Improvement
RevenueIncrease $ 50.2 billion (FY 2012)[3]
Increase $ 17.3 billion (FY 2012)[3]
Increase $ 1.8 billion (FY 2012)[3]
Total assetsDecrease $ 33.5 billion (FY 2012)[3]
Total equityDecrease $ 16.5 billion (FY 2012)[3]
Number of employees
161,000 (February 2012)[3]
Websitewww.lowes.com

Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a U.S.-based chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores that has retail stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. 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.[4] In 2011, Lowe's released plans to build over 150 stores in Australia over the coming five years, hoping to compete with the AUD$46 billion industry. Lowe's Companies, Inc. is 43 on the Fortune 500[5] list. As of 2010, the chain is based in Mooresville, North Carolina. Lowe's is the second-largest hardware chain[6] 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.

History

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][7]

Corporate affairs

Lowe's #487 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
A typical Lowe's storefront in Santa Clara, California.
File:Smokey Point Lowe's.jpg
A Lowe's in Smokey Point, Washington as seen from a nearby freeway.
Interior in Orlando, Florida

Headquarters

The Lowe's headquarters facility, Customer Support Center-South,[8] is located in Mooresville, North Carolina.[9] The facility, the newest Lowe's corporate campus, is 25 miles (40 km) north of Charlotte and contains a five story, 400,000-square-foot (37,000 m2) building. The building has a central atrium and two office wings; the atrium houses a food court, a five story spiral staircase, and meeting and reception rooms. A 7-acre (2.8 ha) lake flows underneath the headquarters building.

The Lowe's Customer Support Center-West is situated in Wilkesboro in North Carolina.[8] The building was formerly the Wilkes Mall, until 1997 when Lowe's bought the entire property. Since then, the entire 440,000 square-foot campus has been remodeled numerous times, and features a fully gated campus, security gates at all entrances, security guards, cameras, a food court, meeting rooms and others.

The headquarters of subsidiary Lowe’s Companies Canada, ULC are located in Toronto, Ontario and opened in 2006.[10]

Organization

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.

Brands

Lowe's is also one of the top 50 trademark applicants according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office through LF, LLC.[11] As with other large retailers across North America, Lowe's also owns and exclusively sells certain brands. Some of the brands sold exclusively at Lowe's Stores are included below: [12]

  • Allen & Roth (Home Decoration)
  • "Levolor" (Blinds)
  • Utilitech (Electrical and Plumbing Supplies)
  • AquaSource (Fashion Bath Products)
  • "Arizona" (Fashion Bath Products)
  • "Grohe" (Fashion Bath Products)
  • "Franke" (Fashion Bath Products)
  • "Insignia" (Fashion Bath Products)
  • "MarCraft" (Fashion Bath Products)
  • "Dekor" (Fashion Bath Products)
  • Portfolio (Exclusive-Lighting)
  • "Bel Air" (Lighting)
  • "Sea Gull" (Lighting)
  • "Kichler" (Lighting)
  • "Royce" (Lighting)
  • Harbor Breeze (Exclusive-Ceiling Fans and Accessories)
  • "Litex" (Ceiling Fans and Accessories)
  • Kobalt (Tools)
  • "Porter-Cable" (Tools)
  • Task Force (Tools)
  • Garden Treasures (Patio Furniture and Landscaping)
  • "Scotts" (Lawn and Garden)
  • "BlueHawk" (Hardware)
  • "Schlage" (Hardware)
  • "Pella" (Windows)
  • "Larson" (Doors)
  • Perfect Flame, Charbroil, and Masterforce (Grills)
  • "Troy-Bilt" (Power Equipment)
  • "Husqvarna" (Power Equipment)
  • "American Olean" (Flooring)
  • "Emser" (Flooring)
  • "SoliStone" (Flooring)
  • "Milliken" (Flooring)
  • Precision Components (Flooring)
  • Surface Source (Flooring)
  • "SmartStrand" (Flooring)
  • "Stainmaster" (Flooring)
  • TopChoice (Lumber)
  • "Valspar" (Paint)
  • "Olympic" (Paint)
  • "Minwax" (Paint)
  • "Kraftmaid" (Cabinets)
  • "Brainerd" (Cabinets and Hardware)
  • "Rev-a-Shelf" (Cabinets)
  • "HotPoint" (Appliances)
  • "Ninja" (Appliances)

Lowe's Build and Grow clinics

See also: List of Build and Grow clinics

Lowe's Build and Grow clinics are free workshops for children put on by Lowe's on the second and fourth Saturday of each month.

These workshops are free of charge and allow children and their parents an opportunity to experience the joy of building things hands on. Children have a new project at each clinic. They are given an apron and a patch for each project completed.[citation needed] Projects include building boxes, napkin holders, toys such as a dinosaur, and holiday-themed items.

Environmental record

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.[13] 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."[14] 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.[15] 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.

Advertising and sponsorships

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.[16]

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.[17]

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."[citation needed]. The tag line has been changed in September 2011 to 'Never Stop Improving'.

After claims that it was avoiding using the term, Lowe's began using "Christmas tree" prominently in advertising.

Lowe's advertising has been a part of the Christmas controversy in the United States. In 2005, Lowe's signage for their Christmas trees read "holiday trees" in English, but read árboles de Navidad (Christmas trees) in Spanish rather than árboles de feriados.[18] In 2007, Lowe's started using the term "family tree", sparking protest from the American Family Association,[19] but they have since claimed that this term was only a printing mistake.[20][21]

Racing sponsorships

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 it was a part time sponsor of the former #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 & 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.

All-American Muslim advertising

Lowe's withdrew its advertising from the TLC reality television show All-American Muslim in December 2011.[22] One organization that criticized the show was the Florida Family Association, a one-man fundamentalist organization "on the Christian right" that says it's 'defending American values,'"[23][24][25] The organization claimed the show was "propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda's clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values."[26] 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."[22]

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.[27] The Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations met to consider possible actions, including boycotts and protests.[28] Several celebrities also called for a boycott.[28] 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.[26] Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League expressed similar views.[29] 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."[28] 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.[27]

Canada

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).[30] 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.

On July 8th, Lowe's made an unsollicited bid to RONA, a canadian-based retailer hardware in hopes to acquire a greater canadian market share. However, this proposal was reject by the board of directors, stating that this transaction was not in the interest of Canadians. Since this offer went public, many canadian parties and group are trying to acquire stocks to fend off Lowe's proposal.

Each store represents an average investment of $20.5 million ($20.4 million USD).[31]

Australia

Trading as Masters Home Improvement, the first store opened in Braybrook, Victoria to tradesmen 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).

Lawsuits

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.[32]

The lawsuit in Pennsylvania became a class-action lawsuit in June 2004, with 550 employees.[33][34] The case in Ohio was filed by ten former Lowe’s employees, in August 2004.[35]

Lowe's is still facing multiple lawsuits from its Loss Prevention Managers citing that they were misclassified as exempt employees and therefore denied overtime pay. The managers assert that they were forced to work a minimum of 48 hours per week which saved Lowe's and its investors, millions of dollars every year. Lawsuits have been settled for $2.95M in California and $6.2M in Texas.

References

  1. ^ a b Lowe's History
  2. ^ "2010 Form 10-K, Lowe's Companies, Inc". United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Lowe's Companies Inc 2012 Annual Report, Form 10-K, Filing Date Feb 16, 2012" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  4. ^ http://www.lowes.com.mx/
  5. ^ Fortune 500 List
  6. ^ Lowe's targets Canada, No. 2 U.S. home retailer plans 100 store openings to tap into expanding, $39 billion market, Sep 20, 2007 04:30 AM, Toronto Star
  7. ^ "Carolinas FYI: About Lowe's and Lowes," The Charlotte Observer, March 16, 2003.
  8. ^ a b "Our Work Environment." Lowe's. Retrieved on February 1, 2011.
  9. ^ "Fact Sheet for Investors." Lowe's. Retrieved on February 1, 2011. "Lowe's Companies, Inc. 1000 Lowe's Blvd. Mooresville, NC 28117"
  10. ^ "LOWE'S REVEALS WESTERN CANADA EXPANSION PLANS." Lowe's. December 7, 2009. Retrieved on February 1, 2011.
  11. ^ USPTO Top 50 Trademark applicants
  12. ^ Lowe's brands through LF, LLC at USPTO Search
  13. ^ "Lowe's Becomes First Retailer to Win Energy Star Award for Sustained Excellence in Retail". newsblaze.com. 2010-03-01. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  14. ^ "Lowe's Launches Forest Protection Initiative". socialfunds.com. 2000-08-11. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  15. ^ Butler, Rhett A. (2006-03-23). "Home Depot, Lowe's selling illegal wood from Papua New Guinea-Report". mongabay.com. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  16. ^ Lowe's Katrina Cottages F&Q
  17. ^ Elliott, Stuart (28 February 2010). "Lowe's Puts Its Focus on Knowing the Customer's Wants". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  18. ^ "Lowe's listens: 'Christmas trees' Chain dumps 'holiday' reference after WND report, complaints". WND. November 29, 2005.
  19. ^ "Lowe's says 'family trees' a mistake Company confirms it will be selling 'Christmas' decorations". WND. November 14, 2007.
  20. ^ "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Lowe's Family Trees". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  21. ^ "Lowe's Christmas Tree Controversy". WXII-TV. November 14, 2007.
  22. ^ a b Sacirbey, Omar (December 9, 2011). "Companies pull ads from Muslim reality TV show". The Washington Post.
  23. ^ The 2010 federal tax forms for the Florida Family Association list Mr. Caton as its only paid employee, earning $55,200. Source:Freedman, Samuel G. (December 16, 2011). "Waging a One-Man War on American Muslims". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  24. ^ Freedman, Samuel G. (December 16, 2011). "Waging a One-Man War on American Muslims". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  25. ^ Stenovec, Timothy (July 10, 2012). "Florida Family Association Launches Campaign Against Marvel Comics Over Same-Sex Marriage In 'Astonishing X-Men'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  26. ^ a b "Lawmakers Slam Lowe's For Pulling Ads from Muslim-American Reality Show", Fox News, 11 December 2011, retrieved 16 Dec 2011. [1]
  27. ^ a b Muslims consider Lowe's boycott
  28. ^ a b c Lowe's faces backlash over pulling ads from 'All-American Muslim'
  29. ^ "ADL, Reform group rip Lowe’s for pulling ads from show on Muslims." Jewish Journal. 15 December 2011. 16 December 2011.
  30. ^ Lowe's Canada Store Locator
  31. ^ Lowe's says Canadian expansion 'on track'
  32. ^ Lowe's to settle class-action suit, David Twiddy, AP Business Writer, September 22, 2006
  33. ^ Class-action lawsuit faults Lowe's on OT, By James Haggerty, TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER, 02/28/2005
  34. ^ denial of Lowe's motion to dismiss
  35. ^ Liability For Back Pay Looms at Lowe's Stores, LawsuitSearch.com, retrieved March 27, 2008

External links

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