A family business through and through, Lowe soon welcomed his son as well as his son-in-law in the new business. Ruth Buchan became the company owner, and she sold it to James Lowe, her brother, in the same year she inherited it. In , James involved his brother-in-law Carl Buchan as a business partner.
Bringing in Buchan was a great decision made by James as Buchan was the one who foresaw how important construction business would become post World War II. The store then concentrated on providing building materials and hardware solely based on instinct.
A property in Sparta, North Carolina, was bought for a second store in In the following year, , Buchan began expanding and opened three stores in North Carolina. By the end of the same year, Buchan had succeeded in building six stores. Along with this change, a plan concerning profit-sharing was also instituted for the employees.
The retail chain continued gaining profit in the coming couple of decades and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in In the wider world of retail, it's the big blue rival to Home Depot's orange cohort. For its customers, it's a local big-box store that offers the assortment of hardware options necessary for home projects.
Well, the home-improvement chain can trace its roots all the way back to Throughout its history, Lowe's has undergone a number of important transitional phases, which have helped the company to morph into the home-improvement retailer we all know today. Source: Lowe's. Source: Reuters. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation.
Good Subscriber Account active since Shortcuts. Tillman, who had served as chief operating officer. Tillman was named chairman as well in January By there were more than Lowe's stores, averaging more than 75, square feet per unit. With more than 70 percent of its stores now "big boxes," Lowe's began to concentrate more on expanding into new territory in the mids, aiming to reach the store mark by century-end.
During Lowe's opened 42 more stores. Among these, Lowe's included a test of its first stores in an urban market, Dallas, one in which Home Depot was already entrenched.
Despite the competition, the Dallas stores exceeded initial expectations by 20 percent, and from then on, Lowe's began targeting both large metropolitan areas and its more traditional small and medium-sized markets for growth. To aid its expansion, Lowe's built six new, one-million-square-foot distribution centers located around the country.
The Eagle outlets were gradually rebranded under the Lowe's name. In another 75 stores were added, and the company revamped its web site into a major e-commerce site. Early the following year, Lowe's rolled out its first national television advertising campaign, using the tag line, "Improving Home Improvement," and touting itself as cleaner, better organized, and better lit than the warehouse competition implying, without naming, Home Depot. The campaign's themes were consistent with Lowe's push to attract female consumers, a strategy that a number of analysts considered a key to the company's success; Lowe's catered to women because company research found that females made the vast majority of home improvement decisions.
The first New York City store opened in the spring of Late in Lowe's announced further plans to open more than 60 stores in the New York metropolitan area and northern New Jersey. In the company introduced a smaller prototype format measuring 94, square feet that was designed for smaller, mainly rural markets. A ,square-foot store continued to be the prototype for larger markets. During the fiscal year ending in January , Lowe's store count passed the 1, mark. At the end of the fiscal year, Tillman stepped down from his position as chairman and CEO, having led the company through an amazing period of growth.
Lowe's was the 11th largest retailer in the country. Taking on the daunting task of filling Tillman's shoes was Robert Niblock, who had joined Lowe's in and served as company president since Rather than slowing, growth accelerated under the new leader, as no fewer than new Lowe's opened during fiscal , including the first stores in New Hampshire, the 49th state to join the company ranks.
A like number or slightly more units were planned to be added over the next two years, toward an eventual total of between 1, and 2, At the same time, Lowe's was seeking to spur growth by increasing revenues derived from three areas: special orders, installation services, and commercial customers such as contractors, professional tradespeople, and property management professionals.
In June the company announced plans to move into the Canadian market, aiming to open as many as ten stores in the Toronto area during Expansion into other international markets was under study. Herring pushed for a strategy that would help the company attract more consumers. In the s, most consumers of construction materials were enthusiastic about the do-it-yourself practice.
The construction industry also experienced lots of changes due to the do-it-yourself practice. Most homeowners preferred taking on construction projects such as remodeling or buying a home to hiring a professional. The company also operated over stores by The financing program enabled local builders to access coordinated Federal Housing Administration FHA building plans and loans.
Thanks to the program, contractors managed to fill out government forms they need in their operations. Construction companies also got the chance to build more FHA-approved housing units. The company hired a consultant to remodel its showrooms for them to look like a supermarket. As a result, customers accessed seasonal items like lawn mowers from the front side of the store. Traditional hardware materials were available from the back of the store. The company also managed to boost its advertising efforts, extend its operation hours and update its product lines.
The era of warehouse-style stores began in late s in the United States. The company managed to have stores that were over 20, square feet under its wing by The stores included the 60, square foot store in North Chattanooga, 40, square foot store in Boone, NC and 60, square foot store in Knoxville, Tennessee. The retailer managed to convert its chain of small stores to a chain of large stores.
The allocated cash went to remodeling, relocation and closing expenses. From to , the newly-constructed or remodelled stores were 45, square feet to , square feet in space.
Consequently, the small store designs were left to small markets. All large stores had big gardens and enough space for shoppers to move around. For the first time, the company managed to penetrate the Illinois, Indiana and Maryland markets.
The company considered this market penetration move as part of its restructuring processes. The average square footage rose up to 45, from 26, The retailer succeeded in increasing its number of nationwide stores to after adding 54 new ones.
The new stores were in markets such as Oklahoma, Michigan and Iowa. The company also made plans to penetrate to the Texas market. By , the company owned and operated 23 stores in the state. The company also established its presence in presence in Kansas by opening a store there as well.
Robert L. By , owned and operated over stores with over 75, square feet per unit.
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