Lowe's
 |
|
| Public | |
| Traded as | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1946 North Wilkesboro, North Carolina |
| Founder | Lucius Smith Lowe |
| Headquarters | Mooresville, North Carolina, U.S. |
|
Number of locations
|
1,840 (as of March 2015) |
|
Areas served
|
United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia |
|
Key people
|
Robert Niblock(Chairman, President and CEO) |
| Products | Home Improvement, appliances |
| Revenue |
 $59.07 billion (FY 2016) |
|
$4.42 billion (FY 2016) |
|
 $2.53 billion (FY 2016) |
|
| Total assets |
$31.81 billion (FY 2016) |
| Total equity |
$7.65 billion (FY 2016) |
|
Number of employees
|
265,000 (2014) |
| Subsidiaries |
Orchard Supply Hardware Rona, Inc. |
| Website | www |
Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a Fortune 500 American company that operates a chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the chain has 1,840 stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. 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 in early 2010. In 2011, Lowe's released plans to build over 150 stores in Australia (as Masters Home Improvement) over the next five years, hoping to compete with the U.S. $2 industry. As of 2010, the chain is based in Mooresville, North Carolina. Lowe's is the second-largest hardware chain in the United States behind The Home Depot and ahead of Menards. Globally, Lowe's is also the second-largest hardware chain, again behind The Home Depot but ahead of the European stores B&Q and OBI.
The first Lowe's store, Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware, was first opened in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina in 1921 by Lucius Smith Lowe (1879 - 1940). After Lowe died in 1940, the business was inherited by his daughter Ruth, who sold the company to her brother Jim that same year. Jim took on Carl Buchan as a partner in 1943.
Buchan anticipated the dramatic increase in construction after World War II, and under his 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 location in Sparta, North Carolina in 1949.
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