Lowe's Home Improvement Store
 |
|
| Public | |
| Traded as | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Predecessor | Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware |
| Founded | 1946 North Wilkesboro, North Carolina |
| Founder | Lucius Smith Lowe Carl Buchan |
| Headquarters | Mooresville, North Carolina, U.S. |
|
Number of locations
|
1,840 (as of March 2015) |
|
Areas served
|
United States, Canada, Mexico |
|
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.
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.
Lowe and Buchan differed on expanding the company to new areas and they split in 1952 with Buchan (himself) 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. In 1954, Lowe started the Lowes Foods grocery store chain.
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