Lowe's To Build Customer Support Center In Indy

July 22, 2014

Lowe's plans to build a customer support center in Indianapolis, a move that will create up to 1,000 new jobs by 2016.

The world's second largest home improvement retailer plans to invest $20.5 million to purchase, renovate and equip a 140,000 sq. ft. office facility at Intech Park 12, 6620 Network Way, on the northwest side of Indianapolis.  The new customer support center will support stores and Internet sales, delivery services and repair services for Lowe's customers across the United States.  The facility is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2015 and will complement the company's existing customer support centers located in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

"Indiana provides national companies like Lowe's with the perfect building blocks for success," said Governor Mike Pence.  "We have taken all the parts required - a central location, low taxes and a skilled workforce - and assembled them perfectly here in Indiana.  Indiana is a state that works for business because we have built the business climate companies like Lowe's need for growth and success."

Lowe's, which currently employs nearly 7,900 people in Indiana, plans to begin hiring for positions at the new customer support center immediately.  EmployIndy will offer assistance during the hiring process.  Available positions, beginning with the site director position, will be posted this week with additional positions to follow.  Applications are accepted online at Lowes.com/careers.

"We chose Indianapolis becaus of the talented and experienced workforce who we believe can provide outstanding service to our customers," said Don Easterling, Lowe's VP, contact center.  "Indianapolis adds a strategic Midwest location to our network of customer support centers located in North Carolina and New Mexico.  We appreciate the support of both state and local officials that helped make this a win-win project."

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Lowe's Home Centers up to $5,500,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $100,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans.  These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives.  The City of Indianapolis will consider tax abatement and additional funding for the direct infrastructure associated with the facility at the request of Develop Indy, a business unit of the Indy Chamber.

"Internationally recognized companies, like Lowe's, are choosing Indy as the place to expand because of our welcoming business climate, central location, and talent pool," said Mayor Greg Ballard.  "Indy has seen tremendous business growth this year, and as the city's unemployment rate continues to fall, we look forward to continuing this course."

With national companies like Lowe's picking the state for their new operations, Indiana's workforce growth in June was the largest in the nation.  During the past year, Indiana has added more than 53,000 Hoosiers to its labor force.  The state's unemployment rate has declined 1.7% over that period, which is the ninth largest decrease in the nation.

Source: Retailing Today  

Winter Fails To Freeze Earnings At Lowe's In First Quarter

May 21, 2014

Bad weather for retail dampened sales at Lowe's, but earnings surged well into the double digits for the first quarter, the company announced Wednesday morning.

Lowe's sales increased 2.4% in the first quarter, rising to $13.4 billion.  Comparable-store sales increased 0.9%.

The Mooresville, North Carolina-based retail giant reported a net earnings surge of 15.6% to $624 million for the quarter ended May 2.

Lowe's quarterly earnings report followed by one day the report from Home Depot, which outperformed Lowe's in terms of sales.  Lowe's showed the higher percentage gain in net earnings - 15.6%, compared with Depot's 12.5%.

Both retail giants pointed to the challenges of operating through a season hampered by a late start to spring.

"We executed well during the quarter, despite an unexpectedly prolonged winter in many areas of the country," commented Robert A. Niblock, Lowe's chairman, president and CEO.  "While poor weather dampened traffic and negatively impacted performance of exterior categories, results for indoor categories were solid.  We effectively aligned inventory, staffing and marketing resources by climatic zone to best serve customers' needs."

As of May 2, 2014, Lowe's operated 1,836 home improvement and hardware stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico, representing 200.7 million sq. ft. of retail selling space.

For the full fiscal year, Lowe's said total sales are expected to increase approximately 5%, while comp-store sales are expected to increase about 4%.

Early second-quarter performance suggests Lowe's is on the right path, Niblock said.

"Performance has improved in May, which - together with our strengthening execution - gives us the confidence to reaffirm our sales and operating profit outlook for the year," he said.

In other news, Lowe's has a new SVP in Michael Tummillo, who is taking over the Building and Maintenance division as SVP and general merchandising manager.  He replaces Michael McDermott, who will now serve as CMO and direct supervisor to Tummillo.

"Mike has a deep understanding of the business and the challenges our professional and DIY customers face every day," said McDermott.  "During his time at Lowe's, Mike has demonstrated the kind of strategic thinking and leadership across functions which will position him for success as he takes on responsibility for the broader building and maintenance merchandising team.  I have great confidence that Mike will deliver our strategic goals in this important segment of the business."

Tummillo was most recently serving as merchandising VP, rough plumbing and electrical.  He joined Lowe's in 2004 as VP credit services, soon after acquiring additional responsibilities in credit, project and event sales.  His resume also includes stints at GE card services and GE financial assurance.

Source: Retailing Today 

Lowe's Expands Partnership With Porch.com

April 29, 2014

Lowe's and Porch.com have expanded their strategic partnership to the more than 1,700 Lowe's home improvement stores across the U.S.

Every Lowe's store in the country now features Porch as the in-store resource to help homeowners find the right home improvement professionals for nearly any project outside of Lowe's current installation services.  In addition, home improvement service professionals can sign up for a free Porch profile to help increase the exposure of their business to homeowners in need of their specific services.

"While we have already been able to help our customers with projects like installing flooring or remodeling a kitchen, our partnership with Porch means we can now guide customers to find help for nearly any home improvement service, from routine maintenance to dream projects," said Jay Rabello, VP new business development and corporate innovation at Lowe's.  "Homeowners trust Lowe's products and project expertise, and now that relationship can extend to the search for home improvement pros by providing a highly personal, localized experience through Porch."

Porch was first introduced at Lowe's stores in the Carolinas and the Seattle area in January.  If a Lowe's customer needs a professional for a service Lowe's does not currently offer, such as handyman, painting or landscaping services, employees can access the Porch network of pros on their mobile devices and in-store terminals to identify local providers.

"From day one, Porch has been on a mission to make home improvement simple, easy, and delightful," said Matt Ehrlichman, CEO of Porch.  "We launched our product just over six months ago and thanks to the enthusiastic feedback and support of our customers, Porch is becoming a true center of gravity for home improvement professionals and homeowners, enabling them to connect and work together like never before.  Our team is excited to continue our collaboration with Lowe's to improve every facet of the home improvement experience."

The partnership with Porch is the latest in a series of technology initiatives Lowe's has introduced to enhance the in-store support employees can offer customers, including equipping employees with iPhones to help customers access information, view how-to videos or locate product in the store efficiently.

Source: Retailing Today 

Lowe's Appoints Chief Customer Officer

March 4, 2014

Lowe's has named Michael A. Jones as the company's chief customer officer, effective April 30.  Jones currently serves as Lowe's chief merchandising officer, overseeing the full merchandise offering for all Lowe's U.S. stores and Lowes.com, as well as all global sourcing activities.

Jones will succeed Gregory M. Bridgeford, who plans to retire after 32 years with the company. In his new role, Jones will be responsible for overseeing customer experience design, merchandising, marketing and communications and digital interfaces.

"I am confident that Mike is the right person to succeed Greg as chief customer officer.  During the past 14 months, Mike and Greg have worked closely together and have made terrific progress in further elevating and enhancing the Lowe's customer experience," said chairman, president and CEO Robert A. Niblock.  "In assuming this new role, Mike brings extensive leadership experience, expertise in key product categories relevant to the home improvement business, understanding of the need for vendor collaboration, and a clear focus on the customer.  We look forward to his further contributions to Lowe's."

Jones joined Lowe's in January 2013 with more than a decade of executive leadership experience in sales, service, product management and international business, serving with Husqvarna as president and EVP for North and Latin America from 2009 until joining the company in 2013.  Before his role at Husqvarna, Jones spent 15 years at General Electric, where his most recent role was general manager of global cooking products from 2007 to 2009.  Jones received a bachelor's degree in business administration from California Coast University in Santa Ana, California.

"At the same time, Lowe's thanks Greg for his extraordinary dedicaton to the company throughout the past three decades," added Niblock.  "As Lowe's has grown from a regional hardware chain in the 1980s to the nation's second-largest home improvement company today, Greg has been a valued member of our organization.  Two years ago, I asked Greg to delay his retirement plans and assume the role of chief customer officer to lead our efforts as we became a more customer-focused enterprise.  Greg has built a world-class team that is executing on our strategy, so that the timing is now right for Greg to pass the baton to Mike.  We wish greg all the best in his retirement."

Bridgeford was promoted to chief customer officer in 2012, after serving as EVP of business development since 2004.  Bridgeford joined Lowe's in 1982 as executive assistant to the chairman, and has served in a variety of increasingly responsible positions, including VP of corporate development, SVP of merchandising/general merchandising manager, SVP of marketing, and SVP of business improvement, and real estate, engineering and construction.  Bridgeford has a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Virginia and earned an MBA from Wake Forest University.

Source: Retailing Today

Lowe's Delivers In Q4 Despite Severe Winter Weather

February 26, 2014

Severe winter weather was no match for Lowe's in the fourth quarter.  The company reported sales of $11.7 billion, up 5.6% from the same quarter last year, as comps increased 3.9%.  The company also posted fourth-quarter net earnings of $306 million, up 6.3%.

"During the quarter, we delivered solid performance in core home improvement categories, balancing softer sales of seasonal gifts and holiday decorations," said CEO Robert Niblock.  "When extreme winter weather arrived late in the quarter, our distribution network responded quickly and efficiently to move product where it was most needed."

For the full year, sales reached $53.4 billion, a 5.7% increase over 2012 sales.  Comps for the year finished at 4.8%, as net income surged 16.7% to $2.3 billion.

Looking ahead, Lowe's expects total sales for fiscal 2014 to increase about 5%, and comparable store sales to increase about 4%.  The company expects to open about 15 home improvement stores and five Orchard Supply hardware stores.

Niblock added that he was pleased with the progress Lowe's made during 2013 and that the retailer continues to "transform."

As of January 31, Lowe's operated 1,832 stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Source: Retailing Today

Lowe's Gears Up For Its Busiest Season

February 19, 2014

A week after rival Home Depot announced plans to hire 80,000 seasonal spring employees, Lowe's announced its plans to hire approximately 25,000 seasonal employees at its U.S. stores for the busy spring season.

Seasonal jobs available are focused on customer support and include cashiers, lawn and garden employees, loaders and stockers.

The number of hours worked per week will vary based on the needs of individual stores, but, on average, seasonal employees could work an estimated 20 or more hours per week.  The length of the seasonal employment varies; however, seasonal employees are most needed in spring and summer months, typically from February until September.  The company plans to hire and train new seasonal employees first in areas where the climate has begun to warm, and continue on a market-by-market basis by climate and geography.  Hiring has already begun in Florida, south Texas, Arizona and southern California where warmer, spring-like temperatures are arriving.

"Warmer temperatures stir homeowners to get started on projects they've planned during winter and they are often challenged when choosing the right products and solutions for their homes," said Scott Purvis, VP, human resources, operations.  "As spring arrives, our stores are stocked with popular new tools, lawn and garden, paint and patio products.  We want our stores staffed with knowledgeable employees who provide exceptional service and make shopping and selection easier for our customers."

Source: Retailing Today

Lowe's Partners With Porch.com

January 15, 2014

In an effort to expand its service capabilities, Lowe's has partnered with Porch.com, a home improvement network that connects homeowners with over 1.5 million professionals.  The partnership aims to connect customers with home improvement pros for nearly any project outside of what Lowe's currently offers as part of its installation services. 

"Working with Porch is another great example of how Lowe's supports our customers throughout every step of the home improvement journey," said Jay Rebello, VP new business development and corporate innovation at Lowe's.  "By partnering with Porch, Lowe's can help our customers achieve their home improvement dreams by providing them with the confidence of knowing who their neighbors have used successfully, and benefit our professional customers by providing them greater opportunities to grow their business."

"For millions of people, the home is the biggest investment of their lives.  Home improvement projects are an essential part of owning or renting a home - finding the right professionals should be easy, delightful, and connected," said Matt Ehrlichman, CEO of Porch.  "Now, Lowe's customers can not only buy high-quality products to make their home improvement projects a reality, they can connect directly with local professionals their neighbors have used."

To be introduced at Lowe's stores, the partnership will make its first touchdown in 139 stores in the Carolinas and the Seattle metro area.

Source: Retailing Today

Lowe's Stumbles In Second Quarter

Lowe's posted declines in net sales, comp-store sales and earnings in the second quarter ended August 3. 

"Our results fell short of our overall expectations," said Robert Niblock, Lowe's chairman, president and CEO.  "However, I have confidence in our strategy and in our employees, and while we recognize the significant magnitude of change that we've asked the organization to absorb as we transform our business, we fully understand that we must improve our level of execution." 

The world's second largest home improvement retailer posted sales of $14.2 billion in the quarter, down 2.0% from $14.5 billion in the same quarter last year.  Comp-store sales in the quarter were negative 0.4%.  Earnings of $747 million were down 10.0% from the same quarter a year ago.

The quarterly comparisons in 2012, which is a 52 week year, are impacted by a shift in comparable weeks.  For the six month period, comparable store sales increased 1.0%.

Currently, Lowe's operates 1,748 stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with 196.8 million square feet of retail selling space.  That compares with rival Home Depot's store count of 2,255 stores.  Last week, Home Depot reported gains in comps and sales and a double digit percentage gain in net earnings.  

See related article: http://www.acceleratedanalytics.com/blog/2012/8/15/earnings-jump-124-at-home-depot.html 

Source:  retailingtoday.com

Lowe’s reports sales, earnings gains on warmer weather

Lowe’s reported net earnings of $527 million for the quarter ended May 4, a 14.3% increase over the same period a year ago.  Sales for the quarter increased 7.9% to $13.2 billion, from $12.2 billion in the first quarter of 2011.  Comparable-store sales for the quarter increased 2.6%, while comparable-store sales for the U.S. business increased 2.7%.

“We delivered solid results for the quarter, consistent with our expectation at the beginning of the year,” said Robert A. Niblock, Lowe’s chairman, president and CEO. “While we capitalized on better than anticipated weather during most of the quarter, demand for seasonal products slowed toward the end.”

Lowe’s results follow a few days after its rival Home Depot announced first quarter sales and earnings increases of 5.9% and 27.5%, respectively.  Included in the results is a charge related to a previously announced reduction in staff at U.S. headquarters. This charge reduced pre-tax earnings for the first quarter by $17 million.

“We continue to maintain a cautious view of the housing and macro demand environment, and are focused on what we can control,” Niblock added. “We are building on our core strengths and strategically investing in ways that will better position Lowe’s for success. I would like to express my gratitude to our employees for their continued dedication and customer focus.”

Lowe’s operates 1,747 stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico representing 196.7 million square feet of retail selling space.

Source:  retailingtoday.com

Lowe's improves customer focus with newly created exec roles

Lowe's has created two new executive positions, with the goal of streamlining its operations to better serve its customers. The new positions are chief customer officer and chief operating officer, and they will be filled by current EVP business development, Gregory Bridgeford, and Rick Damron, EVP store operations, respectively. The promotions are effective May 5, and both executives will report to Robert Niblock, chairman, president and CEO.

“As we continue to transform Lowe’s to a leaner, more nimble, multi-channel company, we took a hard look at our organizational structure and opted to make changes to support our efforts to deliver outstanding customer experiences,” said Niblock. “Lowe’s is fortunate to have a deep and talented bench of executives like Greg and Rick, with experience across home improvement disciplines. I am confident these leaders can deliver on our goals to serve customers whenever and however they choose to engage with Lowe’s.”

In his role as chief customer officer, Bridgeford will be responsible for creating experiences that will best serve customers and differentiate Lowe’s from its competitors. The CCO’s functional areas will include customer experience design, merchandising, marketing and communications, digital interfaces, and pricing and promotion. Bridgeford has more than 30 years of experience in home improvement, having served in business development and strategic planning roles since 1999. He joined the company in 1982 and has served in a variety of increasingly responsible roles, including SVP merchandising and SVP marketing.

Damron's responsibility as COO will be to deliver the customer experience. He will oversee stores operations, sales and service fulfillment, product fulfillment, real estate and facilities, and loss prevention and safety. Damron joined Lowe’s in 1981 and has worked in every aspect of the company’s store operations, and has also served as SVP of logistics. He has served as EVP store operations since 2011, with responsibility for all of Lowe’s stores as well as the company’s specialty sales businesses.

Source:  retailingtoday.com

Lowe's Net up 13%

Lowe's reported a 13% increase in earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter and same store sales were up 3.4%.  The second largest home improvement retailer has been closing stores and reshaping its operations in an effort to increase profits and compete with rival Home Depot.   For 2012, Lowe's forecasts a total sales increase of 1% to 2% with same store sales increasing 1% to 3%.  

Lowe's Integrating Planning and Execution (IPE)

Lowe’s announced poor 2Q11 financial results with anemic growth and flat same store sales recently.   To improve performance, CEO Robert Niblock and EVP merchandising Bob Gfeller are implementing Integrating Planning and Execution (IPE), which places an emphasis on putting the right product in the right store at the right quantity.  This new focus got our attention since we provide EDI 852 data analysis and reporting to Lowe’s vendors.  Putting the right product in the right store at the right quantity is exactly what vendors use EDI 852 to accomplish.  Localized merchandising is the right strategy for Lowe’s, but they may run into some challenges executing the strategy with vendor’s assistance.  

Many vendors we work with have Lowe’s as a customer, as well as other ‘big box’ retailers.  Across the board, these vendors get EDI 852 from their big box retail customers and we help them analyze the data at a SKU/store level.  But many of these vendors choose not to use Lowe’s EDI 852.  Instead,  they opt to pull reports from LowesLink®.  LowesLink® is a fine system for pulling reports.  The problem is the reports offer a snapshot of performance, not an analysis system.  If the vendor does not have a database to store weekly SKU/store data, it is nearly impossible for them to analyze weekly sales effectively and efficiently enough to participate in localized merchandising strategies.  Lowe’s does have Vendor DART which offers analysis tools, but the most powerful tools are reserved for large vendors.  

Weekly analysis of EDI 852 at a SKU/store level is the foundation of a successful program like Lowe’s IPE.  Vendors know their products best and there are simply too many products for Lowe’s staff to conduct weekly SKU/store level analysis.  For Lowe's Integrating Planning and Execution (IPE) to be successful long term, they must get vendors actively using the EDI 852.

LowesLink® is a registered trademark of LF, LLC.

Lowe's EDI 852 Standards

Lowe's provides vendors with the opportunity to receive product activity data via EDI 852. The EDI 852 data is used to report actual unit sales, on-hand, on-order and order receipts. Vendors are expected to use the data to identify items deserving increased service levels and fill rates as well as those targeted for inventory reduction. Lowe's requires vendors to document how the data will be used and how it will benefit both parties.

Item activity can be received for all items by location. This detailed data can be very useful if the vendor has the tools to process the data and quickly analyze activity. The key is to have the tool do the work, so your administrative team is not stuck with hours of data manipulation in Excel, or worse yet, on printed reports. 

Lowe's provides the following fields on their EDI 852 files: quantity sold units, quantity sold dollars, quantity on-hand units, quantity on-hand dollars, quantity on order units, quantity on order dollars, quantity on requisition from RDC units, quantity on requisition from RDC dollars, quantity received units, quantity received dollars, requisition quantity received units, requisition quantity received dollars. Not all fields are always populated in all files.

Sales units and sales dollars will match between EDI 852 and Lowe's Vendor DART. But inventory on hand units may be different due to damaged inventory. Vendor part numbers are not transmitted in EDI 852. Only the Lowe's SKU number is sent. Canadian EDI 852 is transmitted in Canadian Dollars and US sales are transmitted in US dollars. Note that Vendor DART is not available for Canada.

Lowe's EDI 852 Reporting

If you are a vendor supplying to Lowe's, you are eligible to receive product sales activity and inventory data via EDI 852. Preparing to setup and receive the EDI 852 files can be confusing, and creating usable reports for your team can be very time consuming. Fortunately, Accelerated Analytics® provides a simple, outsourced service for all your Lowe's EDI 852 reporting needs.

Using Accelerated Analytics® makes all your reporting headaches go away. With Accelerated Analytics®, we handle all the data conversion, database hosting and reporting. We even provide training and the end user reporting tools. 

Accelerated Analytics® benefits:

• Eliminate manual data entry and manipulation
• Consolidate all Lowe's store data on all your SKU's into one reporting database
• Pre-built exception reports with color coded dashboards
• No software or hardware to purchase
• Sophisticated charts and graphs

Available reports:

• This weeks sales and inventory by store and SKU
• Last weeks sales and inventory by store and SKU
• This months sales and inventory by store and SKU
• 6 week rolling sales and inventory by store and SKU
• Sell-thru
• Inventory turns
• Days supply on hand 

Accelerated Analytics® will give you the ability to anticipate changes in sales and inventory, so you can make adjustments before a costly mistake occurs. Our EDI 852 reporting is the best on the market. 

Positive Signs In Retail

Nordstrom and Lowe’s both reported big increase in profits, and their CEO’s believe the economy is improving, and their sales will continue to improve.

Nordstrom's Profit More Than Doubles
Upscale department-store chain Nordstrom Inc. reported a 152 percent increase in profits during the quarter ended Jan. 30, underscoring how its strategy of expanding price points and carrying more exclusive merchandise is leading to more full-priced selling. The 108-year-old Seattle retailer missed Wall Street's profit expectations by two cents a share on higher expenses and credit card delinquencies. The company's shares fell 3.8% in after-hours trading, to $34.75.  Nordstrom maintained a cautious outlook for 2010, noting that it expects same-store sales to increase between 2% and 4%,

Lowe’s Profits Up 27%
Lowe's Cos. reported a 27% jump in fiscal fourth-quarter earnings amid signs that U.S. consumers are at least starting to consider home-renovation projects again, after more than three years of hesitation. Chief Executive Robert A. Niblock said, the home-improvement retailer's first year-over-year quarterly earnings increase in seven quarters suggests "the worst of the economic cycle is likely behind us." Lowe's expects to see a monthly same-store sales increase during the second quarter—the retailer's peak selling season.