History
The first Lowe's store, Mr. L.S. Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware, opened in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in 1921 by Lucius Smith Lowe.[7] After Lowe died in 1940, the business was inherited by his daughter, Ruth Buchan, who sold the company to her brother, James Lowe, for $4,200,[8] that same year. James took on his brother-in-law H. Carl Buchan as a partner in 1943.[9]
Buchan anticipated the dramatic increase in construction after World War II, and under his management, the store focused on hardware and building materials.[10] Before then, the product mix had also included notions, dry goods, horse tack, snuff, produce, and groceries. Buchan and Lowe started the concept of procuring large quantities of products directly from manufacturers, which eliminated the wholesaler and allowed them to offer customers lower prices.[11] The company opened its second store in Sparta, North Carolina, in 1949.[12]
In 1952, Buchan became the sole owner of Lowe's, and the company was incorporated as Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware. In 1954, Jim Lowe started the Lowes Foods grocery store chain.[13]
In 1960, Buchan died of a heart attack at age 44.[14] His five-man executive team, which included Robert Strickland and Leonard Herring, took the company public in 1961 under the name Lowe's Companies Inc.[10] By 1962, Lowe's operated 21 stores and reported annual revenues of $32 million.[15] Lowe's began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1979.[9] By 1970s, Lowe's revenue reached more than $150 million and, in 1980, to nearly $900 million.[16]
Under the leadership of Robert L. Tillman, who was CEO from 1996 to 2005, Lowe's expanded beyond its traditional Southern base into the Northeast, Midwest, and West, and completed the acquisition of Eagle Hardware & Garden to accelerate growth in the western United States.[17] Lowe's grew nationally, as it was aided by the purchase of the Renton, Washington–based Eagle Hardware & Garden company in 1999.[18][19] The first store outside the United States was in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.[20] According to its website, Lowe's has operated/serviced more than 2,355 locations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico alone,[21] although the Mexican stores were closed in the late 2010s.[22]
Lowe's formerly operated in Mexico with 14 locations: 8 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, 1 in Saltillo, Coahuila, 1 in Hermosillo, Sonora, 1 in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, 1 in Culiacán, Sinaloa, 1 in Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes and 1 in León, Guanajuato. Lowe's Mexico closed all its stores on April 10, 2019.[23]
In 2023, Lowe's sold its Canadian retail business, based in Boucherville, Quebec, to Sycamore Partners for $400 million in cash. They will all be consolidated into Rona stores.[24]
Lowe's agreed to acquire Foundation Building Materials for $8.8 billion in cash in August 2025, purchasing the home improvement supplier with the intention of expanding into the business that serves contractors and builders.[25]
