The first store outside of United States was in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is now the 2nd largest home improvement store chain in North America and has begun developing outside the United States. Like other companies in the home improvement retail space, Lowe’s strategy involves aggressive expansion. The company operates over 2,000 stores in America and Canada, having closed its business in Mexico in mid-2019. It’s headquartered in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, home of its founder Lucius Smith Lowe. Lowe's has since grown nationwide, as it was aided by the purchase of the Renton, Washington-based Eagle Hardware & Garden Company in 1999. Lowe’s is America’s and the world’s second-largest hardware chain. Lowe's began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1979. It wasn’t until 25 years later, during the post-WW2 boom, that the company was founded as we know it today. By 1962, Lowe's ran 21 stores and reported annual revenues of $32 million. The Lowe’s lineage traces back 99 years According to Wikipedia, Lucius Smith Lowe opened what would become the first Lowe’s hardware store in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina back in 1921. His five-person executive team, which included Leonard Herring and Robert Strickland, took the company public in 1961. In 1961, Buchan died of a heart attack at age 44. More stores were started throughout the 1950s. In 1954, Lowe began the Lowes Foods grocery store chain.Īs of 1955, Buchan quickly expanded the company by opening stores in the North Carolina cities of Charlotte, Asheville, and Durham. Lowe and Buchan varied on extending the company to new areas, and they split in 1952 with Buchan taking control of the hardware and building supply business and Lowe taking other joint ventures the two controlled. Founder Lucius Smith Lowe left the business to his daughter, Ruth Buchan, who later sold the company to her brother, James Lowe. Jim took on Carl Buchan as a partner in 1943. After Lowe died in 1940, his daughter Ruth, who sold the company to her brother Jim that same year, inherited the business. By 1962 Lowe's operated 21 stores and reported annual revenues of $32 million.In 1921, Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware was opened in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina by Lucius Smith Lowe. His five-man executive team, which included Robert Strickland and Leonard Herring, took the company public in 1961. In 1960 Carl Buchan died of a heart attack at age 44. Lowe started the Lowes Foods grocery store chain in 1954.īuchan quickly expanded, opening stores by 1955 in Asheville, Charlotte, and Durham, North Carolina. The company bought a second store in Sparta, North Carolina, in 1949.Ĭarl Buchan and Jim Lowe differed on expanding the company to new areas, and they split in 1952, with Buchan taking control of the hardware and building supply business, and Lowe taking other joint ventures the two controlled, including a car dealership. Before then, the product mix had also included notions, dry goods, horse tack, snuff, produce, and groceries. Under Buchan's management, the store focused on hardware and building materials. Jim took on Carl (honorably discharged after receiving an injury) as a partner in 1943. Jim Lowe and Ruth's husband, Carl Buchan, both served in World War II, and during the war, the store was run by Ruth and her mother. She sold the company to her brother, Jim, that same year. The business was inherited by his daughter, Ruth, when Lucius died in 1940. Lowe opened Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in 1921.
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