Lodi News-Sentinel

Lowe’s to close dozens of stores

- By Katherine Peralta

Lowe's is closing 51 underperfo­rming stores across the U.S. and Canada.

The Mooresvill­e, N.C.-based home improvemen­t retailer announced early Monday that it will shut down 20 stores in the U.S. and 31 in Canada in an effort to "focus on its most profitable stores and improve the overall health of its store portfolio."

None of the U.S. stores that are closing are in the Carolinas, according to the list posted on Lowe's website.

Lowe's said it will conduct store-closing sales, and that all of the affected locations are expected to close by Feb. 1, the end of its 2018 fiscal year. Its two Manhattan stores will close immediatel­y, and the inventory from those stores will be transferre­d to nearby locations, according to the company.

In a research note Monday, Credit Suisse analyst Seth Sigman said Lowe's decision is "a positive step towards improving productivi­ty of the chain." Sigman noted that the stores set to close may have been hurt by their proximity to Home Depot stores and other Lowe's stores.

Of the U.S. stores being closed, 75 percent have another Lowe's within 10 miles, and 90 percent have a Home Depot store within 10 miles, Sigman wrote.

Lowe's said affected U.S. employees will have the opportunit­y to transfer to similar roles in nearby locations.

Lowe's will offer severance to those who aren't offered jobs at nearby stores, as well as to eligible Canadian employees, spokesman Steve Salazar said. "We will work hard to ensure this transition is as smooth as possible for our associates and customers," he added.

Lowe's currently operates 2,390 home improvemen­t and hardware stores, including 1,740 in the U.S. The majority of the Canadian stores set to close are under the Rona banner, a chain that Lowe's bought in 2016 for $2.3 billion.

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