DIY projects ramp up; so do sales at Lowe’s

Home improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos. became the latest big box retailer to report surging sales during the fiscal second quarter as Americans are finding more ways to improve their home during the pandemic.

Comparable store sales in the U.S. spiked 35.1% at Lowe’s, and online orders more than doubled.

The report, issued Wednesday, comes one day after Home Depot reported similarly explosive sales.

Lowe’s move to revamp its outdated online business paid off in the fiscal first quarter, as shoppers shut in because of the pandemic shifted to online services for supplies for their do-ityourself home projects. Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison told analysts during the earnings call Wednesday that many of these projects weren’t planned on the list, but were extra projects.

“Customers are finding projects around the house,” he said. “We don’t see this as pull-forward. We see this as incremental.”

During a call with The Associated Press, Ellison said that some of the money from the government stimulus checks is spurring sales, but shoppers are also diverting their spending away from traveling and other areas toward the home.

Lowe’s revenue for the three months ended July 31 climbed to $27.3 billion from $21 billion, the company said Wednesday, far better than the $24.85 billion analysts expected, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

Online sales soared 135%, while same-store sales, including those outside the U.S., rose 34.2%.

Ellison said in a prepared statement that customers seemed mostly focused on repair and maintenance of their homes.