Lowes Companies News

Lowe's Companies Inc. provides about 1,200 jobs in Wilkes County and plans to keep a sizable workforce in the county, said Larry D. Stone, Lowe's president and chief operating officer.

"We've got a great workforce here (in Wilkes)… people with a great work ethic here and tremendous roots to Lowe's. There's no reason we can't continue to grow parts of the business here," said Stone in a recent interview. He said the company plans to grow its customer contact center and other parts of the business at the corporate complex on U.S. 421 in Wilkesboro. Stone said it's premature to share more details until the economy turns around. He also mentioned plans for facility improvements to the corporate complex on U.S. 421 in Wilkesboro.

Lowe's Corporate Representative says Geno's Steaks "are a lot of hype"

Mark Clark, Lowe's Recruiting said...

recruiting made the obligatory trip to South Philly to have an authentic cheese-steak at Gino's. Personally, I think the originals are a lot of hype. I've had better cheese-steaks at Duckworth's in Mooresville, NC. Don't get me started on the price, why you have to go to two separate windows and the fries were warm and soggy

People everywhere are begging for jobs. Why does Lowe's need ANYONE in a recruiting department in this economic environment? Just post available jobs online and people will come running.

Lowe's Companies, Inc. has decided to use the Statesville municipal airport after local leaders agreed to move up the schedule to extend the runway in order to make room for the Lowes Private Jet Fleet. In a time when corporate excess has come to the forefront and the use of private jets has come into question, the move to have a local airport expand their operations in order allow a few top brass at Lowes easy access to their private jet has raised much debate.

Wal-Mart joined with a large union and a liberal think tank on Tuesday to endorse the idea of an employer mandate in health care reform, setting the major retailer apart from most other businesses.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) hosted its semi-annual Board of Directors meeting this week in Washington DC. Robert A. Niblock, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Lowe's Companies, Inc. also serves as Chairman of the RILA Board of Directors.

RILA opposes legislation that would mandate coverage for specific health benefits, force employers to provide a specific level of coverage, or that would otherwise result in increased costs to retailers.

Home gardeners need to inspect their tomato plants for late blight. Tomato plants at large retail outlets, such as Lowe's, Home Depot and Walmart, are being pulled from shelves across the Northeast as the fungus spreads.

Some infected plants were found at a Lowe's store in New York, the OARDC said, and it's possible plants from the same supplier were distributed elsewhere.

Plant vendor Bonnie Plants, which supplies many of the tomato plants for Lowe's, Home Depot and Walmart, grows much of the New York supply of tomatoes at a facility in New Berlin. Dennis A. Thomas, general manager, said the facility had a clean inspection two weeks ago and a second inspection Monday that discovered five plants with spots.

Spokespeople for Wal-Mart and Home Depot said they will be offering refunds to anyone who bought a diseased plant. Spokesmen for Lowe's and Kmart could not be reached Tuesday.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009 Home Depot has dropped from second to fourth-largest among U.S. retailers based on revenue, according to the retail magazine Stores and the National Retail Federation. Home Depot has dropped from second to fourth-largest among U.S. retailers based on revenue, according to the retail magazine Stores and the National Retail Federation.

Atlanta-based Home Depot’s sales fell 7.8 percent in 2008, to $71.3 billion. Lowe’s, Home Depot’s main home improvement rival, rose a spot to take eighth place, on revenues of $48.2 billion, down 0.1 percent.

Five companies based in the Charlotte region are included in Stores magazine's Top 100 Retailers List, which is based on 2008 revenue.

Larry Stone was 17 and had started college in his native Wilkes County when he was hired for a part-time, minimum-wage job in the mailroom and print shop of a local hardware chain with 58 stores: Lowe's. That was 40 years ago this month, and Stone has been with the company ever since, less a stint in basic training for the National Guard. With stops in Hickory, Raleigh, Cary and North Wilkesboro, he rose through jobs in sales, store and district management and in the corporate office before being named president and chief operating officer in 2006.

Retired U.S. Navy admiral Joseph Prueher and retired U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks have resigned as board members at Bank of America Corp. Robert Tillman, a former Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (NYSE:LOW) chief executive, resigned from the BofA board effective May 29. And on May 29, the bank announced that former lead independent director O. Temple Sloan had left the board. BofA didn’t disclose Sloan’s reason for resignation. Sloan, head of Raleigh-based General Parts Inc., had been a BofA director for 13 years.

An employee at Lowes Home Improvement at 1920 N.W. Maynard Road in Cary allegedly threw his smock at his manager and caused a disturbance in the store on June 21 at 8:34 p.m. The manager had found the 25- year-old male reportedly not doing his job and fired him on the spot, precipitating the smock-throwing incident. When police arrived, the former employee had left the premises and the manager didn’t wish to prosecute.

Lots of folks in the same boat stocked up on fans this weekend at Lowe's. The run had employees restocking several times a day. "I don't think it's as much as an AC as an energy efficiency thing and trying to cut back on their electricity," said store manager Sherra Ogden. Currenlty, a fan isn't an option for everyone. In the past, a call to 211 would have gotten callers on the list to get a fan, but not this year. This is no list.

The state promised the new exit years ago as an incentive to lure the national headquarters of Lowe's Companies Inc., the home improvement retailer accessible from Exit 33 and N.C. 115. Lowe's is paying to build a road straight to its headquarters from Langtree Road near the new exit . Work started on Exit 32 in March 2007. The exit leads to Lowe's in one direction and to the planned $800 million Langtree at the Lake mixed-use development in the other direction. Langtree Road will eventually be expanded to serve as an east-west connector between I-77 in south Iredell and Interstate 85 in Cabarrus County. The connector would link with N.C. 3 through the counties.

When selecting a bathroom faucet, the identity of the house comes to mind. If you are looking for functionality, looks, and ease of maintenance Kohler is most likely the answer.

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - He was there to hold your hand time and time again when you thought you couldn't do it. And Sunday, it was your turn to return the favor. "The popular gifts right now are grills, gift cards, tools and lawn mowers," said Lowes Department Manager, Jennifer Patterson. Father's Day is big business with Americans expected to spend around nine billion dollars for their dads this year. "Actually we've had heavy traffic. We had a lot of traffic yesterday," said Patterson. And businesses are doing all they can to reel customers through their doors. "The tools are 10-percent off, the mowers and all of that," said Patterson.

Customers who walk into the nursery at Lowe's in Brookings will find themselves being waited on by the reigning Miss South Dakota. She isn't wearing her sash and crown, of course, but that tall, helpful woman is Alexandra Hoffman. The Eureka native has been working full-time at the store since the third week of May. In addition to her nursery job, Hoffman is taking two summer classes at South Dakota State University in Brookings and training for her return to competitive swimming. She will again be part of the swimming and diving team this fall at SDSU, where she will be a junior, studying broadcast journalism.

The National Retail Federation says Americans are expected to spend an average of $90.89 on gifts for dad, which is down from $94.54 last year. Nationwide, total spending is expected to reach $9.4 million. Shoppers are expected to spend the most on dinners or a sporting event, followed by clothing, gift cards and electronics. Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse on Washington Road is having a Father's Day gift card promotion. If shoppers buy a Lowe's gift card valued at $50 or more, they get one of three Kobalt tools for free, said Tyrone Outen, the department manager of hardware. Stan Frazier, the zone manager at Lowe's, said customers are buying more gift cards than other items.

The Autism Education Center on 23rd Street in Panama City is getting some help before it opens its doors to the Autistic children of Bay County. The Lowe’s in Panama City and in Panama City Beach have teamed up to carry out the stores annual 'Heroes' project. About 30 volunteers from both locations worked to build a 400-foot fence around the back of the center. The fence will protect the children from the 12-foot ravine on the outskirts of the property. Michael Sullivan, a Lowes manager told us all the workers had volunteered to do the work and Lowe’s donated the materials. "Each store has a Hero's program that they can identify something that's going to benefit the entire community. And we thought what better than to help our children in the community, particularly those with autism." The Lowe's volunteers also donated and built a swing set for the children.

In an apparent attempt to catch up with modern times, Home Channel News has created a twitter account. On which, HCN takes a position in the debate on the sale of glue traps at Lowe's.