A new TV ad for Lowe’s (LOW) features a family getting a copy of a key made as the gravelly voice of actor Gene Hackman reminds viewers: “At heart we’re still a neighborhood store.” It may seem odd for a retailer with $48 billion a year in sales to be promoting a service for which it charges $1.47. Then again, no job is too small in the battered home improvement industry these days.
The housing bust is hammering Lowe’s and archrival Home Depot (HD) hard. Riding high on the real estate boom, each doubled its number of stores since 2000. Now both are seeing sales dive as falling home prices and rising gasoline costs gnaw at consumer confidence. On May 19, Lowe’s reported sales at stores open for at least a year fell 8%, while earnings declined 18%. The following day Home Depot said its same-store sales dropped 6.5% and earnings plunged 64%, due to special charges related to store closings.
With their home-equity lines of credit lines exhausted and home values shriveling, Americans have cut way back on the big-ticket projects, such as remodeling kitchens and bathrooms, that used to ring up hefty sales for the chains. “Those multi-thousand-dollar projects just aren’t there,” says analyst David Strasser, who follows the companies for Banc of America Securities (BAC).
Filed under: Business | Tagged: Ace Hardware, Business, depression, Home Depot, Lowe's, recession, retail, True Value
Isn’t it funny though how CEO’s are quick to pat themselves on the back for great stewardship when all they are doing is riding the right wave, although they quickly blame macroeconomic forces when things go south. Lowes could try, for example, actually training their people to not run the other way when I have a question. That might get customers back in their doors and boost their sales some.