Lowe’s: a Structural Analysis Essay

Lowes was originally started in 1921 by Lucius S. Lowe in the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina and was called Lowes North Wilkesboro Hardw ar Store. The primary stochastic variable of Lowes had a different product mix that also included notions, dry goods, horse tack, snuff, produce, and groceries. This was when it was run by Lucius S. Lowe. The business was inherited by his daughter, Ruth, when Lucius died in 1940. She in turn sold the company to her brother James Lowe.In that same year that Jim bought the store him and Ruths husband Carl Buchan served in conception War II, during the war Ruth and her mother ran the store. After Carl was injured and honorably discharged in 1943 Jim took him on as a partner. Lowes was founded in 1946 Lowes has grown from a elegant hardware store to the second-largest home improvement retailer worldwide. This is when Carl Buchan took management over and the store started to focus primarily on hardware and building materials. Carl Buchan later bought-out his brother-in-law and partner, James Lowe, and foreseeing the post-World War II building boom.By eliminating wholesalers and dealing directly with manufacturers, Lowes established a lasting reputation for low-spirited prices. Sales began to grow over time and additional Lowes stores opened in neighboring towns throughout western North Carolina. In 1960, Carl Buchan died of a tone attack at age 44. His five-man executive team, which included Robert Strickland and Leonard Herring, took the company public in 1961. By 1962 Lowes operated 21 stores and reported annual revenues of $32 million. In 1979, Lowes began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSELOW).During this time, U. S. housing starts soared and professional builders became Lowes loyal customers, accounting for the majority of Lowes business. In 1982, Lowes had its first billion-dollar sales year, earning a record profit of $25 million. Lowes stores then reported serving a newfangled type of customer d o-it-yourself homeowners seeking to improve the value of their properties. Anticipating their needs while still accommodating contractors, Lowes began to enlarge its stores and expanded its merchandise offerings.The modern Lowes began in 1994, when their new store expansion consisted of only large stores, which they defined as stores with greater than 85,000 square feet of selling space. Expansion continued as Lowes opened a new store on average every week with our 117,000-square-foot (117K) stores in the nations larger metro markets and our newer 94,000-square-foot (94K) stores in the nations small to mid-sized markets. Lowes opened its first stores in Canada in December 2007 and opened its first stores in Mexico in February 2010.Lowes stores stock 40,000 products in 15 product categories ranging from appliances to tools, to paint, lumber and nursery products. Lowes has hundreds of thousands of products available by Special Order offering everything customers need to build, mainta in, beautify and enjoy their homes. Lowes operates more(prenominal) than 1,745 stores in the coupled States, Canada and Mexico. Lowes announced on August 25, 2009, that it had entered a joint venture with the Australian retailer Woolworths to enter the Australian market with 150 big turning point style superstores.Trading under the brand Masters Home Improvement, the first store opened in Braybrook, Victoria, to tradesmen on August 31, 2011, and the general public on September 1, 2011. Today Lowes is the second largest home improvement retailer worldwide and the 7th largest retailer in the U. S. Although times have changed since Lowes first opened its doors in 1946, Lowes values have not the company remains committed to offering quality home improvement products at the utmost prices, while delivering superior customer service. Lowes major competitors include Home Depot and Ace Hardware.In a functional structure the company maintains a CEO with a small corporate staff along with managers in organizational areas such as production, accounting, marketing, R&D, engineering and human resources. Separating the organizational areas of a company allows for specialization in each functional area. However, this separation bath have a negative effect as it makes communication between these areas more difficult. This is the type of structure that Lowes uses today. Lowes shows cost leadership by their low price guarantee, where they will beat any competitors price by 10% on any in stock product.Lowes also uses a differentiation strategy to separate themselves from Home Depot by trying to assembling more to women, with the thought that women make most home design decisions. It is believed within the company that Lowes stores are cleaner and that their blue and red colors are more welcoming than Home Depots bold orange and black. They are also very customer focused by having expert employees who can give customers the knowledge needed to do projects themselves, shown by their lets build something together advertisements. This is what helps to keep Lowes on top and a ageless competitor.