Rick Shafer

Why I Sold Lowe's Short

Not sure I agree. As a department manager for a new Lowes store, I have seen an increasing amount of traffic over the past year as customers react to the housing market slump. While it is true that sales are not stellar, our gross sales on higher margin product such as nursery and seasonal goods is up as much as 20% over expected performance. Sales ARE down on lower margin raw materials like lumber etc but contractor sales are holding strong. Hard goods like appliances continue to be very strong. Lowes has reacted well in choosing to have a flexible product mix within the 'big box home improvement' theme. We ain't just another hardware store...My advice: buy!