Home Depot vs. Lowes The Home Depot Company Introduction Home Depot company offer a wide range of merchandise and services, and serve three primary customer groups: do-it-yourself customers, do-it-for-me customers and professional customers. A classic Home Depot store stocks approximately 40,000 to 50,000 product items, including variations in color and size. Major product groups include building materials, lumber plumbing, electrical and kitchen; hardware and seasonal, and paint, flooring and wall coverings. To balance the national brand name products it offers, the Company has formed strategic associations with vendor partners to market products under brand names that are only offered through The Home Depot. “As of fiscal year-end 2001, the Company offered products under more than 30 proprietary and other exclusive brands, including Thomasville kitchen and bathroom cabinets; RIDGID power tools; Behr Premium Plus paint; Mill's Pride cabinets; GE SmartWater water heaters, and Vigoro fertilizer.” ("The Home Depot", 2004) “Founded in 1978, in Atlanta, Georgia, The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement retailer currently operating 1,800 stores, including 1,649 Home Depot stores, 50 EXPO Design Centers, one Floor Store and three HD Landscape Supply stores in the United States, 84 Home Depot stores in seven Canadian provinces, seven Home Depot stores in Puerto Rico and ten in Mexico.” The company reported employees approximately 280,000 people. Business Description / Strategic Analysis The Home Depot is recognized as being the leader in the home improvement retail industry by combining the economies of scale inherent in a warehouse format with a level of customer service unparalleled among warehouse-style retailers. ("Home Depot to", 1999) Each Home Depot store stocks approximately 40,000 to 50,000 different kinds of building materials, home improvement supplies and lawn and garden products. New Home Depot stores in the U.S. and Canada range from 114,000 square feet with an additional 20,000 square foot garden center. The stores have a design center staffed by specialized designers who offer free in-store consultation for home enhancement projects ranging from lighting to computer-assisted design for kitchens and bathrooms. Home Depot offers installation services of select products ranging from single-items such as carpet to mor... ... middle of paper ... ...oro, North Carolina: Custom Publication. Norman, A. (2004, Jan). A Citizen's View of Home Depot. Retrieved Feb 12, 2005, from http://www.sprawl-busters.com/hometown.htm Our Heritage. (2005, Jan). In Lowe's - A Company Understood. Retrieved Feb 12, 2005, from http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=frameSet&url=vocuspr.vocus.com/VocusPR30/DotNet/Newsroom/Query.aspx%253FSiteName=Lowes%2526Entity=PRAsset%2526PublishType=Company+Background%2526Title=Company+Overview%2526XSL=CompanyBackground%2526Cache=True Reimers, Jane L. (2003). Financial Accounting A Business Process Application. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Prentice Hall. Securities and Exchange Commission. (2000). Retrieved Feb 19, 2005, from http://sec.gov The Home Depot Company (2004). The Home Depot Company 2004 Annual Review. Atlanta, Georgia: Custom Publication. Home Depot to Implement Cornerstone's Java Technology-based Point-of-Sale Software. (1999, Jan). Retrieved Feb 19, 2005, from http://www.360commerce.com/article.php?article=342§ion=1&tid=77 The Home Depot Report Record First Quarter 2004 Earnings. (2004, Mar 18). Retrieved Feb 19, 2005, from http://ir.homedepot.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=135414&ShSect=E
Established as the older company of the two, Lowe’s ranks forty-second as a Fortune 500 company. Established in 1946 as a small hardware business, Lowe’s has grown into a 40,000 product, global market enterprise that consist of 1,710 stores nationwide expanding into the countries of Canada, Mexico and Australia (Lowe's Internal, 2010) Home Depot, founded in 1978, is the fastest growing retailer in the United States. Ranked twenty-ninth as a Fortune 500 company, Home Depot continues to remain the number one do-it-yourself retail store in America. These two companies may sell products of the same nature, but comparing their Code of Ethics is their way of setting themselves apart. (Home Depot Internal, 2009)
In the early 2000’s Lowe’s was rapidly intensifying its presence nationwide. The company carried a varied assortment of home improvement products and catered to the needs of retail as well as commercial business customers. Lowe’s expanded their reach by acquiring a 41-store chain, Eagle Hardware and Garden, and engaging in a strategic alliance with HGTV to obtain a more profound existence in their market (Rouse, 2005). By 2004, Lowe’s operated almost 1,000 stores with plans to continue expansion across the nation (Rouse, 2005). The company has a core competency in helping customers meet their home improvement needs at a low price. In order to use this core competency to gain a competitive advantage, the company has focused on key functional strategies. To continue their success, Lowe’s must specifically focus on marketing, logistics, and human resource management strategies.
Lowe’s is the first and only home improvement retailer to offer lumber online so that not only homeowners but also commercial customers may have the convenience to browse, purchase and arrange delivery of more than 2,000 wood products and related accessories online. At the same year, Lowe’s joined with Samsung to introduce a premium line of innovative home appliances to consumers and announced that Samsung-branded digital kitchen appliances will be available most of its stores across the U.S. Lowe’s also shifted its marketing toward Hispanic Americans, the fastest growing minority population in the U.S. In many of the markets with a large Hispanic population, Lowe's has installed Spanish translations on blue and white signs at many of its locations. By 2006, Lowe’s was aggressively expanding and opening a new store every three
Big Box Tool Kit. “Five Myths About Big-Box Retail.” Institute for Local Self Reliance. 2009.
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is averaging the opening of about two stores per week. This is part of an unprecedented two billion dollar store expansion, which is the most aggressive expansion in the company’s fifty-five year history; thus, magnifying Lowe’s locality and customer convenience in the United Sates home improvement marketplace. Lowe’s new superstores are currently the largest in the home improvement marketplace, averaging a retail space of about 150,000 square feet. (http://www.lowes.com)
Bed Bath and Beyond is currently the largest superstore domestics retailer, although their market share is only 4%. Competitors like Target, Wal-Mart and JC Penney offer a wider variety of merchandise such as apparel and electronics. Since 2002 growth has been a result of acquiring the Christmas Tree Shops and the Harmon Stores. In addition BBBY believes that their product offerings, customer service and advertising program have contributed to the company's financial success.
The company breaks each product into four main product segments. These product segments are: Residential Furnishings, Commercial Products, Industrial Material, and Specialized Products. Each one of these product segments are a key in Leggett And Platt 's current and future success.
Bianchi, C. (2006). Home Depot in Chile: Case study. Retrieved January 10, 2011, from http://www.carlospitta.com/Courses/Gestion%20Financiera%20Internacional/Cases/Home%20Depot%20Case.pdf
Opening its doors for the first time in 1946, Lowe’s is now the second largest home improvement chain in the world, operating over 1,800 stores in the United States, generating $56.2 billion in sales and $2.6 billion in net income for 2014 (Lowes Newsroom, 2015). Employing around 265,000 personal making them one of the top employers in the nation, there is no question that Lowe’s must be doing something right. According to Lowes Newsroom, “Lowe’s professional customers represent approximately 30 percent of total sales, approximately 16 million retail and professional customers are served each week. (2015, para 3) “Never Stop Improving”, is Lowe’s slogan; encouraging employees and customers to work together to maximize their in store
Home Depot is the brainchild of Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank and came about after both men lost their job in the home improvement industry in 1978 (Parnell, 2014). Home Depot has acquired several smaller home improvement stores in both the U.S. and abroad through the years which enabled it to position itself as the world’s largest home improvement chain (Parnell, 2014). Home Depot focuses on the do-it-yourself segment of the market and sells sells tools, construction products and services. Marketing is a strong point for the company. They are able to maintain a competitive advantage by keeping themselves available to their customers at all times. Home Depot has been using both online and offline marketing efforts. The internet has become a very useful tool for the company and part of the reason that they are leading the market in DIY stores. Home Depot currently provides DIY videos on YouTube and Vine that cover current topics that consumers are likely to be interested in. They also have social media pages on Facebook and Twitter, where they have a huge following. They provide online communities where actual employees answer consumer’s questions and provide assistance on
Their mission: ‘Customer service and community service are core commitments at Lowe's — and they have been for more than 60 years. Being a good neighbor means being committed to improving the places our employees and customers call home. We see that as an investment in our future. We've grown that investment as Lowe's has grown from a small-town hardware store in North Wilkesboro, N.C., to the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world.’
The Article, "Renovating Home Depot," describes how, since the arrival of the new Chief Executive, Robert Nardelli, the business strategy has shifted to a more militaristic style. In the beginning, Home Depot was a "decentralized, entrepreneurial" business, and now is switching to a different management style. Nardelli loves to hire ex-soldiers, and is perhaps using the armed services as a role model for the new business structure. Under Nardelli's leadership, Home Depot is becoming more centralized and the good financial reports following this are signs that it a good strategy (Grow 50).
Second, the rapid development of the Home centers such as The Home Depot, with prices 30% less than the traditional hardware store made Black & Decker to lose market share to Makita. As per Exhibit 2 we could notice that in the home center channel that represent 25%of the trades...
Greer, D. (2004, September-October). Green builders get big help from deconstruction. In Business, 26(5), 20. Retrieved from http://www.jgpress.com/inbusiness/archives/_free/000648.html
"A Renewed Commitment to Buildings and Their Social Benefits." U.S. Green Building Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. .