Lowe’s Companies, Inc. SainzForMr. Jessie L. BellflowersInstructor A research paper presented to University of Alaska Southeast in partial fulfillment of the requirements in the Business Administration Program.University of Alaska Southeast October 25, 2001Executive Summary Executive SummaryLowe’s Companies Inc. is one of the leading home improvement retailers, in the United States today. Lowe’s is ranked 108th on the Fortune 500 top companies list. Lowe’s in-store stocks carry more than 40,000 home improvement items with an additional 400,000 items available through a special order program. Lowe’s has become a one-time stop that is able to satisfy the ever-changing needs of both, the Commercial Business Customer and the Do-It-Yourselfer. Lowe’s is currently undergoing the most aggressive store expansion in the company’s 55-year history. Lowe’s is averaging the opening of 2 new stores a week till the end of 2001. (http://www.lowes.com) Lowe’s knows that a large portion of the company’s success is owed to its outstanding employees. Thus, Lowe’s has set the industry standard in employee recruitment, training, on the job training programs, and compensation packages to attract quality employees. Through research, Lowe’s has re-structured its stores to be customer friendly environments. At Lowe’s customers will find informative, well-lit product displays to aid in their product decisions, and exclusive items for sale by Lowe’s. These are just a few changes that Lowe’s has made as a result of its research. (Annual Repot 2000;www.lowes.com) Lowe’s is setting the standards of the way that a business should operate, not only in the home improvement retail sector but also as an example for the retail sector as a whole. Through wise management decisions, Lowe’s has made financial quarterly gains in each of the last 4 years. Lowe&#...
