Even Lowe’s can’t escape housing slump
I’ll be honest: I hate going to both Lowe’s and Home Depot. Soon as I step through those sliding doors, I know I’m going to be spending way too much money. I know, too, that my afternoon is going to be wasted on some dismal home-improvement project.
From their commercials, though, it seems everyone else in the United States loves visiting these home-improvement giants. From what I can see on my T.V., every Lowe’s or Home Depot in the country is filled with grinning, upper-middle-class couples just chomping at the bit to spend a hot afternoon killing weeds or installing a new shower door.
Well, maybe those commercials aren’t so accurate.
Lowe’s announced today that its first-quarter profit dropped 18 percent. One of the reasons cited by the retailer? The housing slump, of course.
It makes sense: The nation’s love affair with housing is at a low right now. That means fewer people fixing up their homes in anticipation of putting them on the market. Fewer sales also means a smaller number of new homeowners rushing to their local home-improvement superstore to buy new lawn furniture, barbecue grills or lawnmowers.
You can read about Lowe’s problems here, in this story by Andria Cheng of MarketWatch.
Lowe’s isn’t suffering alone. Home Depot announced earlier this month that it would slow its expansion plans. The retailer has decided to skip its plans to add 50 new U.S. stores.
Maybe it’s time for a change in all those home-improvement-store commercials. How about ones bragging about how customers won’t have to squeeze past as many other shoppers to get at that new cordless drill?
