Home Centers

Bad weather for retail dampened sales at Lowe's, but earnings surged well into the double digits for the first quarter, the company announced Wednesday morning.

Lowe's sales increased 2.4% in the first quarter, rising to $13.4 billion. Comparable-store sales increased 0.9%.

The Mooresville, North Carolina-based retail giant reported a net earnings surge of 15.6% to $624 million for the quarter ended May 2.

Stormy weather around the country had something to do with Home Depot's third-quarter sales gain of 2.9%. So did strength in core categories.

The world's largest home improvement retailer posted a 4.2% comp-store sales gain for the quarter ended Oct. 30. Total sales increased 2.9% to $17.326 billion. And even bigger growth came in the net earnings column, where Home Depot reported a 13.0% increase and net earnings of $934 million.

Leeds, Alabama-based Marvin’s Building Materials and Home Centers is adding to its fleet of mid-sized home centers that serve the Southern home builder and the homeowner.

The store in Ozark, Alabama, is currently under construction and is expected to open in the spring of 2015. When completed, the Alabama chain will operate 28 stores. The store will feature a 30,000-sq.-ft. home center in addition to an attached lawn and garden center and drive-through lumberyard.

Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe’s will unveil the next wave of products and services for Iris, its cloud-based smart home solution, at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show. 

Iris enables homeowners to monitor and control their homes from anywhere via smartphone, tablet or computer with a free basic level of service. Lowe’s will showcase more than 15 new Iris devices and services developed since the smart home solution’s launch in 2012 at the show.

The Home Depot has launched a nationwide campaign to bring water conservation savvy to the masses, especially those in drought-affected areas.

On April 26, the retailer will hold free Water Conservation Workshops at all 1,977 of its U.S. locations, where attendees can learn ten different strategies for saving water.

These projects include converting to a dual-flush toilet, switching to EPA WaterSense labeled showerheads and faucets, installing drip irrigation and rotary nozzle or dual spray sprinklers and more.

Some shoppers at HomeDepot.com received an unexpected bargain on Dec. 13 when a software snafu resulted in free or deeply discounted purchases. According to an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, an online promotion for $101 off a specific appliance was mistakenly applied to every order placed on the retailer’s website. If the shopping cart totaled $101 or less, e-customers didn’t have to pay for their order.

Lowe's has named Michael A. Jones chief customer officer, replacing the soon-to-be-retired Gregory Bridgeford.

Effective April 30, Jones (who is currently chief merchandising officer) will transition into his new role, in which he'll be responsible for developing a customer-centric experience via design, merchandising, marketing and digital interfaces.

The color selection center features three selection pathways with interior and exterior sections.