Overview
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is a home-improvement retailer serving do-it-yourself customers and professional contractors through stores and digital channels. Its core offering includes appliances, building materials, tools, hardware, paint, flooring, kitchens and baths, and lawn-and-garden products, alongside services such as installation.[1][2]
Lowe’s business is centered on the United States. Its 2026 fact sheet reports more than 1,750 stores and approximately 300,000 associates, while fiscal 2025 net sales were $86.3 billion.[3][4] The company describes its purpose as helping customers solve problems and fulfill dreams for their homes, and traces its origins to a hardware store opened in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in 1921.[5][6] [1][2][4][5][6][3]
Products & services
Lowe’s FY2025 assortment included about 37,000 items in a typical store, with additional products available online. Merchandise is organized into appliances, seasonal and outdoor living, lumber, lawn and garden, hardware, kitchens and bath, building materials, rough plumbing, paint, millwork, tools, electrical, flooring, décor, and other products. The assortment includes national brands and private brands such as Kobalt, STAINMASTER, and allen+roth.[1][7][8]
As shares of FY2025 net sales, the largest merchandise categories were appliances (14.9%), seasonal and outdoor living (8.2%), lumber (7.7%), lawn and garden (7.6%), hardware (7.0%), and kitchens and bath (6.8%); the remaining categories were building materials (6.4%), rough plumbing (5.9%), paint (5.8%), millwork (5.7%), tools (5.2%), electrical (5.0%), flooring (4.7%), décor (4.3%), and other (2.2%).[9] Services include installation through third-party installers, with offerings such as appliance, flooring, kitchen, bath, HVAC, window, and roofing work; the official installation service page describes a one-year labor warranty.[10][11] Lowe’s also offers product protection plans, including major-appliance coverage that may extend protection up to five years, subject to plan terms.[12] [1][7][8][9][10][11][12]
Geographic presence
Lowe’s retail operations are concentrated in the United States. Its FY2025 Form 10-K reports 1,759 Lowe’s-branded retail home-improvement and outlet stores across U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and more than 540 branches serving larger Pro customers.[13][14][15][16] The company’s executive offices are in Mooresville, North Carolina. As of January 30, 2026, Lowe’s employed approximately 167,000 full-time and 109,000 part-time associates, primarily in the United States and India; the filing does not provide country-level employee counts or specific locations for its distribution, fulfillment and support facilities.[17][18]
Outside its U.S. retail network, Lowe’s has a support and business-services operation in Bengaluru, India; company materials describe more than 4,600 associates there.[19] Lowe’s completed the sale of its Canadian retail business in 2023.[20] The FY2025 filing does not disclose revenue by country or region, so geographic revenue percentages are unavailable; it describes U.S. retail operations and reports one retail home-improvement operating segment.[13][21] [13][14][15][16][17][18][21][19][20]
Business segments
For FY2025, ended January 30, 2026, Lowe’s reported one reportable segment: Retail Home Improvement. It sells home décor, hardlines, and building products through U.S. stores and online, and provides on-site installation services and tool and equipment rentals. Its product categories include appliances, seasonal and outdoor living, lumber, lawn and garden, hardware, kitchens and bath, building materials, plumbing, paint, tools, electrical, flooring, and décor.[21][13][1]
Lowe’s also reports three operating segments that do not meet reportability thresholds—Ceilings and Wall Systems and Commercial Doors and Hardware (FBM), and Interior Finishes (ADG)—together as “Other”; individual sales for these activities are not separately reported in the cited reconciliation.[22][21] In FY2025, Retail Home Improvement sales were $84.078 billion, or approximately 97.4% of consolidated sales of $86.286 billion; Other sales were $2.208 billion, approximately 2.6%.[23] [21][13][1][22][23]
Company history
Lowe’s was founded in 1921 by L.S. Lowe as North Wilkesboro Hardware in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. In 1946, co-owner Carl Buchan shifted the business toward home-improvement and building supplies, and a second store opened in Sparta, North Carolina, in 1949. The company went public in 1961, later listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 1979; it reached $1 billion in annual sales in 1982.[24]
Lowe’s expanded beyond its original region through acquisitions, including Eagle Hardware & Garden in 1999 and most of Orchard Supply Hardware’s assets in 2013. It acquired Canadian retailer RONA in 2016, then sold its Canadian retail business in 2023. Marvin Ellison became president and CEO in 2018. In 2025, Lowe’s announced acquisitions of Artisan Design Group and Foundation Building Materials, broadening its reach into services for home builders and professional customers.[25][26][27][20][28][29] [24][25][26][27][20][28][29]
Sources
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