World's two largest home stores thrive locally

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The nation's two largest home improvement stores, Home Depot and Lowe's, have been providing materials and service to Springfield homeowners and commercial builders with ever-increasing success. |ret||ret||tab|

With over 1,150 stores in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Chile and Argentina, Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement retailer. Spring-field's Home Depot opened on Dec. 16, 1999 at 2104 E. Independence. |ret||ret||tab|

Home Depot store manager Roy Roberts said the store caters primarily to homeowners, "but we also have several commercial customers." Home Depot's customer base grows almost daily, Roberts said. "We're still getting customers who say it's the first time they've been in the store." |ret||ret||tab|

The second largest home improvement store, Lowe's, has more than 660 stores in 40 states and is in the midst of a $2 billion expansion plan, opening more than one store every week, according to the company's Web site.|ret||ret||tab|

Marty Davis is the store manager of Lowe's at 1850 E. Primrose, which opened in fall of 1993. Since then, the store has been expanded three times. "Last year we added on a back warehouse and a lumber canopy," Davis said. |ret||ret||tab|

The Springfield location has been one of Lowe's top-producing stores in recent years, which Davis said is one reason Lowe's decided to add another store in Springfield and one in Hollister. The north-side Springfield location at 1707 W. Norton Road opened in fall 1999. All three stores have been successful, Davis said.|ret||ret||tab|

Like Home Depot, Lowe's caters to the do-it-yourselfer and commercial business customers. "Lowe's tries to get at least 10 to 15 percent of its business from commercial accounts," said Davis.|ret||ret||tab|

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Growth|ret||ret||tab|

Both companies have experienced growth even during the recent economic slowdown. For the year ended Jan. 28, 2001, Home Depot's sales increased 19 percent to $45.7 billion. Fiscal 2000 net earnings rose 11 percent to $2.6 billion.|ret||ret||tab|

Lowe's sales for the year ended Feb. 2, 2001, totaled $18.8 billion, an 18.1 percent increase from the previous year. Net earnings in fiscal 2000 increased 20.4 percent to $809.9 million. |ret||ret||tab|

Both companies declined to provide any financial information on their Springfield stores. |ret||ret||tab|

Roberts and Davis both say that the struggling economy has not hurt business. "We haven't really noticed an effect," Roberts said. Davis said the economic slowdown hasn't really impacted sales at Lowe's, either. "The biggest two things that have affected this area are the price of gasoline and cost of utility bills," he said. "Since most people have a certain amount of disposable income, if your utility bill is $50 higher than normal, and your gasoline costs are $20 higher, that's $70 less you have to spend on other things."|ret||ret||tab|

Davis noted, however, that higher utility bills caused some homeowners to purchase programmable thermostats, additional insulation and pipe insulation.|ret||ret||tab|

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Springtime|ret||ret||tab|

Spring is a big time for construction, especially with the cold temperatures, freezing rain and snow that held construction projects at bay during the first of the year. "Now everybody is trying to play catch up from the down time," Davis said. "Springfield is growing so much. Everywhere you drive around town, there's new construction." |ret||ret||tab|

As customers' tastes and preferences have changed, Davis said, Lowe's has added higher-end products to its selection. For plumbing and lighting fixtures, customers are choosing nickel, platinum, and silver finishes, he said. "So, our product line has been changing."|ret||ret||tab|

Appliance sales are a big focus for Lowe's this year, he said. "We're the number two retailer in the United States in appliances." |ret||ret||tab|

Davis also said he's seen an increase in installed sales. "We install doors, windows, carpet, ceramic tile there are a lot of products you can buy here and also have installed." Delivery is also available, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

Home Depot also offers delivery, installation and tool rental, according to Roberts. And "do-it-yourselfers" wanting to learn new skills can attend Home Depot's in-store clinics. "We advertise the clinics in our catalog every month," Roberts said. Clinic topics range from lawn and garden techniques to building a deck to installing ceramic tile.|ret||ret||tab|

Lowe's' Ready-to-Go program is for all customers, Davis said, but is mainly used by commercial customers. "They can call ahead with a list of what they want, and when they get here it's ready to be picked up."|ret||ret||tab|

Both Home Depot and Lowe's have found ways to give back to the community. Locally, Home Depot employees volunteer their time to help with Habitat for Humanity, Roberts said, and the company donates materials to the Boys and Girls Clubs. "We're always looking for different things we can do," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

Each Lowe's store chooses a community project to get involved with every year, Davis said. "Last year we worked with the fire department to install smoke detectors."|ret||ret||tab|

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