Lowe’s recently told investors that it is scaling down the size of most new stores and is looking at smaller locations in rural areas in hopes to operate more efficiently. The goal of this size reduction is to help cut Lowe’s capital outlay costs by almost $2 million per store.
Executives explained at the company’s annual analyst and investor conference that new stores in their mid- to large-sized markets will be about 19,000 square feet smaller (making them about 103,000 square feet) than many of its current locations.
“As we go forward, we can better match the right store with the right market,” Lowe’s President Larry Stone says.
Lowe’s is currently testing a 66,000-square-foot store in rural North Carolina that features streamlined product selection and a drive-thru lumber yard.
Deborah Weinswig, an investment analyst, says the new compact stores could produce higher returns for Lowe’s. For 2008, Lowe’s originally planned to open 140 stores, but reduced that number to 120.
For more info on Lowe’s smaller store plans, click here.