Latest news with #Lowe's
Miami Herald
11 hours ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Home Depot is quietly beating out Lowe's in urgent customer race
Some decisions in life require long and diligent bouts of thinking, often over a glass of whiskey or while staring through a rainy window for dramatic effect. But figuring out where you need to go to find lumber or a can of paint is not one of those decisions. Odds are, the last time you needed something for a project around the house, you knew exactly where to go before you even grabbed the car keys. Most of us know and frequent our favorite home improvement store because it's the closest one in town. Related: Women's fashion chain closes dozens of stores, no bankruptcy It's not that the store is particularly better than its competition; it's just close by and has the stuff we need. At least that's how most shoppers view home improvement retailers. At other retailers, customers tend to be a little more loyal. Some folks will go out of their way to drive the extra 20 minutes for access to a Target instead of a Walmart, for example. But home improvement customers are not this way. Largely, they base their decision on proximity, availability, and prices. And since most home improvement retailers sell a lot of the same brands, proximity is the name of the game when it comes to winning business. Loyal as some customers might be to one brand over another, that's largely changing. In a world made more expensive by things like inflation, tariffs, supply chain issues, and interest rates, more customers are exploring the savings benefits associated with generic label brands and price comparing across stores. More Retail: Popular Mexican chain closing all restaurants, no bankruptcyHome Depot local rival closing permanently after 120 yearsAmazon makes a harsh decision amid concerning customer trendHuge bankrupt retail chain closing down all stores after 80 years Fewer of us stay loyal to a given supermarket, big-box store, or other retailer simply because we're creatures of habit or prefer its layout. But we also have to stay realistic. It rarely makes sense to drive an extra hour to potentially save a few dollars. So retailers that offer low prices and proximity are something of a sweet spot for customers. Such is the case for Home Depot (HD) , which boasts over 2,000 stores across the U.S. and often holds sales or markdown events on popular home improvement items. And now, a new finding of the Numerator Home Improvement Tracker shows that Home Depot has a healthy lead over competitor Lowe's (LOW) in terms of market share, per Chain Store Age. The Tracker found that, through 2024, Home Depot captured about 28% of the home improvement market. Lowe's came in at second place, with 18% of the market. Other retailers on the list include Walmart, Amazon, and Ace Hardware. Related: Popular Mexican chain unexpectedly closing down local restaurant Proximity was listed as the number one reason a customer would choose one store over another. For reference, Home Depot has over 2,000 stores across the U.S., and Lowe's has about 1,750. The two have been locked in a competitive battle to attract more professional talent and contractors. In 2024, Home Depot made its largest-ever acquisition of SRS Distribution for $18.25 billion. And in 2025, Lowe's purchased ADG for $1.32 billion. Both are contractor-facing companies that the retailers are betting will push them deeper into the pro space and boost accessibility for larger projects. Related: Home Depot makes clear statement amid boycott threats The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Tom's Guide
13 hours ago
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Lowe's sale starts from $6 — 21 summer deals I'd shop on grills, appliances, furniture and more
This week Lowe's is taking up to 40% off everything from furniture to appliances, so now's the time to give your home a summer refresh. Whether you want to make the most of your outdoor space or upgrade your smart home setup, there are deals for you here! For starters, Lowe's is taking up to 40% off patio furniture including everything from gazebos to dining sets. If you just want to grill, there are deals on grills and outdoor cooking accessories from $29. And you can get your lawn in shape with lawn and garden deals from $6. All my favorite Lowe's deals are listed below. For more savings, take a look at our Home Depot promo codes page. Outdoor grills: up to 40% off @ Lowe'sThere's nothing like buying a brand-new grill for all your upcoming outdoor festivities. And if you're ready to get grilling, Lowe's has the perfect deals for you, with up to 40% off a range of outdoor grills. Patio furniture sales: up to 40% off @ Lowe'sSummer is here, and Lowe's patio furniture sales are taking up to 40% off regular prices to celebrate. From gazebos to full outdoor seating arrangements, Lowe's is discounting all kinds of outdoor furniture for you to get your yard ready for summer. Lawn and garden sales: deals from $6 @ Lowe'sLowe's is offering savings on a whole range of lawn and garden items, from all-purpose lawn fertilizer and mulch to sizable water fountains with built-in LED lights. If you spend plenty of time in your garden, you'll find something to spruce it up here. Lawnmower sale: deals from $149 @ Lowe'sLowe's has deals on push, reel, self-propelled and ride-on mowers starting from $149. The sale includes deals on RYOBI, Green Machine and more. If you need someplace safe to keep your plants, this pop-up mini greenhouse is a solid solution. It can be used both indoors and outdoors, and protects your plants from hungry creepy-crawlies. This Igloo cooler is perfect for cookouts, tailgates, road trips and more. It has wheels and a handle for easy transportation, as well as two cupholders on the top to store your drinks. These Harbor Breeze string lights are perfect to light up your outdoor space. You get 18 shatterproof bulbs, and the set is weather-proof too. This rocking chair is an awesome buy at just $39. Made of resin, it's weather-resistant and stackable if you choose to buy more than one. There's no better way to enjoy the outdoors than from the comfort of a hammock. This one can fit two people, with its own stand and a comfy pillow included. This pop-up tent is great when you need shelter, whether you're camping, barbecuing or holding some other outdoor gathering. It's weather-proof against sun, wind and rain, and takes two people just minutes to set up. This small outdoor dining set is available for a solid discount off its regular price. It has two chairs and a round table, giving you and your partner a nice place to hang out and have a quick meal. It comes with a convenient umbrella hole, but you'll need to buy that separately. Spend your evenings outdoors, curled up by this wood burning fireplace. The fireplace features a removable grill and pan, making it simple to clean up any ash or soot. It's also constructed from heavy-duty rust resistant steel, so you can feel confident it will stay protected from the outdoor elements. You'll want to lay in the sun all spring and summer long when relaxing in these lounge chairs! Crafted with a metal frame and wrapped in resin wicker, the chairs have an adjustable back that let you recline to a position you find most comfortable. They're also also weather- and UV-resistant. Make your patio the place to be this spring with this comfortable sofa set that fits up to 6-7 people. It features weather-resistant PE wicker rattan tightly woven around a sturdy powder-coated steel frame to handle anything the seasons can throw at it. This 5-piece cooking spoon set will help you whip up a bunch of tasty dishes, and stay organized to boot. You get a ladle, spaghetti spoon, slotted turner, solid spoon and slotted spoon with comfortable grips and long necks. There's also a pop-out spoon rest to stop drips splashing on your countertops. Cook up a storm this summer with this Master Forge grill. It offers a 580 sq. in. cooking surface, and consistent temperature that can be controlled to ensure the perfect cook every time. It also includes a warming rack to keep finished foods hot while main dishes cook below. This Chamberlain security camera works alone or as an upgrade to your MyQ-connected garage door opener. It adds streaming video, recorded events, motion detection, and 2-way communication to the MyQ app. If you have a large lawn, the Worx Landroid L robotic lawn mower is for you. It's designed to cut up to a 1/2 acre and uses special technology to let it navigate through narrow paths. It sports a brushless motor, which Worx claims will allow it to run 50% longer than mowers with brushed motors. It also has a floating blade disc that raises automatically so that it won't get trapped or stuck when it encounters bumpy parts of your lawn. Equipped with two baskets, the Ninja Foodi air fryer lets you cook two different dishes at the same time. It has 6 programs — Air Fry, Air Broil, Roast, Bake, Reheat and Dehydrate, making it super convenient for every cooking need. The Dual Zone technology also allows you to cook at different temperatures/timings and finish at the same time. Dishwasher-safe crisper plates and easy-to-clean baskets are check: $199 @ Amazon This over-the-range microwave is available in a variety of finishes, has a two-speed fan, and adjustable cooktop lighting. It comes in black, stainless steel, brushed stainless, and white, although different discounts apply to each check: $229 @ Best Buy Hisense's stainless steel freestanding electric range comes with a large 5.8 cu. ft. capacity and unique features like built-in air fry, dehydrate, pizza bake, bread proofing, convection bake, and more. It's equipped with two cleaning options: self-cleaning and steam cleaning for occasional messes. It's now $300 off. If you love the side-by-side design and need a new fridge for your kitchen, check out this option from Whirlpool that's slashed by $650. It's made with fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, offers filtered ice and water through a built-in dispenser, and measures 24.6 cubic feet inside for plentiful storage.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Charges dropped against Florida sushi restaurant owners in alleged gift card scam
The Brief A Rockledge couple has been cleared of charges in a cross-state gift card scam targeting a senior. They say they unknowingly bought the cards online and had no idea they were tied to fraud. The dismissed case has hurt their reputation, and they're asking the community for a second chance. ROCKLEDGE, Fla. - A Florida couple who owns a popular sushi restaurant is no longer facing charges in connection to a nationwide gift card scam targeting senior citizens. What we know Florida couple Mei Dong and Dongdong Ye, owners of a sushi restaurant in Rockledge, are no longer facing criminal charges in a Wisconsin-based gift card scam. CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX LOCAL APP Prosecutors dropped the case this week after previously accusing them of using gift cards tied to the scam of a 76-year-old man who lost thousands. The couple admits to using the cards but claims they were unaware of their fraudulent origins. What we don't know Authorities have not publicly explained why charges were dismissed or if the original seller of the discounted gift cards has been identified or charged. It's also unclear whether the investigation will continue in another direction or if other individuals may be implicated. The backstory Investigators alleged that the elderly victim was tricked by a pop-up scam prompting him to buy $4,300 in gift cards and send a $10,000 wire transfer. SIGN-UP FOR FOX 35'S BREAKING NEWS, DAILY NEWS NEWSLETTERS Police tracked some of the gift cards to purchases made at a Lowe's on Florida's Space Coast and connected the transactions to Dong and Ye through surveillance footage. The Source This story was written based on information shared by a police report filed on the Brevard County Clerk's website, criminal investigators in Wisconsin, and Mei Dong and her husband, Dongdong Ye. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
As AI rocks entry-level gigs, Whole Foods exec says the billion-dollar grocer is offering workers the chance to become butchers, fishmongers, and pizza makers
As tech CEOs predict AI will wipe out millions of roles, about 1,300 Whole Foods employees have been trained in traditional crafts like fishmongering to cake decorating. Other retailers like Lowe's also have their own trade initiative. The retailer says artisan work is 'vital' during a talent shortage and mass automation of human tasks. And it could provide unemployed Gen Zers—who can't get a corporate gig but hate the idea of becoming a tradie—with an alternative career path. As AI rapidly disrupts white-collar roles, many workers are scrambling to find a career that is safe from complete automation. Now, skilled traditional trade work is on the rise—and billion-dollar grocery giant Whole Foods Market is reviving artisan skilled apprenticeships. Every quarter, the company welcomes up to 300 staffers on its upskilling program‚ giving them a chance to swap working in the corporate head office or behind a till, for becoming a butcher. 'What began as a single program with just a few hundred participants has grown into a portfolio of seven specialized training tracks, with more on the way,' Sonya Gafsi Oblisk, chief merchandising and marketing officer at Whole Foods, tells Fortune. 'This is just the beginning—we're building something that scales with our business and creates real, lasting career opportunities for our team members.' Workers can shift from working at a desk to pizza-making in just 13 weeks Since its launch in 2023, the program has collectively enrolled more than 1,300 of its employees, and recently added pizzaioli to its training offering. Other lines of speciality include fishmonger, meat butcher, bakery decorator, cheese professional, and produce professional. The shorter apprenticeships, like pizza-making, last 12 to 13 weeks, while more intensive training, like meat butchering, spans anywhere from six to 12 months. Oblisk says that employee wages are increased when they enter the program, with pay varying based on their previous salary and apprentice track—unlocking not only specialized skills, but a stronger career pathway. 'We're not only helping them, one, learn more about this area where they're deeply engaged and interested. Two, actually give them a credential,' Oblisk continues. 'I always say I want people to have a long career at Whole Foods and do whatever they want to do. But the reality is, we know people do leave, and so my hope is that I send everyone back into the world better than they came to me.' It could be a way for workers to even AI-proof themselves a little. After all, trade and artisan jobs are seen as safer from technological disruption compared to white-collar jobs like consulting or customer service. AI can't taste, touch, or smell the quality of artisanal cheeses—but certified cheese professionals can, and Whole Foods has trained more than 370 workers in the skill, making up more than a quarter of all these cheese artisans worldwide. 'Many of our alumni go on to advance their careers within the company, using their apprenticeship as a springboard,' Oblisk explains. 'This is more than training—it's a career accelerator.' The rise of apprenticeship and trade work in the era of AI Many Gen Z are ditching the college-to-office-job path as tuition skyrockets and AI continues to automate thousands of roles. About 78% of Americans even said that they have noticed a spike in young people turning to jobs like carpentry, electrical work and welding. Like all of Whole Foods' apprenticeship specialties, many of these AI-proof jobs require humans to work with their hands, whether that be going into truck driving, cooking, or nursing. Young people making that switch can make a pretty penny. People can enter technical fields of work, like surgical equipment sterilization, without a college degree, and earn up to $70,000 right off the bat. Typically, all that is required is a short training program—just like the apprenticeships at Whole Foods. Even Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison advises people to take up physical jobs, like electrician work, or manning a cash register, as AI comes for the corner offices. The retail giant also has its own program to support craft work, with Lowe's Foundation committing $50 million over the next five years to boost the training of 50,000 tradespeople. Ellison said it's an opportunity to revive vital speciality work, as there's currently a shortage of craftspeople. The same is true when it comes to Whole Foods' apprenticeships; specialized physical trades like fishmongering and bakery decorating can also be seen as AI-proof career paths. Oblisk says that the Whole Foods' apprenticeship program is a professional accelerator in the era of AI. 'Retail is a balance of art and science. AI is bringing incredible value in the form of efficiency, speed and precision to the science of retail,' she says. 'To complement this, programs like the [Whole Foods Market] apprenticeships remain critical to raising the bar on the art of retail…Apprenticeships are an accelerated career [driving] business results in the age of AI.' This story was originally featured on
Business Insider
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
How retailers like Lowe's are using AI to make shopping 'simpler, faster, and more fun'
Lowe's is using AI to optimize store layouts and meet changing customer needs. Computer vision models can also offer a lot of potential for retailers. This article is part of "How AI Is Changing Everything," a series on AI adoption across industries. The next time you stop by Lowe's for a new house plant, supplies to prepare for hurricane season, or a part to fix a bathroom leak, the quantity and in-store location of the product will likely have been influenced by artificial intelligence. The home-improvement retailer is using AI systems to develop a greater understanding of fast-changing customer needs and expectations and to optimize its store layouts accordingly. For example, in the case of a plant, AI could predict growing demand for a certain type of seasonal shrub and increase its orders as interest rises, then place the plants in the most obvious in-store location. In the case of hurricane preparedness, sudden weather changes can be taken into account to order larger volumes of flashlights and weather radios. And plumbing items may be placed closer to the front of the store for leaks that require emergency attention during harsh and unpredictable seasons. Chandhu Nair, the senior vice president of data, AI, and innovation at Lowe's, told Business Insider that the technology is allowing the store chain to create more immersive shopping experiences that are also easy and quick to navigate. This effort is being driven by front-of-house retail staff and white-collar workers behind the scenes, who are ensuring that AI augments rather than replaces their jobs. A team-wide effort Nair said that delivering a "simpler, faster, and more fun" physical retail experience requires large volumes of real-world data, like "store traffic patterns" and "local preferences," provided by store associates and customers. It also needs the right tools for Lowe's spatial planning teams to extract meaningful insights from it, he added. Previously, these teams relied largely on manual processes for collecting this information, analyzing it, and putting the insights into practice. Consequently, Nair said it could take months for Lowe's to see any meaningful results. But AI-powered spatial intelligence systems have reduced this to "a fraction of that time." Nair said this is paramount because new product trends are always emerging and disappearing, especially because of social media apps like TikTok. He said, "We can now swap layouts more frequently throughout the year, reflecting what customers in that area need at that time." Besides spatial intelligence and data analysis tools, Lowe's is also exploring the potential of digital twins — a piece of software that generates a virtual version of a physical environment, such as a retail store. Nair said the company has used Nvidia's 3D graphics platform, Omniverse, to create an early-stage app that offers sales and inventory data, automatically sorts stock, generates 3D versions of its physical assets, and more from a single platform. If it ultimately gets adopted, "It would give merchants a way to test and refine layouts digitally before making changes in-store, helping surface the most relevant products in ways that align with how local customers shop," he told BI. AI for smarter shopping Lowe's isn't the only retailer that believes in the potential of AI. Research from Honeywell, a multinational conglomerate, found that 80% of retailers will acquire AI systems over the coming months to better understand customers, create a more efficient shopping experience, and improve worker productivity. Computer vision models, in particular, can also offer a lot of potential for retailers. Vinod Goje, a software engineering leader and AI solutions strategist, told BI that such systems are capable of generating heat maps that signal parts of the store with the most and least foot traffic, allowing workers to place products and design retail layouts more strategically. Goje added that retailers can also install computer vision systems on shelves to ensure products are in the right place and replenished when stock runs low. The tech can also work with AI to show customers personalized offers on in-store smart screens, he said. In the future, agentic AI systems, which are designed to make decisions independent of humans, could disrupt the retail sector even further. Sucharita Kodali, principal analyst at market research firm Forrester, told BI that AI agents could find people to fill in for ill employees, order merchandise when stock levels are low, and develop marketing plans in line with available stock. Challenges to consider Of course, as retailers like Lowe's become more reliant on AI to improve efficiencies, concerns are growing that the technology could wipe out millions of blue-collar jobs in the next few years. That said, Nair emphasized that Lowe's approach is to augment staff and not put them out of work; using AI for store-layout optimization requires "human creativity," he said, in addition to "data-powered insights" and "efficient technology." Amid concerns about AI adoption, Nair emphasized that the company isn't using "technology for technology's sake," but rather focusing on solutions that address staff's biggest pain points, based on feedback from in-store and e-commerce teams. Looking ahead Although many of Lowe's AI projects are still in their infancy, Nair is optimistic about their role in the century-old retailer's future. He said his team will continue to "get better at connecting insights and predictions" to "adapt stores even faster" and create "smarter and more personal" experiences for its loyal customers. To do this, Nair and his team will continue to experiment with new AI tools, improve them through "quicker feedback loops," and strive to create "a high-value retail experience that keeps evolving with our customers." He told BI, "We're excited about what's ahead and how AI will help us keep solving problems and fulfilling dreams for the home."
