Lowe's focuses on storage
By Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, February 16, 2004
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — A three-year furniture experiment appears to be winding to a close at Lowe's as the home improvement giant focuses on storage systems rather than its previous lineup of entertainment centers, computer workstations and bookcases.
Lowe's, which installed large ready-to-assemble small office/home office and entertainment programs in 2001, is not including furniture departments in its new stores, and the department is being phased out with clearance sales in many existing units.
In addition to several dozen ready-to-assemble furniture pieces, Lowe's has carried a comprehensive selection of unfinished RTA items from Whittier Wood Products and American Moulding & Millwork. Those items also are being phased out at many stores.
Lowe's still is doing big business with unassembled processed panels, but instead of furniture, the company is focusing on customized storage solutions. Both sides of two full aisles are now dedicated to garage, closet and utility room storage at the typical Lowe's warehouse store. In addition to paper-laminate wood boards, these storage solutions include metal lockers and resin cabinets.
According to several department managers, storage has been hot for Lowe's since the start of the year because it devoted several pages to the category in its January circulars. Also, the retailer offered discounts and financing to storage customers who met minimum-purchase requirements. (Home Depot also promoted organizing systems heavily in January.)
With 32 linear feet of double-level racking, the ClosetMaid custom system for closets enjoys the most display space among Lowe's storage systems. ClosetMaid offers a basic modular system, in two finishes, as well as a step-up mahogany-finish system with raised panel doors. Individual pieces are $120 or less, but to outfit a walk-in closet, the total can easily exceed $500.
Also featured, often in endcap displays, is the Gladiator Garage Works program from Whirlpool, a heavy-duty all-metal system that can be highly customized. With stamped-metal industrial fronts, the Gladiator system appears to target high-end consumers, with prices that can quickly approach $2,000 for several components.
Coleman's Tough Duty Collection, manufactured by O'Sullivan Furniture, enjoys two eight-foot racks, with assembled display models on the upper level and flat-pack boxes on the lower. Prices range from $28.87 for a 60-inch workbench top to $127 for a tall locker.
All these systems require extensive planning, and Lowe's offers tearsheets listing the various parts and components. Most of these planning guides were gone in several Lowe's stores visited on a recent weekend.
