Lowe's 1997 Annual Report Download - page 9

“ Lowe’s carpet sales grew 50% last year,”
says Greg. “ We are the fourth largest flooring
retailer in the United States, and the only one
in the top ten that hasn’t been getting the
majority of its business through installed sales.
So we have pumped up our flooring installa-
tion program. Now we will offer all types of
flooring on an installed basis.”
To become certified Lowe’s flooring install-
ers, independent contractors complete a
rigorous certification course organized by
Armstrong and Beaulieu, two of the largest
flooring manufacturers in the world. Other
suppliers are helping us develop installed sales
programs for categories such as kitchen cabi-
nets, water heaters, garbage disposals, storm
doors, garage doors and openers, ceiling fans,
and lighting fixtures. These expanded installed
sales programs were tested in our Dallas and
Atlanta markets, where they proved very
popular with customers.
With their children leaving home, Baby
Boomers are less likely to be adding rooms to
the house and more likely to be upgrading
their decor. “ Previous customer research told
us that we didn’t have a deep enough assort-
ment of home decor products, and that we
weren’t on top of fashion trends,” says Greg
Bridgeford. “ We’re getting higher marks now,
both for our assortment and our pricing, but
we’re still pursuing a deeper selection.
“ Nearly 20% of our customers have two
homes—and that means a lot of decor deci-
sions! Women make the majority of those
decisions. They want to coordinate hard goods
with soft lines in terms of style and color
scheme, and they want access to upscale
Shoppers in the home decor area of
our store in Hurst, Texas (in the Dallas
Metroplex) find a comprehensive
and fashionable product selection at
their fingertips.
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