Lowe's Plans To Continue Aggressive Expansion

Mooresville, NC, March 13, 2009--Lowe's Cos. Inc. said the home improvement chain hopes to grow its chain of stores by 50 percent, although it could take a decade.

Larry Stone, the company's president and chief operating officer, told analysts at the Raymond James Institutional Investors Conference on Wednesday that officials at the chain believe it can expand its U.S. store operations to include 2,400 sites.

The company now operates about 1,650 stores in the U.S.

Lowe's, which last year added 115 stores, has said it plans to scale openings back in 2009, adding 60 to 70 stores, including some Canada and Mexico.

"Most of the expansion this year is going to be in the small- to mid-size markets," Stone said.

"We still think there is tremendous opportunity in the larger metro markets. But quite frankly, based on economic conditions in a lot of those metro areas, there is just no way right now you can justify the new store and the cannibalization it has on the existing stores in the market, because they are all reeling from the housing pressures and all of the other pressures in the market."

Stone said the company ultimately expects to open about 100 stores in Canada, which might take up to seven years.

Lowe's, which opened its first Canadian stores in late 2007, now has about a dozen there.