Lowe's Works on Merchandising

Mooresville, N.C.— Collaborating merchandising and operations strategies is on the agenda for Lowe's under the new direction of Larry Stone, who in June was promoted to senior executive vice president of merchandising and marketing.

During the company's second quarter earnings call last week, Stone said that while he won't be making any changes to Lowe's core merchandising strategies, he feels he offers a “valuable perspective” to the role to “forge an ever-increasing link between merchandising and operations.”

Stone said that over the past 60 days since assuming the new post, he has conducted “detailed walks” at stores to evaluate points where improvements can be made.

“We're looking at ways we present product and signage,” Stone said. “I think we can take that and make (more of an impact) for our customers, and make it much easier for customers to shop the store, making it operationally efficient.”

One idea: Create more in-store product displays so customers can “walk through the line structure of that display. They can learn from that,” he said, freeing up some customer service associates to help shoppers who need more hands-on help.

In other news, Lowe's expects to open 34 new stores during the third quarter — four in August, five in September and 25 in October.