It’s almost Halloween, which means everyone you know is probably posting adorable photos from the pumpkin patch. But folks looking for pumpkins to carve before the trick-or-treaters arrive may not be able to find the orange gourds at Home Depot locations in hurricane-ravaged Texas and Florida this season, as the retailer says it’s cutting back on pumpkin sales to let some stores focus on storm recovery. [More]
lowe’s
Couple Accused Of Trying To Use Lowe’s Website Glitch To Scam $258K Worth Of Stuff
By 8.16.17
We understand the desire to redecorate, but just because your budget is low doesn’t mean you should try stealing yourself a new patio set. A New Jersey husband-and-wife team is accused of exploiting a website glitch in an effort to scam $258,000 worth of merchandise from Lowe’s, including a gazebo and lawn mower. [More]
Stopping Dark Stores: The Fight To Prevent Thriving Retailers From Being Taxed Like Vacant Lots
By 7.10.17
There’s a neat trick that big-box stores like Lowe’s have pulled off in some states. They claim that for tax purposes, their open, thriving businesses should be valued the same as empty property, so that they pay way less. In one state, though, a lawmaker being called back for a special session of the legislature is hoping he can end the practice locally. [More]
Lowe’s Robotic Exosuit Will Help Workers Lift Heavy Stuff, Possibly Fend Off Aliens
By 5.15.17
If you’ve ever wanted to strap on a robotic exoskeleton to tussle with a xenomorph like Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, you might want to consider working at Lowe’s. No, the home improvement chain isn’t getting into the business of defeating extraterrestrial terrors, but it is working on a wearable robotic suit to help workers lift and move heavy things. [More]
Demise Of hhgregg Means You’ll Buy Your Next Fridge From Best Buy
By 4.11.17
The bankruptcy and liquidation of hhgregg is terrible for the retailer’s employees and retail landlords, but someone may benefit from the retailer’s downfall. Best Buy has a national presence and a large overlap with what hhgregg sells, and is in a position to pick up some of the retailer’s former customers the next time that they need a fridge or a computer. [More]
Ad Watchdog: Lowe’s Should Clarify That Major Appliances Sale Excludes Most Brands
By 12.8.16
An annoyed customer brought a Lowe’s appliance ad to the attention of the National Ad Division, a self-regulation program for advertisers run by the Council of Better Business Bureaus. Their complaint? An ad promoting “20% off appliances $396 or more at Lowe’s” was largely untrue, except for the parts that said “appliances” and “Lowe’s.” [More]
Customers Complain When Walmart Won’t Honor Pricing Error That Listed 70″ TV For $99
By 12.5.16
If you see a TV that normally sells for $2,000 suddenly listed for sale at $99, you probably know it’s either stolen, worthless, or — most likely — a pricing error. You’re free to try to take advantage of that goof, but you don’t really have much of a legal leg to stand on if they realize the error and cancel your order.
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‘Target Math’ Continues To Spread, Infecting Lowe’s & Walmart
By 12.5.16
The discount chain Target is very good at many things, which include designer partnerships and building tiny stores. It’s very bad at some other things, which include selling groceries and putting prices on products that make any sense. “Target Math” is the name we give to these bizarre bulk markups, “sale” items that aren’t actually discounted, and pricing discrepancies within the same store — but this dubious art isn’t just practiced in the halls of Target. [More]
Some Big Chains Like To Pretend Their Stores Are Closed When It Comes To Paying Tax
By 9.12.16
A big-box store is, by definition, well, big. All that retail, storage, and parking space takes up a fair amount of land. So you’d think that in any state with a property tax, stores would, well, be taxed on their property. And they are… until they’re not. [More]
No One Will Tell Man Why Lowe’s Opened Insurance Policy For Him After He Left Company
By 8.12.16
A man who briefly worked for a company owned by Lowe’s is at risk of losing his current medical insurance after finding out that the home improvement retailer took out a health insurance policy in his name after he stopped working there. [More]
What Are Shoppers Buying Since They Aren’t Buying Clothes?
By 5.23.16
It’s bleak out there for a clothing retailer, with sales slumping at many chains, leading some — American Apparel, Aeropostale, Pacsun, among others — to declare bankruptcy. So if we aren’t shopping for items to clad our bodies, what are we shopping for? [More]
Yep, Spring Black Friday Is Still A @#$@*$% Thing
By 4.1.16
Most retailers use Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, to kick off their biggest shopping season of the year, even if they also move the sales kickoff around a bit. For stores that sell home-improvement and gardening supplies, spring is their biggest shopping season. That impeccable logic led to the invention of Spring Black Friday, which we first noticed in 2013. It isn’t going away. [More]
Lowe’s Agrees To $1.1M In Refunds Over Sketchy Flooring Installation Price Quotes
By 11.5.15
When a company tells gives you a “per square foot” price for flooring, it would be nice to know if that means “per square foot of the floor(s) being covered” or “per square foot of the material ordered to do the job,” because those are often two very different numbers. For years, Lowe’s failed to make this distinction, which is why the home improvement retailer has agreed to refund up to $1.1 million to flooring customers in New York state. [More]
Beaver Wanders Into A Lowe’s Store, Finds Nothing Useful
By 5.18.15
If you find a trip to your local home-improvement superstore daunting and stressful, imagine being a young adult beaver preparing to build your first home. One of the rodents wandered into the chain’s location in Fairbanks, Alaska, and wandered the store’s aisles aimlessly. It was as likely to find twigs and mud as you are to agree on a paint shade for the master bedroom. [More]
Lowe’s Takes Over 13 Former Target Canada Stores
By 5.11.15
Last week, we learned that Walmart would be taking over thirteen former Target Canada stores and a distribution center. Today, home improvement chain Lowe’s announced that is taking over twelve store leases, one store that Target owned, and one distribution center. [More]
New Report Alleges Some Lowe’s Flooring Also Has Formaldehyde Problem
By 5.1.15
While Lumber Liquidators has been the target of lawsuits and federal investigations into allegations that the company’s China-sourced flooring contains exceedingly high levels of formaldehyde, hardware giant Lowe’s is now facing similar accusations from the hedge fund analyst who helped spark the Lumber Liquidators investigation. [More]
Don’t Be Shocked When Lowe’s Won’t Sell You A $2,999 Fridge Mistakenly Priced At $298
By 4.17.15
No matter how many times we remind everyone that stores are generally under no legal obligation to honor a pricing mistake, some folks still seem to think that a retailer must make good — and lose hundreds, possibly thousands, of dollars — on something as obvious as a decimal error. [More]
Lowe’s Will Stop Selling Pesticides Blamed For Honeybee Decline
By 4.10.15
Jumping on the anti-neonicotinoids bandwagon with Portland is home improvement retailer Lowe’s, which says it’ll stop peddling the pesticide many critics say is to blame for declining honeybee populations. [More]
