8 mind-blowing facts about Lowe's' business (LOW)
- Lowe's says it's the world's second largest home-improvement retailer by net sales.
- Business Insider reviewed the company's filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to get a better sense of its size.
- From the size of its workforce to the number of its stores, here are several mind-blowing facts about Lowe's.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Lowe's first arrived on the scene nearly 70 years ago in North Carolina, and since then it's grown into a major contender in the world of home improvement.
To get a better sense of the company's overall scale, Business Insider recently examined the company's most recent annual filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
We were able to pick out some interesting numbers and stats from the financial filings that highlight the company's size. Here are a few stats that provide a clearer glimpse at just how large Lowe's truly is:
Lowe's first launched in 1952 and went public nine years later.
Source: Lowe's
Lowe's boasts 2,015 stores in total ...
Source: Lowe's
... with 1,723 stores across the United States, 279 Canadian locations, and 13 soon-to-be closed stores in Mexico, as of February 1, 2019.
Those stores take up a total of 209 million square feet of space, altogether.
And Lowe's says that its US-based stores "average approximately 112,000 square feet of retail selling space," with an additional "32,000 square feet of outdoor garden center selling space."
Source: Lowe's
Most Lowe's contain up to 34,000 different products.
Source: Lowe's
As of February 2019, Lowe's boasted a workforce of "190,000 full-time and 110,000 part-time employees."
Source: Lowe's
Lowe's and its namesake foundation have pledged to invest $350 million in different communities by 2025.
Source: Lowe's