North Dallas, Texas

Home Channel News, Dec 11, 2000 by John Caulfield

Maura and Perry Sparks live in Irving, Texas, about eight miles from the Lowe's store here. Three hundred and fifty miles north, an employee at the Lowe's store in Joplin, Mo., is helping the couple build their 2,100-square-foot retirement home in nearby Pierce City, Mo.

"We've allocated about $12,000 of our budget to Lowe's and Janice is handling most of our business by fax," said Perry, as he and his wife pushed a cart filled with accent light fixtures they were buying at the North Dallas store.

"Janice" is Janice Grainger, the administrative manager for Lowe's store in Joplin, who first came in contact with the couple last summer when she assisted in their purchase of a lawn mower. "That sale just kind of grew into the house," she said, with some amusement.

When the Sparks saw a whirlpool bath that the Texas Lowe's was liquidating, they called Grainger -- whose primary job is managing the store's office functions -- to see if the Joplin store was also getting out of that line, too (it was). "They were just in last week [the second week of November] and I showed them some carpeting and vinyl flooring. Soon they'll be up to the garage doors."

This kind of interstate service may be unusual, but it typifies the extra effort Lowe's is making towards serving its customers in markets where service is often the only thing that separates competitors in some customers' minds. That's especially true in the Dallas metroplex, where there are 18 Lowe's and 23 Home Depots (including two Expo Design Centers and a Floor Store).

Virtually every one of the dozen customers NHCN interviewed as they shopped Lowe's store in North Dallas said they usually frequented the warehouse home center closest to their home because, on the whole, they didn't see much difference in the pricing between the two companies' stores. Home Depot typically got better marks for its assortment and for being in stock, whereas Lowe's was uniformly praised for the cleanliness of its stores and the helpfulness of its workers.

"I'd shop Lowe's more if it was a little more convenient because their stuff seems to be a bit better," said Dan Custer, a 37-year-old apartment complex contractor, who lives seven miles from the North Dallas Lowe's and was in that outlet for only the second time. Custer pointed specifically to a Lowe's associate who helped him load his truck with the $234.43 worth of plywood, molding and wall-board he bought that day. "I don't usually get any help at Home Depot."

Community outreach

This store, with 115,000 square feet of inside selling space and a 40,000-square-foot greenhouse and garden center, opened in September 1997 after local residents had blocked the construction of a huge Cinemark/IMAX theater complex on this site, where a Kmart used to operate.

"The community has really taken ownership of this store," said Mike Shirley, who manages the North Dallas Lowe's. Forty-five percent of those interviewed said they come to this store at least once a week. The median amount spent by 10 people who made a purchase that day was more than $138 per customer.

Shirley said that he does everything he can to cement this bond. Several of the store's employees, for example, are volunteers in the local Meals on Wheels program, and when they deliver food to the elderly and shut-ins, the associates often leave a Maglight flashlight. "We've even installed CO detectors that have been donated by other people," Shirley said.

Lowe's allocates a certain amount of corporate funds to each of its stores for community outreach programs that can be used at the discretion of the manager. Jane Gaines was the beneficiary of that largesse recently when Shirley offered her a substantial discount on products she was purchasing for a "Heavenly Harvest" fundraising auction her church -- United Methodist in Kessler Park, Texas -- was conducting that night. Even with the discount, Gaines spent $264 at the store the day she was interviewed.

"We're in an inner city neighborhood, so there's not this kind of retail around," said Gaines, who was shopping with her daughter Emily. She had only been in a Lowe's a few times before, and found it "clean, neat. I sometimes go into Home Depot to pick up stuff but they drive me crazy because the store is so disorganized."

Service can be 'inconsistent'

Customers would have to be deaf or blind not to hear or see an eager Lowe's associate offering to help them find what they needed. But the quality of the instore customer service at Lowe's in North Dallas received mixed reviews from interviewees. "The service can be a little inconsistent, depending on the day and time," noted Adam Jiansiracusa, an investment banker who was checking out $111 worth of Christmas lights, paint and brushes. Terrie Martinez, who was in the store with her husband, Floyd, and three daughters looking for "ideas and price comparisons" for a bathroom remodeling project, echoed comments from a number of other shoppers when she observed that it was a lot harder to find employees during weekdays to answer questions.