Fear not, Austinites who shop at Lowes. You will still have somewhere to buy that $300 artificial Christmas tree this year without having to visit Home Depot, Target, Wal-Mart or some other large retail chain.
Lowes is closing 20 “underperforming stores” across 15 states and laying off 1,950 people. But none of the locations is in Texas, according to a news release from Lowes. The home improvement chain has 14 stores between Round Rock and New Braunfels.
The move to scale back operations comes after Home Depot, Lowe’s main competitor, reported a 16 percent jump in earnings while Lowes reported no growth, the AP reported. Bloomberg News says the company will provide fired employees with pay and benefits for 60 to 90 days.
