...7/26/2014 Home Depot vs. Lowes As a recent home buyer, I know first-hand the importance and value of having a local home improvement store. Within the first 6 months as a property owner, I have spent numerous hours, visits and money buying the essentials to complete my home. I never thought of myself as a loyal customer to Home Depot (HD) vs. Lowes (LOW) but after researching the two competitors, I have found myself take pride and loyalty with Home Depot. In this report, I will provide you with a full analysis comparing and contrasting Home Depot and Lowes. My conclusions will yield that clearly there is a difference between both company’s values and strategies, but importantly, Home Depot is a stronger investment for the short-term and long-term. My recommendations will support holding stock with Home Depot or invest soon. Quantity: The Value of Market Share In America, “size of the US home improvement retail industry is approximately $129.2B by revenues, with Home Depot leading the market with a 58.9% share; together Home Depot and Lowe’s account for 97% of the market share by revenues,” stated by William Bias. The fact remains that brand recognition drives price. There is clearly brand recognition and more importantly, brand loyalty with Home Depot compared to Lowes. And where does the brand loyal derive from…Proximity. The humanity that dwells within us tends to migrate to common and frequent people and venues. We are creatures of habits and Home Depot has strategically...
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...well-known home improvement retailers are Lowes and Home Depot. The two have been the largest retailers in the industry for over a decade. There are several similarities and differences between Home Depot and Lowes regarding market, size, and strategic priorities. One similarity is the size of their stores. Lowes stores have a space of 112,000 square feet and 31000 square feet of garden space, while Home Depot has 24000 square feet of garden space and 104000 square feet of enclosed space (Fernando, 2015). Home Depot offers services to both male and female; nonetheless, it is predominantly made up of men. Home Depot offers a wide array of products to its current market. On the other hand, Lowes offers products and service for both genders. The stores are arranged in such a manner that it is a female friendly environment. This stresses the significance of improving the feel and look...
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...major players in the home improvement industry. The biggest in The Home Depot. The other, while smaller having 502 less stores, is still a giant of the industry (Cramer, 2013). Through the recession Lowe’s stood while well The Home Depot fumbled. Lowe’s faces competition from opponents other than just The Home Depot as it expands beyond America. As Lowe’s seeks to enter the Canadian and Australian markets it will encounter more diversity than it has experiences so far. The complexities of doing business abroad and opening stores afar will become even more apparent as their international tactics change. Despite the challenges Lowe’s should expand further to become an even bigger player both nationally and globally. Global Competition’s Impact on Lowes In 2009, Lowes had 1,710 stores found throughout Canada and United States, 16 of these found outside the United States, with three stores in Mexico that opened in 2010, allowing for their exposure to bring them to a new level of sales internationally. (“Lowes Companies”, 2012) After much research it is found five competitors could impact Lowes, the #2 home improvement dealer in the world (Racine, 2012), but on different levels. The first competition is the main competition of Lowes, Home Depot, #1 in the world since 2005, (“Lowes Companies”, 2012) is expanding its sales by bringing in more Hispanics to get the attraction they need from the Hispanic community. (Racine, 2012) Unlike, Lowes, Home Depot has 262 stores that...
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...Strategic Audit of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. | Explore Page 1 of 70 Home Blog Contact Site Map Explore Learn. Live. Share. http://www.jacobcamp.com/2011/05/29/strategic-audit-of-lowes-companies-inc/ 5/25/2012 Strategic Audit of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. | Explore Page 2 of 70 Strategic Audit of Lowe’s Companies, I May 29, 2011 | Business Development,ERP,General Business Home » Blog » General Business » Business Development » Strategic Audit of Lowe’s Companies, In Click for PDF: Lowe’s U.S. Strategic Audit Spring 2011 Lowe’s Company, Incorporated is a home improvement retailer that has stores throughout the Unit following report is a student strategic audit for Mike Anderson’s strategic management course at th undergraduate student project team was composed of the following people: Keelie Cox, Alicia Kelly Wu, and myself (Jacob Camp) I. Executive Summary This report critically overviews the U.S. Division of Lowe’s Company, Incorporated. The purpose of accurate and current representation of Lowe’s through research using a variety of sources, method statements, recommendations, or opinions offered herein are only perspectives from the respective state that these aforementioned statements will come to fruition. The current operations, performance, and policies of Lowe’s will most certainly lead the company t the fortunate position to avert disaster. A note of exceptionally good news is that Lowe’s was evalu with a probability...
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...Abstract The decisions that businesses make to adjust “pricing, output, expansion, advertising, marginal revenue, and profit conditions of every other firm in the market”. (Thomas, Maurice 2010, p. 561). An oligopoly is described in the book as a “few relatively large firms, each with a substantial share of the market and all recognize their interdependence.” (Thomas, Maurice 2010, p. 512). Meaning, direct competitors understand their internal decisions will affect not only their profits and placement in the market, but also greatly their competitors. Price cutting or expensive advertisement plans will affect the firm’s profit margins, but also with strategically place the competing firm in a position to react. Even in small towns or multiple businesses in the same industries from restaurants to retail, need to be aware of how their decisions affect their own business, but also their market. Decisions should be systematically made and will economically affect a business along with the anticipation of competitor’s reaction to their precise move. Oligopolies are everywhere and can be detected from wheat that is managed by large agriculture groups to cell phone companies. Oligopolies How do firms in the industry compete? Managers within interdependent industries make decisions that will affect not only their firm, but they must consider the reaction to their competitor as well. Without this consideration, the rival’s reaction will certainly affect his or her...
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...having a competitor. Developing strategies for your competitor is key, “The underlying goal of strategy development is competitive differentiation,” (Kurtz, 2012, p. 230). The companies presented below demonstrate the perfect example of business competition. The home improvement industry has been experiencing rapid growth since the late 70’s. Due to the capital effect, consumers would spend high amounts of cash and credit on improving their most prized and expensive possession, their homes. As a result, the home improvement industry experienced quick development and progress. This is what led to the opening of two mega home improvement stores known as The Home Depot and Lowes Companies, INC. The Home Depot which was founded, “1978 in Atlanta, Georgia and has since become the world's largest home improvement retailer, operating more than 1,500 stores”, (Brumley, 2012). Although not as international as its competitor Home Depot, Lowes is a “$26 billion retailer of a complete line of home improvement products and equipment. The company serves more than seven million do-it-yourself and commercial business customers each week through 875 stores in 45 states,” (Brumley, 2012). The difference between a Lowe's store and a Home Depot has been fairly clear-cut up to now. Presentation counts at Lowe's. Its warehouse-style...
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...Home Depot vs. Lowe’s Retail Home Improvement Financial Analysis Background Introduction The home improvement sector of the economy is large with two major players in the industry and with many smaller local and regional competitors. These two major competitors are Home Depot and Lowe’s. These two companies account for over $110 billion in total sales each year. Even though sales have gone down over the past few years due to the downturn in the economy they have not gone down nearly as much as home sales and this is due to more people deciding to do more home improvements to their own home then buying a new home. Both of these companies have been able to keep up sales and increase them year over year by improving current stores and at the same time expanding both here in the United States and overseas. Company introduction Home Depot The Home Depot also known as Home Depot is a retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. The Home Depot was founded in 1978. The Home Depot operates 2,242 stores across the United States in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. Sales within the United States were over $77 billion in 2010. The Home Depot also operates internationally in Canada, Mexico and China. Lowe’s Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a retail home improvement and appliance stores and also does construction. Lowe’s was founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Lowe’s operates 1,710 stores...
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...The financial statement evaluation is complete as agreed. Outlined in this memo is an outline of the corporate stability of Company G. Listed are 13 ratios used to determine financial strengths and weaknesses. Each ratio is individually explained so there is a clear knowledge of what the gathered numerical information implies. Lastly, the company is compared with other companies in the home improvement industry to determine if it meets market standards. Current Ratio – 1.75 The company’s has a current ratio of 1.75 placing it in 58th percentile which is an indication of weakness. The Company G’s current ratio compared to last year is on a downward trend. That means that for each dollar spent, only 75 cents can be saved. This ratio is used to establish the company’s capacity to cover short-term financial obligations. It is calculated by dividing current liabilities by current assets. A company ratio of less than one is an indicator that signals the likelihood of Company G’s inability to cover short-term debts if they became due and payable. The company with the lowest ranking was Home Depot and Company G is vaguely beating their numbers. This is a weakness for the Company G. The company’s current ratio drops beneath the first quartile of 3.1 and also under the second quartile of 2.1. Acid-test Ratio – 0.42 This is a stringent indicator calculated similarly to the current ratio determining a company’s ability to pay off short-term debt. A ratio less than...
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...Undoubtedly, the Lowe’s company target do-it-yourself customers who are on a fixed budget because they aim to have the lowest prices. The Lowe’s Bathroom tile ad’s main technique is using an everyday-type person to appeal to a large audience. Lowe's use of an unskilled character in an everyday situation makes the ad relatable to people because most people are not professionals, and it effectively reaches everyday homeowners. Their goal is to provide the best equipment with low prices so that customers can rely on their products for small or big home improvements. When people want to redesign or fix their homes, they either stop by at the Lowe’s store or The Home Depot store for supplies and equipment. The Home Depot Company has always been a competition for Lowe’s Company ever since they gained popularity in the home improvement hardware. Even though both stores sell almost the same things, the two seem to target very different audiences. The Home Depot stores “appeal to professional customers such as contractors and tradesmen” while the Lowe’s store “appeals to a larger do-it-yourself audience”. Both stores have distinct goals, which is to attract a certain audience to make more purchases. From watching the Lowe’s bathroom tile ad, they definitely are promoting a do-it-yourself idea, since the man in the video was working on his own by just using the equipment he bought from Lowe’s. Lowe’s created a short video ad where a man is redesigning his bathroom shower. The man is wearing safety...
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...From Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew the Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion, tells the story of Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, and how they are responsible for one of the biggest entrepreneur successes in recent history. This novel shows, first hand, how they became leaders within the home improvement industry. This was no easy task, but these two had experience. Bernie’s parents immigrated to America, and he grew up in a poor neighborhood, Newark, New Jersey. He dreamed of working in medicine, but could not afford the kickback he needed to pay Harvard Medical School to circumnavigate the quota they had at the time for people of Jewish ancestry. Bernie soon graduated from Rutgers, Newark, and worked as an intern in a pharmaceutical company. One day a customer came in that forever changed his life. Bernie was introduced to the world of discount stores when he met a man named Danny Kessler. A few years later Bernie worked alongside Arthur blank within one of the most successful home improvement chains at the time, Handy Dan’s Home improvement center. Bernie became the President and CEO, and Arthur was the vice president of finance. They were eventually fired, and faced legal trouble due to a false accusation. It was at this time that they decided to open up their own home improvement store, one that captured their own core values. They had high hopes of a store that far surpassed Handy Dan’s Home improvement center. The idea was to build a store more...
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...Dow 30 Case Table of Contents 1.1 Bordered Covariance Matrix 3 1.2 Determination of Target Return 3 1.3 Solver Parameter 4 1.4 Efficient Frontier Creation 4 1.5 Asset Weights 5 1.6 Weekly Rebalancing 6 1.7 Portfolio Calculations 6 2.0 Firm Analysis: Home Depot 7 2.1 Trends 7 2.2 Analysis of current Macro-economic conditions 8 3.0 Analysis of Return & Benchmark 8 4.0 Analysis of Porter’s Five Forces 10 4.1 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry 10 4.2 Threat of entry for new competition 10 4.3 Threat of Substitutes for Product & Services 11 4.4 Supplier Power 11 4.5 Buyer Power 11 4.6 Closing Remarks 11 5.0 P/E 12 6.0 Individual Company Analysis 12 6.1 Growth ratios: 13 6.2 Gross profit margin: 13 6.3 Financial Strength: 14 6.4 Efficiency ratios: 14 6.5 Management Effectiveness: 14 7.0 Dividend Discount Model Analysis 16 7.1 Calculations 17 7.2 Methodology & Result 17 8.0 Modeling: Free Cash Flow to Firm & Free Cash Flow to Equity 18 Appendix A 22 Appendix B 25 1.0 Asset Allocation Model 1.1 Bordered Covariance Matrix The chapter 7 in class spreadsheet model was a strong foundation that helped teach the group how to find an optimum portfolio. To create our portfolio model, a bordered covariance matrix and an efficient frontier was developed to find our minimum variance portfolio in the DOW 30 trading case. A screen shot of our model developed on October the 8th, 2010 is in the...
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...the Customer Experience at Home Depot Rev. 12-2012 During 1990’s, the Home Depot was well renowned for its orange-blooded entrepreneurial culture and outstanding customer service. From the beginning, the retailer took a long-term approach by training its associates to form enduring customer relationships rather than push for incremental sales gains. As a result, the company grew very quickly becoming the fastest retailer in history to reach sales milestones of $30 billion, $40 billion, $50 billion, $60 billion and $70 billion in revenuesi. Despite this remarkable success, Marcus and Blank, the founders of the Home Depot, stepped down as leaders stating that continued growth required new leadership with fresh and innovative business approaches. Thus, in 2001, Robert Nardelli was named Chief Executive Office of the Home Depot. Nardelli introduced many new initiatives to the company such as, centralized buying, company-wide analytics and improved information systems, which were essential for the company to remain competitive. Many of his other changes, however, led to significant dissatisfaction, low morale, high turnover, reduced productivity, and general discontent among the associates that seriously derailed the company from the customer-centric approach that made the Home Depot such a success story during the Marcus and Blank era. The result was the most dramatic decrease in customer satisfaction in retailing history. In 2001, the Home Depot and Lowe’s both had customer...
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...The Home Depot Financial Management Project Company Financial Analysis For: Professor Ana Machuca Submitted by Team A: Betcher, Rhonda Cammack, Cheryl Desai, Shekhar Barnes, John Babatunde, Lasisi Adamson, Christopher Submission Date: February 26, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: ...................................................................................... 3. COMPANY INTRODUCTION: ............................................................................... 5. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS: ......................................................................................... 8. WEIGHTED AVERAGE COST OF CAPTIAL (WACC): ........................................ 11. FUTURE CASH FLOWS: ...................................................................................... 16. HISTORICAL STOCK PRICE: .............................................................................. 22. SECURITY ANALYST’S REPORTS: .................................................................... 25. DIVIDEND and CAPITAL STRUCTURE: .............................................................. 26. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: ............................................................................ 28. MERGER and INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY: .................................................... 29. REFERENCES: .....................................................................................................
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...analyzed further in this document. The following document will not only explore the history and present, but will outline in detail the future demographic trends that are essential to GE’s future success in the home appliance industry. General Electric and the Kitchen Range Introduction Kitchen ranges have gone through major transitions since wood burning and cast iron devices to induction, convection and dual fuel from gas to electric. The industrial revolution was a turning factor for many companies to expand in the marketplace by trying to make kitchen chores easier and faster for women through the development of appliances. This area was the beginning of progressive inventions in this market which many companies such as Whirlpool, Electrolux and General Electric (GE) all became major players and still are today in this very competitive industry of home appliances. Part 1: Competitor Selection In 1892, two companies combined Edison General Electric, developed by Thomas Alva Edison and the Thomas-Houston Company, owned by Charles A. Coffin to originate the organization of General Electric Company soon to be known as GE. Over the years GE has built a portfolio of diverse products from Aviation; engines and services and Appliances; for business and home ranging from small and large appliances of ovens/ranges, dishwasher, washer, dryers and water heaters to small devices such as; coffee machines and microwaves (GE). It has been rated as the number one largest appliance...
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...CONFORMING LETTER Home Depot Inc. Dear Home Depot Inc. Management, As a partner of KNAM LLC, it is my pleasure to present you with the results of our initial review. Included with these results is our assessment of Home Depot Inc.’s performance is our proposition of areas we’d like to review further to determine improvements, efficiency, functionality, and health of your organization. Background Your organization’s core service is in the DIY home improvement market. You sell goods that consumers need for home improvement as well as advice on said projects, contracting services, lawn and garden, and appliances and tools. Your organization was founded in 1978 with the purpose of providing DIY one-stop shopping. Since inception, Home Depot Inc. has grown to become a multinational company with foundations strongly in the United States with roots in the Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese markets. Shortly after inception, Home Depot Inc. enlisted on NASDAQ and the NYSE. Your company has seen considerable growth in its main business as well as developments in subsidiary businesses and services. Home Depot Inc. has become one of the fastest growing retailers in America and as such, you would like to review the operations of your organization to determine areas of further growth and areas that may need to be leaner. Objectives of the Operational Review As a result of our initial review and interviews with your executive management...
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