Lowe’s Petco Partnership
Lowe’s has been in the news lately, thanks to their new partnership with Petco. Yes, Petco, the pet food and supply chain.
Lowe’s press release says that their first Petco store-in-a-store will open at their Alamo Ranch, Texas location this month – February 2022.
There are plans for Lowe’s to expand this concept to 14 additional store locations in Texas, North Carolina, and South Carolina by the end of March 2022.
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The idea is for Lowe’s to offer “trusted products, services, and expertise – for both home and pets – into one convenient stop at select Lowe’s locations.”
Lowe’s New Origin21 Brand
In other news, Lowe’s has also launched Origin21, a new home décor brand that they say will “deliver approachable, modern design for everyday living.” This is part of Lowe’s “House of Style” campaign that “aims to surprise customers with the unexpected style finds for the whole home.”
Origin21 products are “designed by Lowe’s” for “the stylish, trend-seeking millennial customer looking to modernize their home style.”
Lowe’s Origin21 collection will include things like pillows, rugs, patio furniture, light fixtures, faucets, and fake plants.
The pieces from Origin21 feature clean lines, soft curves and natural materials that can stand alone or flow together in a single space. Architectural details and nods to mid-century modern and Scandinavian design round out the collection.
New MVP Pro Rewards Program
Nearly one year ago, Lowe’s announced an “upgraded Pro shopping experience”, with features such as phone charging stations, windshield cleaning, free tire air, and a new “convenience rack” with snacks and essentials at pro checkout stations.
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Now, they’re launching a new “MVPs Pro Rewards” program. It is available today in “select regions” and will roll out nationwide in March 2022.
Lowe’s says:
Complementing Lowe’s strong credit offerings (5% off every day on eligible purchases, to 0% interest for 60 days for Lowe’s Business Advantage accounts), Lowe’s MVPs Pro Rewards offers new and existing loyalty members benefits…
The new benefits include:
- e-gift cards earned on eligible purchases
- Access to “business resources”
- Exclusive offers
- “A chance to win incredible prizes”
- A simple mobile and online user experience
Details are still vague, but we hope to learn more next month.
For instance, there will be “MVPs Bonus Points that can be used for additional exciting rewards helping Pros invest in their businesses and themselves.”
Examples of “incredible prizes” include “Ford F-Series trucks that serve as many Pros’ mobile offices, and custom-built local advertising packages.”
Exclusive offers will include “rewards on eligible paint purchases” and “free select snacks or drinks.”
Discussion
Two years ago, Lowe’s promised they would be revamping their website, but I have not noticed any improvements. Last year, they rolled out an “upgraded Pro shopping experience,” but I’m not sure anyone felt those changes.
Lowe’s My Lowe’s membership program fizzled over the years. Will this new Pro-focused program be any different?
I’d like to be optimistic, but as details are still a bit vague, open-minded is the best I could do right now.
The new program is introduced in press materials as “Lowe’s MVPs Pro Rewards and Partnership Program.” The rewards aspect is vague, but seemingly straightforward. What will the “partnership” side of the program entail?
The press material discusses how they’re “deepening” their partnership with Pro customers.
We are committed to a true business partnership mindset to help Pros as they grow their businesses and their futures.
I’m not sure what this means, but it suggests there will be more to this MVPs program over time.
As for the Petco store-in-a-store concept that’s launching at 15 stores over the next few weeks, I suppose that makes sense.
Lowe’s is going after “millennial customers” with products that pair “function and beauty through on-trend items each season.” They’re not just increasing their selection – they launched a new “exclusive” brand to do this.
Do you think these new developments will increase Lowe’s appeal to broad types of customers?
RD
Really had to check that it wasn’t 4/1 today… what?! Is there enough of a market for this?
Peter
I think Lowes was always a bit more geared to the home owner than the contractor so this makes sense in the way that most homeowners have pets and therefor go to Lowes instead of HD.
MM
It certainly made made me do a double-take!
I don’t see how this makes sense, nor do I have any interest in it. I’d rather be able to shop for my construction supplies without having to worry about people’s pets or their left-behind “accidents”.
Stuart
If pet supplies are a high priority in certain areas, it could bring in more foot traffic, or at least I’m thinking that’s the motivation there.
Or maybe they found a lot of Lowe’s shoppers in those areas tend to also go to pet supply shops before or after. Or maybe they think some shoppers would go to Lowe’s rather than Home Depot if it saves them an extra trip on occasion.
Scott K
A few Petcos in our area have closed recently- this may be less expensive than operating their own full-size stores. They’ve also experimented with smaller urban-focused stores in some cities. This isn’t a bad idea since there are so many Lowe’s locations. This may allow Lowes to better compete with some of the online pet retailers.
Ben
In my experience people who bring their dogs into lowes or Home Depot are largely attentive owners, therefore raising an equally well behaved and attentive dog. The same cannot be said for unattentive parents toting their equally unappealing human “accident(s)”
Robert
Beat me to it, is this an April’s fool’ joke? Lowes’ CEO came from Penny’s where he arguably did more harm than good. These side adventures won’t help Lowes’ improve it’s core business.
Dean
The Alamo Ranch Lowe’s is next to a Penny’s. The Penny’s is across the parking lot from a Petco.
Eric
Just looked at google street view and it’s a Pet Smart across the street. That at least makes a little more sense. Though several years ago Best Buy put a small store in our mall. Which was right across the street from a full size Best Buy.
Perry
He also was in charge of home depot’s U.S. stores during a big growth period for them. He wasn’t great at penny’s but he was good for home depot
Joel Kadrmas
Looks like Menards from now on, that was the only reason I shopped there, why disgrace the military some more!!!!
Steve
I’d rather Lowes focus on competitive prices and convenient locations, but that’s just me.
Kelly
Actually Lowes does have competitive pricing. You just need to go to the pro desk and speak to a pro specialist. I am a pro sales specialist at lowes in Jacksonville, fl. We pride ourselves on putting the customer first. Its the example that has been shown and demanded by our store manager and management.
Franck B.
I’d rather that Lowe’s put more time and effort into:
1) Web site that is a lot leaner, and doesn’t require so much bandwidth and browser resources
2) Having product managers that are on top of inventory and supply, and keeping the aisles in the stores stocked properly (e.g. not having to look all over the store for ghost inventory, or for stocks not in their proper place)
3) Better marketed specials–a lot of the time I see something in the store on clearance that wasn’t advertised anywhere. On the other hand, maybe this is better than everything being snapped up by online resellers.
I actually prefer a lot of the Lowe’s products because they often have more or better name brands. HD tends to do the Walmart/China method (bring in a name brand only long enough to test the market and then supplant it with our own low-cost-to-us lower quality copy). But it’s really a side effect because Lowe’s would probably do that to increase profits if it was a better run company. The benefit of still having local access to name brands is only because the company seems to be so poorly run and the leadership can’t make a long-game decision and stick with it long enough to play out positively.
This of course is all arm-chair quarterbacking, I don’t have any knowledge of how to run a large company or what other factors may play into their decisions. So my opinions are just how I see things as a customer.
I also like Lowe’s locally because there aren’t as many non-pros shopping there and I can get in and out a lot faster than the local HD.
Plain grainy
Lowe’s closed the store I used to frequent. I guess they need to do what’s necessary to keep the brick & mortar stores open. Menards has a large pet section in their store. And pet food seems to rise $5 a bag every month. If it works for Menards, Lowe’s is probably very aware of that. And it looks like they are expanding slowly.
John
Lowes seems to be straying for their core purpose. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the dogs eat it.
Matt the Hoople
While not what I would have anticipated, I’m not surprised. It’s been a while since Lowe’s was truly a lumber/tool store. They are a “home decore and lifestyle” store that also carries tools and lumber. I still go there for immediate tool needs and the occasional piece of lumber. For most of my lumber needs, I have taken to spending a bit more at real lumber yards. Simply not having to load lumber twice (once on a cart and again into my trailer) is worth the extra cost.
Clay
There are two things Lowe’s could do to improve my customer experience:
1) Accurate Inventory: The Lowe’s nearest me is always hit or miss on whether or not items they say ARE in inventory will be, or not. I’ve made many a special trip to the store to get something I need for a project because it said they had the item in stock, only to find it is not in stock. That’s a lot of wasted time.
2) Accurate Store Locations: The items are often not where the app says they will be. Not even the same row, much less section. I waste a lot of time hunting around, or asking store reps. Apparently a system the reps can access shows the *actual* location. What?! Why are there two systems/sets of data?
It’s gotten to the point that I’ll plan my trips to go a little farther to the Home Depot. They get both of the above right, as much as is reasonably possible.
MM
Both of those problems have bothered me, and what makes matters worse is that 90% of the employees don’t know any better, they rely on the app rather than their own familiarity with the store so even if you ask for help they are likely to repeat the same inaccurate information that you already “knew”. But, my local HD is just as bad if not worse.
Hon Cho
Lowe’s has long been seen by financial analysts as being more “women friendly” in how they organize and present their merchandise. Before Sears downfall, I remember reading that they were the #2 appliance retailer after Sears so perhaps they’re #1 now? Women make or influence the vast majority of all household purchases so entering another category with a partnership will allow them to capture a few more shekels. Petco gets more exposure and moves more product. Maybe a win for both companies.
As for the Origin 21 brand, I’m definitely not in the demographic for that stuff and I’d rather it not clutter the aisles but their stores and I get to buy or not so no big deal either way.
John E
My local Lowe’s (Austin) had a dedicated pet isle a few years back. Stocked a lot more than just pet doors. It’s gone now, so it must not have been that popular.
bwh
This is Lowes attempt at market differentiation, pure and simple.
Rather than focus on fixing core and underlying problems, they’re trying to throw something against the wall and see if it sticks. They don’t have the footprint for this in their physical store locations – it works for something like Menards because of smaller tool sections and 200k avg sqft, versus Lowes with 144k avg sqft.
Terrible idea that is great for Petco, and will be bad for the consumer.
Saulac
I think the store-in-store in a brilliant concept. Like Amazon’s market place, but for brick and mortar. Most logical next store-in-store would be, obviously, HD. After that is HF. I’ll go loading on LOW stocks now.
Matt the Hoople
I’m surprised they don’t yet have a subway, Starbucks, etc. some have a sausage cart out front but that’s not the same.
gene
I love the sausage cart! We did a job in Philadelphia and the Home Depot in the industrial part of Philly had a cheese steak shop in the front of the store.
Chris D
I don’t like it when people bring their dogs into hardware/big box stores, so I’m not looking forward to when it will be encouraged.
PETE
I had some middle aged man boy get in a tissy, he was letting his dog just wander around on 8′ leash and it ran into me then he acted like it was my fault.
steve
I feel sorry for Petco.
Mikedt
Store-in-store is the next big thing. I’ve read several articles on it in the last few weeks. It’s viewed a win-win for the parties involved.
PTBRULES
I’m guessing that Petco is not long for this world.
fred
Unless they have suddenly suffered a reversal of fortune – their financial results for 2021 looked pretty good and the predictions are that first quarter 2022 EPS will be up over 50% compared to the same period 2021.
Lowes too is predicting an increase in EPS for the first quarter of 2022 – but more like a 28% increase.
I’m guessing that Lowes is seeing some of its retail aisle space and associated SKUs underperforming – so maybe a diversification to add PETCO items looks like it has promise.
PTBRULES
I was replying to a different comment where he said that the first Lowes that is trialing this has a Petco across the street. I don’t know why this got posted separately.
Mopar
IDK, it kind of strikes me as a couple of second place companies hoping together they claw back a little market share from their respective #1s.
Petco may be doing well, but Petsmart is bigger, and I would think Petsmart is doing even better. Especially since the pandemic, since they already owned Chewy.
Maybe their next store within a store partnership will be with Target.
Shane
Too late. Target already has a Disney Store-in-store in a few locations(I can’t even begin to parse the union of the two), so this makes a little more sense . Maybe since so many people do bring their dogs into Lowes they figure there might be some dough in serving a niche demographic. I didn’t care for the bring your dog to the home improvement store surge the past few years but they seem to be mostly well-behaved which is more than can be said for lots of children in stores! I will go out of my way to hit a Home Depot most times.
I agree with the opinion of others that think they tend to throw lots of different shit against the wall to see if something will stick and then they put it on clearance 2 weeks later! While Lowes has done well the last few quarters it isn’t due to a brilliant strategy or anything the brand has done. It was just blind chance caused by a pandemic along with an unforeseen change in consumer behavior where people had free time and money in their pockets. In the early days of the pandemic they benefited by being one of the few businesses that didn’t shut down for in-store shopping. They’re competence will be tested as things get back to whatever normal will look like.
John S
This is brilliant marketing. Lowes has always been closer to say a Sears than HD ever was. HD is for contractors , lowes is for homeowners.
Excellent marketing and will bring in people that spend money on more profitable items. Lowes was always cleaner, brighter more inviting. HD was rougher but you could talk to an “expert” because they used to employ people with actual experience in their dept.- hd has strayed from that and their employees are no more knowledgeable than me or the guy working at lowes now – and the stores look kinda dumpy.
Now they’re just need to fix their atrocious online ordering system.
John Fal
I think it would be a great add on for Lowes, I like pets in the store. But sometimes you get disrespectful pet perents that try to ruin it for Everybody and that goes for the two legged animal parents as well.
Julian Tracy
Might as well give folks a valid reason to go there.
Certainly you wouldn’t choose Lowes if you needed electrical or plumbing supplies, and aside from some select Dewalt or Bosch power tools, the entire store has been filled with pretty much crap. Crap thin lightweight tool boxes, crap Craftsman tools, crappier Kobalt tools, etc, etc.
Rog
One less reason to view Lowe’s as a direct HD competitor and more of a Walmart/Home Goods/At Home hybrid
Joe S
I actually think the Petco partnership is a really great idea. Menards is generally my big box store of choice, and they have a pretty large pet section. I always end up getting something for the pup while I’m there… Whether it’s a bag of food,treats, etc.
I live in a rural area, so I have to drive a bit to get to a pet store or home center. I’m much more likely to do my pet shopping when picking up other items. I’m not sure this will make me want to go to Lowes more often, but it will more than likely increase my overall purchase price when I do.
Nancy P Slutbahg
Left to the incredibly short sighted leadership of Lowe’s this too will go the way of the Lowe’s exclusive smart home fiasco known as “IRIS”. I can hardly wait.
Frank D
It could go either way. I was surprised at first, and think that might be bad for either brand; but then I wouldn’t mind picking up some pet supplies while at Lowes. In my case Lowe’s is always head and shoulders above HD in terms of professionalism, stocked up, cleaner, much less clutter, staff is friendlier, …
Joe W.
What exactly qualifies one as a “pro?” Do you have to have the Lowes credit card? I have never joined MyLowes despite purchasing from them probably 8-10 times per month, because there was simply no incentive (we keep track of your receipts?)
Bill
Seems to be a different take on Tractor Supply or Rural King. As a dog owner, I’m opposed to pets in the store. Maybe they can limit where the pets go, only in the petco area, but I doubt they would enforce it. This could actually hurt their core business.
Albert
I have purchased groceries at Menards. Why not pet food at Lowes.
Tom D
Menards even has four or five aisles dedicated to pets – it’s certainly a workable combination.
Coach James
None of these new pro and store in store appeal to me. I would be happy if Lowes had lumber that is not warped and online inventory match what is actually in the store.
My experience is that the lumber at “real” lumber yards is just as bad as what I find at Lowes. That may be one reason so many contractors here buy from Lowes and why two “real” lumber yards have gone out of business.
Jimmie
The Lowe’s stores around me don’t have an abundance of empty space as it is. I wonder what they’re eliminating in order to make room for pet supplies?
David
I find all of this funny because the Lowes around here hate animals all together so how is this supposed to work
OldDominionDIYer
Not thinking this partnership will have any impact on me. For me it seems like a waste of effort but to each his own. I’m not feeling like this at all.
Ezzy
The number one thing that Lowe’s for Pros needs to institute is job tracking like the Home Depot Pro Account offers. I need a way to track what purchase is for what jobsite. Lowe’s apperently only does that if you have a Lowe’s credit card which I’m not looking to start.
Lloyd Worley
Makes perfect sense to me. In my neck of the woods, if you want to buy some patio furniture, or a barbecue grill or put out some flowers, you go to Lowes. If you want to build something, you go to Home Depot. Both stores seem to have plenty of foot traffic. So it seems that Lowes is simply moving to a logical extension of this already existing market differentiation.
Jim
Lowes must be seeing success with the consumer orientation as differentiating from Home Depot.
Thinking about my local Lowes vs local Home Depot, there’s a BIG difference in how much square footage is dedicated to final consumer goods (Lowes) vs buildings supplies (Home Depot).
I don’t see pet supplies as much of a leap. Seems to compete with places like Tractor Supply, Rural King, and even Menards.
What is maybe most interesting to me, though, is that this is following their decision to close their Orchard Supply Hardware stores. Sure, there were only 100 or so stores, but they were definitely oriented toward this all-in-one hardware store, just smaller footprint.
Personally, I prefer Home Depot for building supplies, and I do more shopping for home-related final goods at Lowes, like light bulbs, outdoor furniture/decor, plants/garden, etc. Interesting strategy for sure.
Coach James
I don’t get the “Lowes is for foo foo and HD is for building stuff”. We have both close by and, aside from carrying different brands, their inventory is almost the same. Is my area an anomaly? How are the two different in other places?
MM
I think it varies by area. In my town there are two Lowe’s and one HD. One of the Lowe’s seems very focused on things like outdoor furniture and home decor items though it does have the usual supply of everything else, including lumber and building materials. The other Lowe’s has a lot less of that and is more of a generic home improvement store. The HD, by comparison, has a terrible garden department and most of the other things are similar. For plumbing stuff I actually prefer Lowe’s. One example is that at my local stores the HD tops out at 4″ pipe and doesn’t carry any ABS or SCH80 while Lowe’s carries up to 6″ and has both ABS and SCH80 PVC.
Arthur Murray
Lowes would do well to focus instead on their existing shortcomings, such as a completely worthless inventory management process. I said adios to Lowes because I could not count on finding inventory when I went to buy it, regardless of what the in-house inventory system said.
The standard excuses were “they shipping form said they sent 20 but we received only 12,” and “we probably have those in a box on a high shelf somewhere but we don’t know where.” A year ago I waited – again – for 30 minutes for the search party to come up empty handed. That ended Lowes for me.
An “enhanced sales experience” for stuff they don’t have in stock – but claim they do – or can’t find will not be helpful.
David Vigil
I shop at Lowe’s in two different ways. As a pro with the company I work for, and as a regular customer on my own. Very disappointed today when I bought over $600 worth of plywood only to find out they no longer honor veterans discount. Seems like they only want the pros. business and don’t care about regular Joe’s. I will no longer be loyal to Lowe’s as my pro card also works with other stores. Very sad to have to do this because I have a great relationship with the employees I always deal with. All they can say is sorry, so I will say the same. Sorry Lowe’s.
Ronald Berry
The reason the My Lowe’s program seems to have fizzled is that most cashiers don’t ask if they have a My Lowe’s card or if they would like one and that it’s not a credit card but a way to keep track of your purchases. Go to Lowe’s ten times and make small purchases and see how many times you are asked if you have or would like a My Lowe’s card. I think a lot of it has to do with poor training and a large employee turnover rate.