Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s CEO since 2018
Photo Illustration by Hayley Warnham; Reference: Patrick McMullan/Getty Images
There was a moment, early in the pandemic, when Marvin Ellison realized that Lowe’s shoppers weren’t just stocking up on emergency supplies. “When you start to see things like grills and patio furniture, you begin to get a sense there’s something unique and different that’s going on,” says the retailer’s chief executive of three years.
What followed was a home-improvement boom for the ages—and gains against a key rival. Lowe’s same-store sales jumped 26% during the year ended in January, versus 20% for Home Depot. Credit Ellison’s tech surge. Three years ago, he says, “we had a dot-com site on a 10- year-old infrastructure, [and] we were project-managing complex installations for customers on whiteboards and binders.” Today, the site is sleek, the stores are remodeled, and workers have mobile devices and project software. New tools and teams have helped manage commodity inflation and supply-chain kinks.
Will growth slip into reverse as the pandemic eases? Unlikely, says Ellison, 56. Rising home prices and a shortage of new homes bode well for spending, as do customer surveys. “Respondents are telling us they will never revert to pre-Covid standards relative to how they view the home,” he says.
Write to Jack Hough at [email protected]
