Lowe's to close all Orchard Supply Hardware stores (Sears spin off) nationwide [View all]
Lowe's will close all Orchard Supply Hardware stores nationwide by Feb. 1, the company announced Wednesday.
Orchard Supply Hardware, founded in 1931 in San Jose, California, and acquired by Lowe's in 2013, has 99 stores in California, Oregon and Florida. Lowe's is closing the stores to focus on its core home improvement business, the company said.
Employees were told about the decision Tuesday, and all stores will be open Wednesday for normal business hours. Orchard Supply Hardware stores will have store closing sales beginning Thursday with a plan for all stores to be closed by the end of the company's fiscal year. Lowe's will also close a distribution center in Tracy, California, the company said.
"While it was a necessary business decision to exit Orchard Supply Hardware, decisions that impact our people are never easy," Lowe's president and CEO Marvin Ellison said in a statement. "We will be providing outplacement services for impacted associates, and they will be given priority status if they choose to apply for other Lowe's positions."
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Lowe's acquired Orchard Supply Hardware in 2013 after Orchard Supply, which was spun off from Sears Holdings in 2011, filed for bankruptcy.
The news about the stores' closing led many longtime customers to reminisce on Twitter about the chain, which remodeled some stores recently and had been expanding in Florida. "Deeply saddened," one person tweeted.
"I am going to miss them big time," wrote another longtime customer.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2018/08/22/lowes-orchard-supply-hardware-stores-close/1060236002/
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