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Lowe’s to Enter Australia
Australia, August 26, 2009 – Lowe’s Cos. Inc is planning to form a joint venture with Woolworth’s Ltd for a network of home improvement stores in Australia. The Mooresville-based company will have one-third stake in the chain. The venture plans open the first store in late 2011 and would grow to 150 stores in the next five years. The new stores are set to measure more than 100,000 square feet and will sell a wide variety of do-it-yourself and commercial products and services.
Lowe’s is the second largest home improvement retailer in the world and currently has 1,675 stores in the US and Canada. The company is planning to open 60 to 70 more stores in 2009, include some in Canada and its first one in Monterrey, Mexico. Its partner, Woolworths, is the largest retailer and is the largest private sector employer in Australia. It was established in 1924 and operates more than 3,000 retail stores.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to enter the ($20 billion) and growing home-improvement market in Australia, at a time when the sector is underserved,” says Lowe’s chairman and chief executive Robert Niblock. “By partnering Lowe’s home-improvement knowledge with the retail expertise of Australia’s largest retailer, Woolworths, we expect to develop destination home-improvement stores that offer consumers the products and services they need for their homes and businesses in an environment that is comfortable and easy to shop.”
“The Australian love of property and high levels of homeownership mean that maintaining and improving homes is an important part of everyday life,” said Michael Luscombe, chief executive of Woolworths.
“We’re very pleased to be working with Lowe’s, a leading global retailer in home improvement, and very proud of the unique and collaborative agreement we have put in place,” adds Luscombe.
The joint venture will be Lowe’s first attempt to tap the market outside North America. The joint venture includes an AUD $88 million take over of Australia’s second-largest hardware distributor Danks Holdings Ltd.
Source:
bizjournals.com
reuters.com
