Lowe's Home Improvement Stores - NH

[CateP]

"Closing stores is never easy, given the impact on hard-working employees and local communities," said Robert A. Niblock, chairman, president and CEO. "However, we have an obligation to make tough decisions when necessary to improve profitability and strengthen our financial position."

Not to get political or anything , but I think this is really sad. I work for a publically traded company and have seen colleagues laid off so the company can improve the bottom line for shareholders. These were colleagues with little kids to raise.

Three NH stores are closing. I feel for the employees and families who are affected.

Wondering...was there ever a time in our history when companies said "while we may not have been as profitable as we like this past year, we wanted to keep our employees working...it was the right thing to do."

[Pineedles]

Originally Posted by CateP

Not to get political or anything , but I think this is really sad. I work for a publically traded company and have seen colleagues laid off so the company can improve the bottom line for shareholders. These were colleagues with little kids to raise.

Three NH stores are closing. I feel for the employees and families who are affected.

Wondering...was there ever a time in our history when companies said "while we may not have been as profitable as we like this past year, we wanted to keep our employees working...it was the right thing to do."

I too don't want to turn this into an OCCUPY WINNIPESAUKEE thread but companies are in business to turn a profit. Shareholders have the right to expect that the board of directors and mangement at a company they invest their money into to protect their investment. Investors have children to feed, or retirement income they expect to live on too.

I'm sure some companies do the "right thing", as you say. But it is more difficult for a public company to ignore the shareholders. If you want an example of a company (single owner) with a heart, there was factory in Mass. I believe that burned down several years ago. The owner kept all the employees on the payroll while the factory was being rebuilt. Perhaps someone can find the company I am talking about and post it.

[bclaker]

The company that burned was Malden Mills in Methuen, Mass. The owner was Aaron Feuerstein. Click below for the story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNL9xIiwB1E

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malden_Mills

[fpartri497]

Who Is next? In case you havent noticed There is a trend happening all accross the country. company after company is closing. we had all better lear how to speak chinese.

[sky's]

Originally Posted by fpartri497

Who Is next? In case you havent noticed There is a trend happening all accross the country. company after company is closing. we had all better lear how to speak chinese.

all the predictions of 2012 are coming true sad to say but we all should take note of what is going on? not saying nobody is "paying attention" however the facts are terrifying.

[TiltonBB]

The Hooksett store was losing money and the Manchester store was barely breaking even. I can understand closing the Hooksett store but I would have expected them to keep the Manchester store operating with the hope that the economy would pick up and it would become profitable in the future.

The Gilford store does about 25% more business than the Manchester store did and is not on the chopping block.

[Bigstan]

Originally Posted by fpartri497

Who Is next? In case you havent noticed There is a trend happening all accross the country. company after company is closing. we had all better lear how to speak chinese.

As long as we have unions we will lose manufacturing jobs to Asia / S. America / etc... , that is hardly anything new, get used to it. If we keep losing the technology jobs to Asia / India then we really have to worry.
We cannot survive long term on service and govt subsidized industires (defense, teachers, CCC type construction) alone. What to do?

[Irish mist]

Lowe's shadowing of Home Depot, and placing a store every place that HD was located, was a lazy excuse for a business plan. It's coming back to bite them now. Most Lowe's have too many people working in their stores. I was there today & there seemed like and endless stream of workers just strolling about & talking with their fellow workers like it was a holiday.

[VitaBene]

Originally Posted by Irish mist

Lowe's shadowing of Home Depot, and placing a store every place that HD was located, was a lazy excuse for a business plan.

Sounds like the major drug store chains!

[secondcurve]

Originally Posted by VitaBene

Sounds like the major drug store chains!

And fast food outfits and automobile dealers, etc. It wasn't the store location strategy that doomed them it was the overly rosy assumptions about future growth that was the killer. Nothing grows to the moon.

[TheProfessor]

Originally Posted by Bigstan

As long as we have unions we will lose manufacturing jobs to Asia / S. America / etc... , that is hardly anything new, get used to it. If we keep losing the technology jobs to Asia / India then we really have to worry.
We cannot survive long term on service and govt subsidized industires (defense, teachers, CCC type construction) alone. What to do?

Only 11.9 % of the US workforce is a member of a union.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

None of the Lowe's in question had union employees.

[Mirror Lake's BB]

Originally Posted by TheProfessor

Only 11.9 % of the US workforce is a member of a union.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

None of the Lowe's in question had union employees.

Is there something I'm missing? I don't think the Lowes stores in question "manufacture" anything.

And believe me, I am upset at all the manufacturing that we have lost; and not necessarily due to unions.

[secondcurve]

Originally Posted by bclaker

The company that burned was Malden Mills in Methuen, Mass. The owner was Aaron Feuerstein. Click below for the story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNL9xIiwB1E

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malden_Mills

Mr Feuerstein's plan was not successful as he ultimately drove the company into bankruptcy (not once but actually twice). I believe another outfit picked up the pieces the second time and it is operating as a smaller organization with different management, new capital, etc. Unfortunately, companies that don't cut expenses when faced with adversity often find themselves bankrupt.

[Pineedles]

Originally Posted by secondcurve

Mr Feuerstein's plan was not successful as he ultimately drove the company into bankruptcy (not once but actually twice). I believe another outfit picked up the pieces the second time and it is operating as a smaller organization with different management, new capital, etc. Unfortunately, companies that don't cut expenses when faced with adversity often find themselves bankrupt.

Thank you for following up on the story secondcurve! I didn't know about the final outcome. It just supports my position even further. If Mr Feuerstein had laid off a percentage of his employees while waiting for his factory to be rebuilt, perhaps all of his former employees could be employed today and Mr. Feuerstein could have expanded and hired new employees.

Oh how I would love to continue to debate this issue further. But I won't here.

[AB_Monterey]

Since we're discussing Malden Mills...

Feuerstein did indeed pay his employees while they were shut down. Malden did manage to get some production up a short time later and requested employees come back to work in a role that might not have been what they had been doing prior to the fire.

Many refused and chose to stay home and get paid anyway.

So much for doing the right thing.

[ushaggerb]

Originally Posted by CateP

Not to get political or anything , but I think this is really sad. I work for a publically traded company and have seen colleagues laid off so the company can improve the bottom line for shareholders. These were colleagues with little kids to raise.

Three NH stores are closing. I feel for the employees and families who are affected.

Wondering...was there ever a time in our history when companies said "while we may not have been as profitable as we like this past year, we wanted to keep our employees working...it was the right thing to do."

I think private companies can and do say that from time to time. Public companies have a shareholder obligation; they have to make really hard choices sometimes. They have to hit their targets: growth, profit, etc.

But I think you are on to something. Right now public companies are at the point of diminishing returns if they cut more. People are working at a pace that they probably can't keep and are making mistakes they wouldn't if there were larger staffs. "If you've cut out the fat, cut through the muscle, the only cut left is the bone."