In a disappearing act that would make a Las Vegas magician envious, South Tacoma’s Lowe’s home improvement store transformed itself from a fully functioning member of the nationwide chain to brandless facade overnight Sunday and early Monday.
The store, one of 20 underperforming stores the Mooresville, N.C., company announced Monday that it is shutting down, was not identifiable Monday morning as a former Lowe’s except for its characteristic blue and gray exterior paint scheme.
The elevated sign on Hosmer Street was drapped with a plastic cover, The Lowe’s name had vanished from the building’s facade, and decals, stickers and logos had been peeled off the doors and windows.
The store’s windows were covered with black plastic, and a simple black-and-white letter-sized notice taped to the main entrance announced the store’s demise and referred customers to the chain’s other three Tacoma-area stores on Orchard Street near Fircrest, in Lakewood and in Puyallup.
Customers who had ordered merchandise at the South Tacoma store were referred to the Orchard Street store to arrange a pickup.
The South Tacoma store’s shutdown was part of a corporate retrenchment designed to improve the company’s flat earnings and to keep a closer watch on store profitability. The 20 stores closed are located in 15 states. No other Washington Lowe’s stores were targeted for closure.
The company also announced it would be slowing its expansion pace to 10 to 15 a year beginning next year.
Lowe’s Companies Inc. still plans to open 25 new stores by the end of this year.
“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.”
At midday Monday, customers were still arriving to shop at the South Tacoma Lowe’s despite the company’s efforts to erase its visible presence at that site.
“I was just here a couple of days ago,” said Matt Leopold of Parkland. “What do you mean it’s closed?”
Hung Nguyen of Olympia approached the home center’s front door only to discover the store was locked.
He had stopped to buy some supplies for his work and for personal use.
“I work in Tacoma and I live in Olympia,” he said. “This store was always a convenient stop for me.”
The store was at 7905 S. Hosmer St. in Tacoma South Plaza shopping center just east of I-5 and south of the South 72nd Street exit.
“It looks like I’ll be shopping at the Lakewood store in the future,” he said.
Myshell Brown stopped at the store to have a key made when she found the home center was no longer in business.
“I live just up the street,” she said. “My mom and dad and I shopped here all the time. I guess I’ll be going to Home Depot from now on,” she said.
Rival home improvement retailer Home Depot operates a store just north of South 72nd Street on the west side of I-5 from the shuttered Lowe’s.
About 1,950 employees are being affected by the 20 closings, the company said. Those laid off will receive 60 to 90 days of pay and benefits as a severance.
A corporate spokesperson was unavailable Monday to discuss the specific details of the Tacoma store’s closing.
Lowe’s entered Western markets in 1999 when it bought Renton-based Eagle Hardware and Garden Inc. in a $1 billion deal. Eagle had 35 home improvement stores throughout the Western states.
Eagle was founded in 1989 by former Pay’N’Pak Chairman David J. Heerensperger after he left Pay’N’Pak. Heerensperger got his start in the hardware business when he was 17 and he became a stock boy in a Longview hardware store.
The site of the former South Tacoma Lowe’s store was originally the site of a large warehouse-style grocery store, Mega Foods.
John Gillie: 253-597-8663
john.gillie@thenewstribune.com
