Lowe’s to Increase Workers’ Hours to Keep Q2 Momentum

In its second-quarter financial results released Wednesday, Lowe’s announced that it will increase “customer-facing hours” to continue its upward trend in comparable store sales, according to the company.

“Lowe’s hopes to ride the wave of stronger shopper traffic with the investment in store-level workers—with a primary focus on weekends and peak traffic times during weekdays,” reports the Charlotte Observer.

The big-box home improvement retailer reported overall sales increases of 6.8 percent over the second quarter of 2016. Comparable sales for the retailer increased 4.6 percent over last year.

Lowe’s CEO, chairman and president Robert A. Niblock says that despite the increases, the results were not what the company had projected for the first six months of the fiscal year. The company has retained its previous annual guidance, which projects 5 percent sales growth overall and 3.5 percent comparable sales growth.

“While our results were below our expectations in the first half of this year, the team remains focused on making the necessary investments to improve the customer experience and drive sales,” Niblock says. “This includes amplifying our consumer messaging and incremental customer-facing hours in our stores, which will put pressure on our operating margin. We believe this is the right strategy to more fully capitalize on strong traffic trends in what we believe is a supportive macroeconomic backdrop for home improvement.”

The company also benefited during the second quarter from the sale of its interest in the Australian home improvement chain Master’s, which closed all locations late last year.

Lowe’s is headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, and operates 2,370 home improvement retail stores in North America.