SIERRA VISTA - Although still in the midst of construction, the new Lowe's store going up on the corner of Highway 90 and Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway can't be missed by Sierra Vista residents.
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Future store Manager Kenny Staley said the keys will be turned over from E M J contractors to Lowe's on March 28, at which time inventory will begin being stocked.
"The opening date has not yet been determined. Once we have an exact date we will send out a news release," said Karen Cobb, spokeswoman for Lowe's.
The project was announced back in June of 2006 and is one of approximately 160 new locations expected during 2007. "We will also be opening new stores in Canada," Cobb said.
A store this size for Lowe's represents an average investment of about $18.5 million, including land, building and infrastructure.
"We have two prototypes that we construct - 117,000 square feet reserved for larger markets, and then we have a 94,000-square-foot size for smaller markets," Cobb said.
The Sierra Vista store is at 117,000 square feet and will have a 31,000 square foot outdoor garden center featuring supplies and plants tailored to the Arizona climate.
Cobb said Lowe's chose Sierra Vista's market based on extensive research, and a variety of factors. "In general, growth is certainly one of the factors taken into consideration when we build. When we selected Sierra Vista, we determined that there was an opportunity here to serve homeowners in the area and tremendous growth opportunity in the community. Whenever we open new stores, we balance our expansion in larger and smaller markets - in terms of where we are looking, it's a mix of the two," she added, "A couple of major factors include home ownership in the area, population, access to major roadways, and easy access in and out of parking lots."
This location is expected to create 175 new jobs, adding to the 3,500 existing employees at Lowe's throughout the state of Arizona, and 210,000 employees nationwide.
In Sierra Vista, Lowe's will stock more than 40,000 items, with 500,000 available for special order. Part of the reason for the large inventory is that Lowe's caters to both residential and commercial customers, according to Cobb.
But Lowe's is a relatively recent addition to Arizona's economy. "We first opened Lowe's in Arizona in 2000," Cobb said. The company now has 24 stores in Arizona. Two other locations under construction in Buckeye and South Phoenix.
Lowe's is headquartered in Mooresville, N.C., and originated as a small hardware store in 1946. In the last fiscal year, the company earned about $46.9 billion in sales, with approximately 13 million customers per week in 1,375 locations throughout 49 states.
Nationally, Lowe's is the seventh largest retailer.
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