Anyone care to guess what Lowe's 4th quarter earning will be when they announce them on 2/26?
The stock is still "up", but has been trending down, stagnant at best.
The books will be cooked as best as possible to make the company seem viable but I expect more cuts in 202. Its all our current corporate minions know how to do. Take huge salaries, and then cut everything to the bone. They are locusts.
And is only going to get worse for the supply chain with most goods coming from China factories are already either closing or slowing down due to the coronavirus, both our automotive and appliance industries here are going to be severely impacted if this virus continues on for weeks or even months. And if you consider at least 80% of products sold in Lowe’s are manufactured in China it’s a real problem
There was a very interesting report on NPR today about the impact
I sold 100% of my stock cause I don’t think it will go up
But that’s just solely based on what I see as an employee
But the cut in payroll, the lack of toilet paper and paper towels, missing ton of stock, lots of penny pinching might be able to false some numbers
Appliance inventory stock outs are a result of:
Yet, we still have unrealistic sales quotas to meet. This place is a real cluster fork.
Prove me wrong.
Appliances? Lowe’s couldn’t deliver in 3 months what Best Buy was able to deliver in 3 days.
Speaking of paint, I can confirm that we are fully stocked as long as you want signature, duramax or, that cheap contractor coat c-ap.
But hey we are going pro all the way! 5 gallon buckets stacked 3 high (only 3 we have), gallons are so high that we need ladders to reach them. It’s all about the pro!
The number they won't be able to cook is the company's 2019 total gross sales. I expect it to be flat lining or falling while Home Depots continues to rise. I believe corporate has already actively leveraged inventory (or should I say the lack thereof) to try to make the "books" look better for end of year. I have worked in the appliance department for over a decade and can attest that this is the absolute WORST I have EVER seen our inventory get. Even worse than the year that a major shipper in the Pacific when bankrupt. Close to three months and my market's ADC is still out of practically every french door refrigerator that we have on the showroom floor and darn near everything else. And when the ADC does have product it is often times in single digits. I still have dozens of customers waiting on stock/SOE product that they purchased in NOVEMBER! Would have many more but the vast majority have already canceled their orders.
When I talk to order replenishment I have been told what we are experiencing is happening nationally. The ADC inventory lookup tool confirms it. Can't blame it on the vendors as our competition (Home Depot & Best Buy) are typically filling our lost customers orders in a matter of days, not months. Many of those customers will not be back! From my prospective we are turning into a retailer that has no product to sell and it is beyond frustrating telling customers time after time after time that we are out of stock. The only rational conclusion I can come up with is that this was intentional as I refuse to believe that we as a retailer have suddenly become that inept that we suddenly forgot how to project demand and order product. Why persons in the corporate ivory tower have not already lost their jobs over this is beyond me. Oh, that's right, its all about stock price NOT "Together, deliver the right home improvement products, with the best service and value, across every channel and community we serve". What a total joke we have become.
They will again paint a poor quarter as best they can. In a good light. There is NO WAY we compped.
They'll say, "Even though Lowe's didnt make numbers in sales, they made serious improvements in...."
Blah blah blah.
Their #1 goal is PRO. Commercial business. But in the past year, they ahve done everything OPPOSITE that they should have to gain pro business. Marvin will fail. He is clueless on what Pros want, need, and expect.
So as he fails, Marvins threats and intimidation to employees will elevate. Firings will now comence this year. Mark my words. NOW starts write ups, and terminations with intimidation daily and threats. It starts today.