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Lowes Foods history
Lowes Foods company history timeline
Lowes Foods began in 1954 as a single store in North Wilkesboro, NC, and has grown to become a major supermarket chain operating in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
1958 Growing Stronger In 1958, Lowe’s reaches 344 associates.
1961 Lowe’s Goes Public Lowe’s becomes a publicly-traded company on October 10, 1961.
1964 One Million Lowe’s serves one million customers annually for the first time.
1973 IFH moves into 50,000 square foot facility.
1979 Welcome to NYSE On December 19, Lowe’s is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Lowe’s is listed on the London Stock Exchange as of January 26, 1981.
IFH also continued to expand with entry into South Carolina with the purchase of Brothers Foods of Dillion, South Carolina in 1982.
1982 One Billion Lowe’s has its first billion-dollar sales year, earning a record profit of $25 million.
1984 Best Company to Work For Lowe’s is named a “Top 100 Best Companies to Work for in America” by Fortune Magazine.
A new 90,000 square foot facility opens in Florence, SC to replace the Dillon, SC distribution center that was destroyed by fire in 1986.
Lowes Foods continued their store growth by adding 19 more stores by 1989.
1992 Alex Lee forms as the holding company for MDI, IFH, and Lowes Foods.
They also introduced a new concept, FreshSmart, in 1994 that emphasized full selection of quality fresh foods, upscale customer service, and faster checkout.
1995 Entering the Digital Age In 1995, Lowes.com is launched, marking the company’s entrance into the digital market.
In 1997, Lowes Foods acquired Byrds Food Stores, located in eastern North Carolina.
Also in 1998, Alex Lee started a new storage and distribution business called Consolidation Services which supplies an array of warehousing and distribution services.
1999 Supporting Associates In 1999 the Lowe’s Employee Relief Fund is established to help associates through times of significant financial hardship.
It continued its growth in 2000 with the purchase of 13 Hannaford stores.
2002 Fortune 100 Lowe’s joins for the Fortune 100 for the first time with $22B in revenue.
In keeping with our entrepreneurial spirit, IFH entered into a new venture in 2003 called IFH ChefSmart, a new retail concept.
2006 IFH builds new distribution center in Florence, SC.
Lowes Foods continued to expand by opening its first Lowes Foods Fuel station in 2007.
2011 Lowes Foods introduces the Just$ave value format.
In 2012, Alex Lee, Inc. sold IFH to Performance Food Group turning its focus to the retail and wholesale distribution businesses.
In 2013, Lowes Foods re-opened the first store to offer the newly developed concepts in Clemmons, North Carolina.
2015 Lowes Foods continues to innovate introducing new concepts and an improved and updated Lowes Foods to Go service.
2016 Alex Lee introduces a new logo.
2016 Northern Growth Lowe’s purchases RONA in 2016, expanding its reach in Canada.
In 2017, Alex Lee acquired Souto Foods, LLC located in Atlanta, Georgia.
2018 Marvin Ellison Joins Lowe's Robert Niblock retires and Marvin Ellison becomes president and CEO.
2021 Lowe’s Turns 100! Lowe’s commemorates its centennial by celebrating 100 years of service to its customers and communities.
Block Link Title Committed to the climate: Lowe’s to set Science Based Net-Zero target in 2022
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Lowes Foods competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ingles Markets | 1963 | $5.0B | 26,000 | 235 |
| Kroger | 1883 | $147.1B | 465,000 | 7,854 |
| Meijer | 1934 | $19.6B | 70,000 | 1,043 |
| AutoZone | 1979 | $18.5B | 87,000 | 7,194 |
| Dillard's | 1938 | $6.6B | 40,000 | 18 |
| Big Lots | 1967 | $4.7B | 22,900 | - |
| Dollar General | 1939 | $40.6B | 143,000 | 8,062 |
| Hy-Vee | 1930 | $12.0B | 88,000 | 918 |
| Safeway | 1915 | $36.3B | 250,001 | 40 |
| Food Lion | 1957 | $20.0B | 88,001 | 1 |
Lowes Foods history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Lowes Foods, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Lowes Foods. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Lowes Foods. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Lowes Foods. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Lowes Foods and its employees or that of Zippia.
Lowes Foods may also be known as or be related to Lowe's Food Stores, Inc., Lowes Foods, Lowes Foods LLC and Lowes Foods, LLC.