Email to a friend Check out this article The Lowe's Down. Claim:   The jilted wife of the owner of Home Depot created the Lowe's chain of home improvement stores. Example:   [Collected on the Internet, 2005] Origins:   In 2002 we encountered a rumor that postulated Lowe's Companies, Inc. was begun by the embittered ex-spouse of the owner of The Home Depot, Inc. According to this whisper (which we've since heard from a number of folks), a wife who felt she had not been fairly treated in a divorce used the knowledge she'd gained while in her marriage to create a rival to her husband's chain of home improvement supplies business, even to the point of locating her stores next to his in an effort to steal his customers. A less well-traveled form of the basic rumor asserts the following: [Collected on the Internet, 2004] In that version, neither spouse is presented as bent upon driving the other's business into the ground; instead, the puzzling concurrence of so many Lowe's and Home Depots is explained as a condition of the divorce and therefore as an item worked out and agreed to by both parties rather than as something one was doing to taunt or punish the other.

As inherently satisfying as both forms of the legend are, there isn't a shred of truth to either. Lowe's was started in 1946 as a single store in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, by two brothers-in-law, James Lowe and Carl Buchan. Within a few years Buchan bought out Lowe but kept the Lowe's name, possibly because he liked the sound of "Lowe's Low Prices." Buchan died in 1961, the same year the company went public. Lowe's began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1979, and by 2004 its sales totaled $36.5 billion. As of 2005, Lowe's operates more than 1,100 stores in 48 states. Its current Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer is Robert A. Niblock, who has held that position since Home Depot was founded in 1978 in Atlanta, Georgia, by Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank, two top executives who had recently been fired from Los Angeles-based Handy Dan (another home improvement chain), and Kenneth Langone, a New York investment banker who helped the pair gain the financing they needed to launch their venture.

The company went public in 1981, and by 2005 the parent company, The Home Depot, Inc., was operating more than 1,800 stores (Home Depot, EXPO, and other subsidiary companies) in 50 states, the District of Columbia, the ten Canadian provinces, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. 24 hour door repair edmontonWhile Home Depot does not yet have stores in China, it did recently open two sourcing offices in that country. genie garage door openers companyThe current Chairman, President and CEO of Home Depot is Robert L. Nardelli, who has been in that position since 2000.cheap storm doors winnipeg We can only guess why the rumor of a vengeful wife has attached to these two home improvement emporiums, speculating that it's possible the tale sprang in part from someone's having noticed the two retailers often locate their stores near one another, a practice that does appear to fly in the face of generally accepted business wisdom regarding not building too close to one's competitor.

Yet Lowe's and Home Depot seem to want to go head-to-head in battling for the home improvement dollar, with both companies appearing to seek out locations as near as possible to the other's stores. (For instance, Home Depot announced in 2003 that it planned to build one of its stores in Olive Branch, Mississippi, a scant half mile from the spot on which Lowe's had just six weeks earlier declared it would build.) And in some cases, one retailer will choose to put its store right beside the other's, as in 2003, when Home Depot opened one of its outlets right next to an existing Lowe's in East Brainerd, TN. While a variety of rotten tricks have over the course of human history been pulled by retaliation-minded spouses of both sexes, few and far between have been acts of an empowering nature (which would have been the case here if this legend had been true about a wronged wife who started her own business, then used it to take on the giant in its business sector because she was determined to teach her ex- a lesson).

Far more common in situations where there is an acrimonious split between a husband and wife who have knowledge of each other's business dealings is the clandestine phone call to the IRS in which misgivings are expressed about the accuracy of the other spouse's corporation's tax returns and a suggestion that an audit of that company's books might not be such a bad idea. As many a vengeance seeker has discovered, who needs the likes of Tony Soprano to administer a sharp and memorable lesson when Uncle Sam is but a phone call away? While this next story (which has been reported as true in Canada, yet so far defies our efforts to confirm it) isn't quite on point, it is similar enough in terms of a retribution-bent wife using "her" business to take apart his and humiliate him in the process to bear mentioning here: Barbara "and so sank Frank" Mikkelson Last updated:   26 May 2011 Langway, Lynn and Joseph Cumming.   31 March 1975   (p. 61)."Home Depot Plans Olive Branch Store."

The [Memphis] Commercial Appeal.   9 October 2003   (p. DS1)."Expansions Added with Customers' Need for One-Stop Shopping." The [Charleston] Post and Courier.   9 February 1998   (p. D8)."Biz Legends Prove Untrue."2 November 2004   (p. S1)."Home Depot, Lowe's Will Duke It Out Again in City." Chattanooga Times Free Press.   26 June 2003   (p. C1)."Unusual Team Has Built No. 1 Firm in Its Field." The Atlanta Journal and Constitution.   22 May 1991   (p. H1).February 1996   (p. 29)."Work, Buy and Hold." Snopes Delivered to Your Inbox: The hottest deals voted on by our community. Selected and verified by our team of deal editors. Learn More About Prelude, Reflections & Intrigue New Products in 2016! See What's New for 2016 Where are you inthe remodeling process? Diamond at Lowe's Remodeling Checklist A blend of modern & traditional details. Focuses on personalization & harmony between both styles to create a comfortable & easy living space.

The quintessential idea of open spaces and clean lines. Subtle geometric designs and modern materials create a level of elegance. More than just “country”. Conveys a warm and relaxed style that brings the charm of the outside in with natural materials and a variety of textures. Elaborate, rich and decorative, yet elegant & inviting. Uses a variety of colors & materials to project refinement through symmetry & balance. Custom Options To Fit Your Style When you choose Diamond you gain access to over 65 door styles and thousands of wood, finish, paint and glaze combinations. You have the freedom to design between the Intrigue Series, Reflections Series or Prelude Series, all with options that will beautifully and completely suit your project, your personality. View Additional Door Styles and Options Transform Your Kitchen: Make room for amazing innovations. Your kitchen is probably the most used, most popular room in your home. It’s the hub of activity, where you start and end your day.

With Logix®, Diamond’s award-winning organization system, you will have the tools you need to optimize your kitchen space, no matter the size of your room. With innovative solutions for every aspect of kitchen life, you can finally take control of your busy life and make more room for the things you love. Let Diamond’s TrueColor offering set the tone for your kitchen. With our many color options you can find the look you are dreaming of all the while ensuring that your new kitchen will stand the test of time. Quality, durability, and value are all reasons to choose TrueColor for your new kitchen, bath or other room. The sky is the limit when you combine our numerous styles and options with your creativity. *TrueColor is available in the Reflections Series and Prelude Series Learn More About TrueColor™ My Kind of Cabinetry Whether purchasing your first home or starting a new chapter in life, make your beginning beautiful with stylishly practical cabinetry from the Diamond® Prelude® Series.

It's important that your kitchen looks great and works hard. The Reflections® Series by Diamond® offers a wide variety of trend perfect finishes balanced by innovative storage solutions to keep life running smoothly. With the widest palette of HGTV HOME™ by Sherwin Williams paints available, and meticulously manicured doors serving as canvas for this captivating color, the Intrigue™ Series by Diamond® offers an evocative style solution making it easy to achieve color harmony throughout your home. "What can I expect to spend on cabinets to get the look I want?" Understandably, this is the most common question cabinet buyers have. When working on a full kitchen renovation with the goal of staying on budget, it’s important to understand how you want to prioritize your line items. Think about the aspects of the renovation you would be willing to sacrifice in order to get exactly what you want in another area.  According to the , cabinetry and hardware account for 29% of your kitchen remodeling cost.