SHOPPERS ARE HIGH ON LOWE'S 1,000 ATTEND SOFT OPENING OF UPSCALE HOME REPAIR STORE.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer BURBANK - Though its grand opening is still three weeks away, the word has gotten out on the new Lowe's. For the past month, a greeter has been posted out front of the store, inviting customers to come back later. They were turning up at a rate of 125 an hour, in addition to the 70 who had the phone ringing nonstop HP's brand name for its fault-tolerant servers, which range in size from four CPUs to 4,000 CPUs. The NonStop line was created by Tandem Computers, which was acquired by Compaq, which later became part of HP. , wondering when the massive home improvement store would crank open its doors. And when store manager Bill Ford kicked off the soft opening early Thursday morning, pushed with limited advertising, they were waiting. ``We just turned the key and opened up, we barely even told anyone,'' Ford said, laughing. ``It's been crazy, though - people were mobbing through the door.'' By day's end, more than 1,000 customers had shopped their way through the cavernous cavernous /cav·er·nous/ (kav´er-nus) 1. pertaining to a hollow, or containing hollow spaces. 2. having a hollow sound, such as certain abnormal breath sounds. store, located in the bustling bus·tle 1 intr. & tr.v. bus·tled, bus·tling, bus·tles To move or cause to move energetically and busily. n. Excited and often noisy activity; a stir. new Empire Center. Early Friday morning, not generally the hottest time for retail sales, the parking lot was choked choke v. choked, chok·ing, chokes v.tr. 1. To interfere with the respiration of by compression or obstruction of the larynx or trachea. 2. a. with cars and Lowe's aisles were humming with customer traffic. ``If what we saw when we opened the door says anything, it looks pretty promising so far,'' Ford said. ``I can't wait to see what happens when everyone has the day off to come in.'' The chain, already a fixture on the East Coast, has begun an aggressive expansion push toward the Western states. It currently operates 29 stores in California, with another local site being Palmdale. An additional two in Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, and West Hills are planned for a January launch. ``It's a big market in L.A.,'' Ford said. ``There's a lot of money out here, and we think there's room for us.'' Analysts who follow Lowe's note that thus far, there's been more than enough room for the chain. As other smaller operations flamed out, the North Carolina-based operation has shored up its position as a main competitor for industry giant The Home Depot The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. Headquartered in Vinings, just outside Atlanta in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia, Home Depot employs more than 355,000 people and operates 2,164 big-box , pouring $2 billion into its expansion effort. The pair are differentiated, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. David Campbell David Campbell may refer to:
``They've been pushing into more premium products, which gives people another reason to go in,'' he said. ``It's bringing customers in that wouldn't have showed up before and improving their image from just a basic hardware store to more of a destination.'' Inside Ford's store, products run the gamut See color gamut. gamut - The gamut of a monitor is the set of colours it can display. There are some colours which can't be made up of a mixture of red, green and blue phosphor emissions and so can't be displayed by any monitor. from $200 stoves to ones costing well above $1,000. And though the prospect of people flocking to hang out around $1,000 bathtubs sounds a little odd, they were certainly there Friday morning. ``I couldn't be happier that they're finally open,'' said Janice Lowers, a Burbank police officer and home repair enthusiast. ``When I needed big things, I used to drive all the way to the Palmdale Lowe's. It's worth it for the price and service.'' Service is another key that's kept the chain's stores full and cash registers ringing, analysts said. The chain posted revenues of more than $18 billion in 2000, earning shareholders $810 million. According to Barbara Allen, a housing and construction analyst in Scottsdale, Ariz., for international brokerage Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder, good customer relations and a pleasant shopping atmosphere are the main contributors for those hefty numbers. ``They pay a lot of attention to detail,'' she said. ``They keep the stores very neat, without too much junk in the aisles, and they keep their employees very well trained.'' Shoppers like Ed Allison, a Glendale retiree who came in to look for materials for his around-the-house projects, take note of that service. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Don Lucas and Karen Needle, above, have fun at the new Lowe's in Burbank on Friday. At left, construction is under way at another Lowe's at Topanga Canyon and Roscoe boulevards in Chatsworth. Michael Owen
Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News (3) Sales service associate Jackie Freeman, left, helps Carmen Carmen throws over lover for another. [Fr. Lit.: Carmen; Fr. Opera: Bizet, Carmen, Westerman, 189–190] See : Faithlessness Carmen the cards repeatedly spell her death. [Fr. Chan at the new Lowe's in Burbank on Friday. Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer |
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