Home Depot makes drastic move to edge out Lowe's

The home improvement retailer is constantly iterating.

Apr 21, 2025 - 12:41

Home Depot makes drastic move to edge out Lowe's

These days, you'd be pretty hard-pressed to identify any corner of the retail market that's remained unchanged in recent years.

For one, it's because competition is fierce.

Covid accelerated a consolidation trend, whereby smaller (perhaps struggling) businesses went under and stronger chains gobbled up market share.

There's a reason, after all, that you see so many more Targets than independent bookstores, grocery markets, or office supply stores.

But customers are also increasingly knowledgeable.

They tend to know where the best deals can be found, and they'll adjust their shopping behavior accordingly.

You probably know, for instance, what seems reasonable to pay for a gallon of milk and a carton of eggs. And there's a chance you've even shopped around for the best price at several of your nearby grocery stores to get the best deal.

And, there's the tiny detail of online shopping — and the growth it's seen over the past decade or so.

We now have unprecedented access to everything from mundane staples to the most niche items at our fingertips. We know what's priced well and what seems like a racket.

All of this combines to mean many retailers are in something of a race to the bottom.

Fewer retailers are vying for more portions of market share. But in order to attract customers through their doors (or website), these stores need to reduce prices.

It's not exactly a great recipe for growth, and it can be very hard to beat some of the largest corporate incumbents at their own game.

Home Depot is expanding its store count.
Image source: Shutterstock-Manuela Durson

One corner of retail shines bright

There is at least one part of the retail industry that doesn't seem to have missed a beat amid the chaos.

That's the home improvement space, which has seen high-flying numbers since the onset of the pandemic.

Back in 2020, when many of us stayed at home for some period of time, we looked around the house and noticed the many projects that needed to be done.

More Home Depot:

It became harder to ignore chipping paint, clogged gutters, a running toilet, outdated appliances, or any other number of projects that a simple trip to Home Depot (HD) might take care of.

In fact, during the first two years of the pandemic, Home Depot reported record revenue, adding $40 billion in sales (a growth rate that previously took the retailer nine years to achieve).

And when things began to open back up, Home Depot shifted and ramped up efforts to help professionals and contractors.

It made its largest-ever acquisition in 2024, buying pro supply company SRS Distribution for $18.25 billion.

Home Depot makes a competitive move

And now, Home Depot is continuing on its growth trend by announcing it will accelerate its store openings over the next several years.

As part of its "bold growth strategy," it plans to open up 13 stores in 2025, 11 of which will be in high-interest areas of the U.S.

Most of the stores will be in areas like Texas and Florida, which saw a high influx of population during the pandemic.

The home improvement retailer added that it expects to create hundreds of new jobs at each store.

"With economic uncertainty at a high, many retailers are feeling the squeeze and shuttering their storefronts across the U.S., but The Home Depot is doing the opposite," the company said.

This comes just days after Lowe's (LOW) announced it would acquire professional interior company ADG for over $1.3 billion — a move it believes will give it better access to pros across the U.S.