Lowe's Takes Big Box To A Small Scale In Manhattan

By Matt Pillar, chief editor

January 2016 Innovative Retail Technologies

Presenting the breadth and depth of Lowe’s big box assortment in its new, small Manhattan stores required an innovative twist on the endless aisle.

Big-box home improvement hit Manhattan over the summer when Lowe’s opened stores on the Upper West Side and Chelsea. Taking a brand built on 100,000+ square-foot stores into a dense urban market like Manhattan doesn’t come without its challenges, though. Lowe’s spokesman Steve Salazar says attempting to shrink its standard store footprint and product selection to fit a 30,000-square-foot shop was never an option. “We approached the design and merchandising of our Manhattan stores from the ground up, and as we worked through that process, it became clear that technology was going to play a significant role in the store experience,” he says.