Home improvement chain Lowe’s Companies Inc. announced the closure of another 51 underperforming stores in the U.S. and Canada yesterday as it strives to compete with rival Home Depot Inc. in a slowing housing market, Reuters reported. Lowe’s gave no detail of job losses in the move, which closes stores in some upmarket areas including Broadway and Chelsea in Manhattan and follows the shutdown of 99 Orchard Supply stores in California. Buffeted in recent quarters by the impact of a long winter in North America, Lowe’s has been striving to find ways to catch up with the long-time sector leader Home Depot, whose stores on average generate almost twice as much in sales.
