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Despite end of construction, Lowe’s opening date still uncertain
By Justin Goble
Construction on Lowe’s was completed this week, but it is still uncertain when the home improvement store will open.
Town officials said contractor James R. Vannoy and Sons turned the building over to the company on July 18. However, Lowe’s officials said the store’s opening date was still uncertain.
According to Jennifer Smith with Lowe’s public relations department, the only thing officials are sure of is that the store will be open earlier than predicted.
“Our fiscal year runs from February to January,” Smith said. “So when we predicted that the store would be open in the fourth quarter of this year, we were expecting it to happen sometime between November and January. We’re definitely ahead of our initial projections, but we’re not sure exactly when the store will open.”
Now that construction is complete, Smith said stocking the store with merchandise makes up most of the remaining work. Though this process is usually done in about a month, Smith said preparing for day-to-day operations prevents the company from opening the store as soon as it is fully stocked.
“The stocking time varies from store to store,” Smith said. “It usually takes four to six weeks. Aside from that, it takes a tremendous amount of time to get the infrastructure set up in the store.”
The store’s site, across N.C. 116 from Ingles, was developed starting in late September. Construction on the 94,000-square-foot building began in April.
Lowe’s officials estimate a store of this size represents a $12 million investment. They also predict the store will create around 120 new jobs.
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