Roaming the aisles of one of Lowe's Cos. newest stores, company President Larry Stone isn't fretting about last-minute preparations for Saturday's grand opening or the dismal U.S. housing market.Rather, it's the negative presidential campaign ads bombarding him and his home-improvement customers that get the otherwise amiable Mr. Stone sounding concerned. "That, coupled with higher fuel prices and things like that, it's enough to make anybody feel distraught," said Mr. Stone, who is also operating chief.
But wrapping up Tuesday's elections -- regardless of the outcome -- will by itself help U.S. consumers feel better, Mr. Stone said in an interview. Already, he added, "fuel prices coming down have helped consumers feel better about things."
"If we can get gas under $2 a gallon, I think that'd be a huge win," he said.
With Lowe's scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter earnings Nov. 17, Mr. Stone declined to comment on recent business trends or Wall Street's expectations for coming periods.
But he did indicate certain products continue to sell decently at the world's second-largest home-improvement retailer by sales, behind Home Depot Inc.
The fourth quarter is typically Lowe's weakest, followed by the third quarter, while the warmer-weather-aided second quarter is typically its biggest for sales and profits.
"We've had a lot of success with pellet fuel so far," though falling fuel prices could affect that trend, Mr. Stone said.
Whirlpool Corp. has indicated that customers are not only deferring purchases for upgrades on their washers and refrigerators, but they've also started putting off buying replacement appliances as the economy has weakened.
Mr. Stone said that trend hasn't been a big factor at Lowe's, which generated about 9% of its sales last year from appliances and is the No. 2 U.S. appliance retailer by sales behind Sears Holdings Corp. "Our replacement business has been good," he said. "Our appliance business is not totally robust, but it's been good."
Indeed, he said, market-tracking firm Traqline's third-quarter numbers for Lowe's on appliances were good, and the industry level of discounting and promotions has been "status quo" from previous quarters.
