Opening of new Lowe’s tech hub in Charlotte delayed by COVID, but hiring is ‘on track’

Lowe’s employees won’t start moving into the home improvement company’s new tech hub center in Charlotte this year as expected.

As the Lowe’s company sign went up this month on the 23-story tower in South End, CEO Marvin Ellison confirmed Tuesday that employees won’t move in until next year. The tech hub had been expected to open later this year.

Ellison told the Observer in February that there had been construction delays because of the coronavirus pandemic but still planned to open the tech hub later this year. No specific time frame is set yet for opening next year, company spokeswoman Jackie Hartzell said Wednesday.

Lowe’s will occupy the 15 upper floors of the Design Center Tower at 100 W. Worthington Ave. Developers Childress Klein and RAM Realty Advisors broke ground on the office tower in August 2019. Lowe’s is spending $153 million on the project that will modernize the company’s digital business as part of its growth strategy, the Observer previously reported.

However, hiring for the about 2,000 employees is ongoing and on target, Ellison said.

Hiring for tech center hub

The Mooresville-based company is hiring for positions like software engineers, infrastructure engineers and data analysts with an average annual pay of more than $117,000, the Observer previously reported.

“We are on track to meet our hiring goals and have been impressed with the level of talent who we have brought on board,” Hartzell said. More than 650 positions have been filled so far, she said.

When the tech center opens, Ellison said some employees will work full time in the office while others will be on a hybrid schedule, a mix of office and remote work.

Lowe’s tech center workers had temporarily moved into an office in Charlotte Plaza before the pandemic.

This month, Lowe’s implemented mask requirements for employees working indoors, regardless of vaccination status, as COVID-19 cases spike with the highly contagious delta variant. The company plans to bring workers back to its offices in early October, the Observer previously reported.

Lowe’s has about 300,000, with more than 6,000 employees at its Mooresville headquarters. The company has 1,973 home improvement and hardware stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Lowe’s earnings report

The pandemic is impacting Lowe’s in other ways.

In its earnings report Wednesday, Lowe’s reported second-quarter sales ending July 30 at roughly $3 billion, up 7% from $ 2.8 billion at the same time last year.

Net earnings were up to $1.7 billion in the second quarter of the year, compared to $1.5 billion this time last year, the company reported.

Sales grew to $27.6 billion, up from $27.3 billion during the second quarter of 2020.

U.S. same-store sales dropped 1.6% from last year, however, Ellison said during the earnings call U.S. sales comps are up 32% on a two-year basis. He said the second-quarter results show the company’s Total Home strategy is working, with a 21% growth in pro business and 10% growth in installation services.

Lowe’s profit-sharing bonus resulted in a payout of $91 million to all hourly employees, which was $20 million above its target.

The pandemic has changed the way people think about their homes, Ellison said during a phone call.

“We think that’s a permanent shift, that the home has just taken on a whole new meaning to all of us, me included,” he said.

The Charlotte market, Ellison said, continues to be one of the company’s top performers out of 15 regions nationwide.

He said Charlotte is a “microcosm of what we’re seeing in other cities around the country” with more people seeing home improvements as an investment, not just an expense.