Lowe's Shutters 'Underperforming' UWS Store

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The giant home improvement retailer Lowe's is ditching the Upper West Side due to poor store performance, the business announced Monday.

The Upper West Side Lowe's, located on Broadway and West 68th Street, is one of 20 stores the retailer is closing due to poor performance, the company announced in a press release. Workers at the stores that are being closed will be given opportunities to relocate to nearby stores.

"While decisions that impact our associates are never easy, the store closures are a necessary step in our strategic reassessment as we focus on building a stronger business," Marvin R. Ellison, Lowe’s president and CEO, said in a statement. "We believe our people are the foundation of our business and essential to our future growth, and we are making every effort to transition impacted associates to nearby Lowe’s stores."

The stores are expected to close before Feb. 1, 2019, company officials said in a press release. Some stores may close immediately. Lowe's did not specify whether the Upper West Side location will offer a closing sale or be closed immediately.

Lowe's is also closing a store in the Chelsea neighborhood in its push to shutter its worst-performing stores. The two Manhattan locations are the only Lowe's stores being closed in New York State. Lowe's two locations in Brooklyn and two locations on Staten Island were spared in the retailer's purge.

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