Posted on 05/23/2023 6:38:19 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Americans turned into DIY fanatics during the pandemic, beautifying their apartments, homes and condos while they were stuck inside and tired of looking at the same drab interior every day. But the Covid emergency is over, prices are (much) higher, consumers are growing fearful of a recession and people are spending less at Lowe’s and Home Depot.
Lowe’s on Tuesday lowered its profit and sales outlook for the year, saying consumers were spending less on home improvement. It comes on the heels of rival Home Depot also posting disappointing sales and a somber forecast last week.
“We are updating our full-year outlook to reflect softer-than-expected consumer demand for discretionary purchases,” said Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s CEO, in a statement. “We remain optimistic about the medium-to-long-term outlook for home improvement.”
Shares of Lowe’s (LOW) fell 1.3% in premarket trading.
Home improvement blues
“Lowe’s is suffering from a case of the home improvement blues,” said retail expert Neil Saunders, managing director at Global Data, in a note Tuesday.
On the consumer side, a slowing housing market is dragging down the number of people undertaking projects, Saunders said.
“This has been unhelpful to Lowe’s, although arguably the burden falls more on Home Depot as movers tend to undertake heavier and more serious DIY, which traditionally favors Lowe’s larger rival,” he said.
Bill Darcy, CEO of the National Kitchen & Bath Association, said homeowners are nervous about the economy. Some have paused large-scale projects, while others are shifting towards smaller, lower-cost projects, he said.
Among the trends he’s observed: Consumers are downgrading brand names in favor of lower prices, they’re using factory-made cabinetry as opposed to custom carpentry and buying less expensive countertops.
(Excerpt) Read more at channel3000.com ...
They’re still building like crazy in NW Arkansas.
Who has money for home improvement projects right now? Who can AFFORD them with the price of everything sky-high?
We are making repairs to our barn OUT OF NECESSITY so we can add room for more meat animals and chickens; something we SHOULD have done years ago, IMHO.
We are using up all materials on hand, with the exception of about $800 so far in concrete, which we ordered locally.
We’ve made no upgrades or improvements to our house since 2020. Gee. Wonder what happened then? *SMIRK*
Climate Envoy John Kerry threatens to seize farms in the name of … climate change
He’s gonna have a whole lot of FUN trying to take over the 1,000 or so acres me and my neighbors have in production.
He doesn’t even know where to get one of them thar ‘huntin’ licenses’ let alone shoot straight, LOL!
Great. Can I finally get someone to fix my ceiling lights?
Pretty sure that wouldn't work out very well here in Texas. Farmers I know are already pissed as hell over fuel prices and fertilizer. They would rather make these assholes disappear by making them tractor food.
growing fearful of a recession“
We are in recession. Biden’n MSM protection fortress has allowed him to skew the numbers and change the definition just enough to avoid the term. Just like the bastards let him get away with removing gas and food from the inflation calculation
This was kind of expected considering the boom in home improvement spending that happened during the pandemic.
People could not go on vacation, on a cruise, to the mall, out to dinner, etc. So, they built a new deck, patio, bought a hot tub, a new lawn tractor, etc.
This spending on home improvements followed by the exodus from the big cities with work from home pushed the prices of lumber, plywood and osb to all time record prices. This caused record profits too. Lumber starts and home construction hit the highest level in over ten years in 2022 at 1.7 million. We are now back to 1.3 million and heading lower back down to 1.1 or less depending on the recession.
Now, we are back to normal prices on lumber. In fact we are overproduced. Only because there have been major curtailments of Canadian lumber producers has the price of lumber stopped going down and recovered from the lows it hit at the beginning of this year.
So, Home Depot, Lowes, home builders in general are looking at lower profits in the next year. The home building industry is always the first reaction to interest rates and a turn in the economy. It is also the first to turn around.
So, as a lumber broker I paid off all debts two years ago. I can now survive on less income because I have no debt. I am sure I will see people in my industry leave over the next year or so. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Farmers are already pissed. Fuel and fertilizer prices. Food prices for their families. Illegals all over their properties who are protected by the federal government.
Add in some pencil necked goof like kerry making threats like this.
Consumers aren’t completely throwing in the towel yet: Travel spending remains higher.
Why bother. We’re turd worlders now.
During the Covid years many at home projects were started, much more than usual and most of those are now done. normal market cycle as far as that goes. And yes add, presently with inflation homes/families have less extra cash to spend on non-essentials.
Wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard “that wouldn’t happen in Texas”.
Biden’s fault
BIDEN Farts and Craps his Pants Too. He is Destroying the Planet!!
China needs to REDUCE ownership of BIDEN !!!!!
I am still in full swing remodeling my house, although we’re nearly done. And my local suburban Baltimore Home Depots are jam-packed, long lines at the registers. So I don’t know how they can say there’s a downturn.
Because they are crazy in NW Arkansas?
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