Lowe's Companies, Inc. - 2000 dated Specimen Stock Certificate

Specimen Stock printed by Security-Columbian United States Banknote Company. The first Lowe's store, originally named Mr. L.S. Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware, was established in 1921 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, by Lucius Smith Lowe. Following Lowe's death in 1940, his daughter Ruth Buchan sold the business to her brother James Lowe for $4,200. James Lowe later partnered with his brother-in-law, H. Carl Buchan, in 1943.

Under Buchan's leadership, the store shifted its focus to hardware and building materials, capitalizing on the post-World War II construction boom. Previously, the store had offered a diverse range of products, including notions, dry goods, and groceries. Buchan and Lowe pioneered the direct procurement of large quantities from manufacturers, bypassing wholesalers to offer customers lower prices. The company opened its second store in Sparta, North Carolina, in 1949.

In 1952, Buchan became the sole owner, and the company was incorporated as Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware. Jim Lowe also launched the Lowes Foods grocery store chain in 1954. After Buchan's death in 1960, his executive team, including Robert Strickland and Leonard Herring, took the company public in 1961 as Lowe's Companies Inc. By 1962, Lowe's had expanded to 21 stores with annual revenues of $32 million. The company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1979, and by the 1970s, its revenue surpassed $150 million, reaching nearly $900 million by 1980.