USA West » OSH hardware stores are closing

Lowes, who owns the OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware) hardware store chain, is closing all 98 of their stores and putting the company out of business. The OSH stores start their store-closing sale tomorrow, August 23. Too bad as I have bought a lot of Craftsman tools, my electric lawnmower, and lots of other stuff there that my local Ace Hardware store didn't have. Another mid-size business down the drain.

For those of you who might not be familiar with OSH stores: OSH stores are all located in California, Oregon and Florida. News reports say that Lowe's bought the chain a few years ago, but then their yearly sales started to slump, perhaps because many OSH stores were located near Lowe's stores. All of the stores will close by the end of the year (Merry Christmas, employees) and the speculation is that Lowe's will sell off all of the OSH property, resulting in a big cash windfall for the corporation. In CA and OR urban areas many of the sites will likely be turned into high-density condos - which typically go for about a million dollars a unit in the SF Bay Area. As soon as the announcement was made, Lowe's stock went up 10%, which is thrilling their investors. Orchard Supply Hardware started out as a family-owned hardware store in San Jose, CA during the 1930's and expanded over the years to become quite popular on the West Coast with DIY homeowners. Unfortunately, during recent years they made some poor management decisions, were bought out by Lowe's and this is the result.

I just heard on the news that Google plans to purchase the OSH property in San Jose for another one of their campuses. That ought to net Lowe's a bundle of cash.