Lowe’s is closing 20 stores in U.S., including four in California

Lowe’s Cos. Inc. will close 20 “underperforming” stores in the United States, including four in California, the home-improvement chain said Monday.

The Mooresville, N.C., company also said it will close 31 stores, offices and specialty facilities in Canada to focus on its most profitable stores and “improve the overall health of its store portfolio.” Lowe’s said it has almost 2,300 stores across North America.

“The store closures are a necessary step in our strategic reassessment as we focus on building a stronger business,” Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s chief executive, said in a statement.

The store closures, all in the United States and Canada, are set to be completed by the end of January, Lowe’s spokesman Steve Salazar said in an email. Store liquidation sales are expected to start Thursday and last about nine to 12 weeks, he said.

Lowe’s will offer affected employees the opportunity to transfer to similar roles at nearby stores. Employees who aren’t offered a new job will be eligible for severance packages, Salazar said.

The California stores set to shut are at:

• 26501 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Viejo
• 13300 Jamboree Road, Irvine
• 720 Dubuque Ave., South San Francisco
• 750 Newhall Drive, San Jose

This news comes less than three months after Lowe’s announced it would shut all of its Orchard Supply Hardware stores, a subsidiary it owned for about five years. The wind-down of the Orchard chain is expected to be completed by February. Ellison told investors in August that the smaller Orchard stores were not running well and could never become a big part of Lowe’s overall business.

Lowe’s shares edged up 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $97.07 on Monday.

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UPDATES:

2:50 p.m.: This article was updated with Lowe’s stock price.

This article was originally published at 8:40 a.m.