Business was light in the Sand City Orchard Supply Hardware store the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 22, with only a few shoppers in line buying pots of geraniums and other plants.
Starting Thursday the store's plants could be marked down, along with everything else it sells. Store closing sales begin that day, and both the Sand City and Salinas OSH stores—fixtures in Monterey County since 1991 and 1987 respectively—will be closed by the end of the year, a company spokesperson confirms.
It’s unknown how many Monterey County jobs will be lost as a result of the closings. Sand City City Administrator Todd Bodem says a city survey a few years ago tallied 80 employees in that city’s 50,000-square-foot store. There are 3,900 OSH employees in California, out of 4,300 total.
OSH’s parent company, Lowe's Companies, Inc. announced the morning of Aug. 22 that it's shuttering all 99 of the OSH stores in California, Oregon and Florida, just five years after Lowe's bought the smaller San Jose-based chain for a reported $205 million.
Even though sales for home improvement stores has been slightly up nationally this year, Lowe's lagged behind competitor Home Depot, leading to major changes at the company in recent weeks. New leadership was added, and inventory at all the Lowe's locations—including Monterey County’s sole location in North Salinas—will be cut back.
Company CEO Marvin Ellison said in a statement on Aug. 22 that priority will be given to OSH employees for jobs at Lowe's locations.
“While it was a necessary business decision to exit Orchard Supply Hardware, decisions that impact our people are never easy,” Ellison said.
Bodem expects the city will get a small bump from sales tax revenue as OSH liquidates inventory. “However, once they are gone, it will hurt our sales tax revenue,” he says in an email.
“If a new tenant replaces the existing store, then there will minimal impact to the city’s revenue source,” he says. “However, the longer it is left vacant, the more problematic it will be on the city’s budget.”
The store is an anchor in the Sand Dollar Shopping Center along with Costco. It was remodeled in 2014.
“I think the location is great, so I am hopeful for a new suitor,” says Bodem.
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