Lowe’s stores to close for Easter; new ad spot thanks front line responders

Lowe's Cos. is giving its employees time to “recharge” this Sunday.

The home improvement retailer said that all its stores and distribution centers in the U.S. and Canada will close this coming Easter Sunday. No hourly associate will lose scheduled hours or have a reduction in pay as a result of the closing, Lowe’s added. 

“Our ability to support communities with essential goods and services during this pandemic is thanks to our outstanding, dedicated associates,” said Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s president and CEO. “We want to provide our teams with a much-deserved day off to spend Easter Sunday with their families and loved ones and recharge."

Separately, Lowe’s is debuting a new ad spot, featuring regular folks, real people, on Wed., April 8 (Take a look here). The spot comes after the retailer invited Americans to join the company to #BUILDTHANKS and create do-it-yourself “thank you” messages using items they had around the house to show appreciation for healthcare community, first responders and frontline workers. Lowe’s noted that hundreds of Americans started posting homemade thank you messages on their porches, windows, front lawns and more for all to see.  

Lowe’s decision to close on Easter builds on previously shared updates in response to COVID-19, such as temporarily increasing wages through the month of April and providing a special payment for hourly associates and ensuring they have masks and gloves available for associates who request them.

Operational changes include more third-party cleaning shifts as well as updates to support social distancing guidelines, such as: enhanced curbside pick-up, customized Plexiglass shields at all registers, in-store social distancing markers, dedicated social distance ambassadors to monitor customer flow and adhere to guidelines, regular overhead announcements and adjusted store layouts.