Who Founded Lowe's?

Lucius Smith Lowe opened North Wilkesboro Hardware in North Carolina in 1921, a general store that sold hardware, groceries, dry goods and farm supplies. After his death in 1940 the business passed to his family, and his son James Lowe and son-in-law Carl Buchan later turned it into the chain that carries his name. Lucius Smith Lowe was born in 1879.

Carl Buchan, married to Lucius Lowe's daughter Ruth, became a partner in the store in 1943. After military service in World War II he anticipated the post-war building boom, narrowed the business to hardware and building materials, and bought out James Lowe in 1952. He expanded Lowe's into a regional chain before his death in 1960, a year before the company went public. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).