LOW vs MMM Comparison

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, with 1,761 stores in the US, after the 2023 divestiture of its Canadian locations. The firm's stores offer products and services for home decorating, maintenance, repair, and remodeling, with maintenance and repair accounting for two-thirds of products sold. Lowe's primarily targets retail do-it-yourself (more than 60% of sales) and do-it-for-me customers, but has expanded its professional business clients to more than 30% from less than 20% in the past seven years (set to expand further with growth of FBM locations). We estimate Lowe's captures a high-single-digit share of the domestic home improvement market, based on US Census data and management's market size estimates.

3M, a multinational conglomerate founded in 1902, sells tens of thousands of products ranging from sponges to respirators. The firm is well known for its extensive research and development capabilities, and it is a pioneer in inventing new use cases for its proprietary technologies. 3M is organized across three business segments: safety and industrial (representing around 44% of revenue), transportation and electronics (36%), and consumer (20%). The firm recently spun off its healthcare business, now known as Solventum. Nearly half of 3M's revenue comes from outside the Americas.