Lowe’s has 1,766 US locations in our October data, up from 1,761 in April. That is a gain of 5 stores, or 0.28%, the slowest growth of the six chains we cover. Home Depot added 11 stores over the same six months. Tractor Supply added 59.
Four of those five are new stores. The fifth is an outlet in Medford, MA that dropped out of the data in April and came back in September. Lowe’s said in April it would open five new stores in 2026, against an earlier projection of 10 to 15 a year. Four of the five are now in our data.
Lowe’s Store Count, April to October 2026
| April 2026 | September 2026 | October 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total locations | 1,761 | 1,765 | 1,766 |
| New stores (cumulative) | — | 3 | 4 |
| Outlet listing restored | — | 1 | 1 |
| Closures | — | 0 | 0 |
Between April and October, Lowe’s added 5 net locations and closed none. Three new stores and the Medford outlet arrived by September, and the Walton, KY store arrived in October.
The March figure was 1,762. Across seven months, Lowe’s has moved by four stores.
The Four New Lowe’s Stores
| Store | Address | City | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|
| #3069 | 13845 SW Village Parkway | Port St. Lucie, FL | June 5 |
| #3583 | 600 Kings Fort Parkway | Kaufman, TX | August 7 |
| #3526 | 981 Heritage Oak Lane | Katy, TX | September 4 |
| #3606 | 12100 Towne Center Drive | Walton, KY | Fall 2026 |
Every one of the four is within 12 miles of an existing Lowe’s. Port St. Lucie already had a Lowe’s 7.6 miles away, Kaufman sits 11.2 miles from the Forney store east of Dallas, and Walton is 11.1 miles from the Lowe’s in Florence, KY, south of Cincinnati. Walton is Lowe’s 43rd Kentucky store, against 14 Home Depots in the state. The Katy store anchors the Texas Heritage Marketplace development with about 95,000 square feet of retail space and a 30,000 square foot garden area. That is a conventional full-size Lowe’s.
The fifth 2026 store is in Willis, Texas, at 12220 Interstate 45 N, listed for a fall 2026 opening. It is not in our October data yet.
If Willis opens on schedule, Lowe’s finishes 2026 with five new stores, a third to a half of the 10 to 15 a year it had projected.
What the Other Chains Did Between April and October
| Brand | April | October | Change | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ace Hardware | 4,847 | 4,966 | +119 | +2.46% |
| Tractor Supply | 2,434 | 2,493 | +59 | +2.42% |
| Home Depot | 2,021 | 2,032 | +11 | +0.54% |
| Lowe’s | 1,761 | 1,766 | +5 | +0.28% |
| Harbor Freight | 1,626 | 1,656 | +30 | +1.85% |
| Floor & Decor | 284 | 295 | +11 | +3.87% |
Lowe’s grew slowest, but Home Depot is not far ahead. Home Depot opened 11 stores and closed none: Hot Springs, AR; Buckeye, AZ; San Diego, CA; Naples and Inverness, FL; Cookeville, TN; Celina, Dallas, Leander and Penitas, TX; and Clinton, UT. On a base of 2,021 stores, that is 0.54%.
Most of the category’s growth came from the other four chains. Harbor Freight added 30 locations to Lowe’s 5, and Harbor Freight has 19 more marked as coming soon that are not in its count yet. The gap between the two chains went from 135 stores in April to 110 in October.
The Medford Outlet and Lowe’s 17 Outlet Stores
Lowe’s runs a small outlet format that sells discounted appliances. Our data lists 17 outlets in 13 states, mostly in large metros: two each in California, Florida, Massachusetts and Texas, and one each in Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina. All 17 read as open in October.
Lowe’s Outlet Medford, store #3575 at 630 Fellsway in Medford, MA, read as open in March, closed in April, and open again in September and October. Lowe’s publishes a store page for #3575. Whether the store closed for a stretch in the spring or the listing went dark while the store kept operating, the data can’t tell us.
Across all four snapshots, Medford is the only Lowe’s location that has read as closed at any point. Every other Lowe’s location has read as open in every snapshot that includes it.
Where Lowe’s Stands Against Home Depot, State by State
Lowe’s has 1,766 stores across 1,505 cities, in all 50 states and DC. Against Home Depot, the national totals of 1,766 and 2,032 look close. The six largest Lowe’s states:
| State | Lowe’s | Home Depot |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 153 | 194 |
| Florida | 133 | 165 |
| North Carolina | 118 | 40 |
| California | 112 | 234 |
| Ohio | 84 | 70 |
| Pennsylvania | 83 | 71 |
North Carolina, Lowe’s home state, runs 118 to 40 in Lowe’s favor. California runs the other way at 112 to 234, under half. Lowe’s also leads in Ohio, 84 to 70, and Pennsylvania, 83 to 71.
The 170 Cities Where Lowe’s Is the Only Chain
Of the 1,505 cities with a Lowe’s, 783 also have a Home Depot, or 52%. In the other 722, Lowe’s is the only one of the two big boxes in town.
Most of those 722 still have another hardware option from the chains we track: 390 have a Tractor Supply and 348 have a Harbor Freight. But in 170 cities, Lowe’s is the only one of the six chains with any store. There is no Home Depot, Tractor Supply, Harbor Freight, Ace or Floor & Decor in any of them.
If Lowe’s starts closing stores, those 170 cities are where a closure would leave no alternative from these six chains. Finding them takes a join across all six chains’ store lists, which no single chain’s list can answer.
Lowe’s Has No New States Left to Enter
Lowe’s is already in all 50 states and DC. Tractor Supply and Harbor Freight are each in 48 states, and Floor & Decor is in 39, so those chains still have whole states to enter. Any new Lowe’s goes into a state it already serves, and this year’s four all landed within 12 miles of an existing store.
Lowe’s has also grown outside its stores. In October 2025 it completed its acquisition of Foundation Building Materials, a building materials distributor with more than 370 locations in the US and Canada. The deal was valued at $8.8 billion. Those branches are not Lowe’s stores and are not in this dataset.
Lowe’s could hold at 1,766 stores and grow revenue through the pro business, and the location data would never show it. Willis, TX is the next store to watch for. The full Lowe’s dataset with all 1,766 locations is on our data page.