ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orchard Supply Hardware, a California-based company that expanded in Florida in recent years, will shut down all its stores.
- Orchard Supply will close all stores by February
- 98 stores in California, Florida and Oregon
- 2 stores in Orlando, a third being built at Fashion Square Mall
Lowe's Home Improvement, which bought Orchard in 2013, announced the closings in a news release Tuesday that also talked about slimming down inventory at the Lowe's locations.
“While it was a necessary business decision to exit Orchard Supply Hardware, decisions that impact our people are never easy," said Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison. "We will be providing outplacement services for impacted associates, and they will be given priority status if they choose to apply for other Lowe’s positions.”
Orchard Supply Hardware first opened in 1931 in San Jose, California. After Lowe's bought the company in 2013 for $205 million, it upgraded the stores to a larger, more modern format, according to the Orchard Supply website.
It also began expanding Orchard into other parts of the country. Right now there are 98 stores in California, Oregon and in Florida.
Orchard recently opened stores in an abandoned Kmart at Turkey Lake Road near Sand Lake Road in Orlando, and built a brand new store in Winter Park on 17/92.
Orchard was also in the midst of building a new store at Orlando Fashion Square mall on East Colonial Drive, which would be part of a massive redevelopment effort for the mall.
Other Florida locations were in Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Weston-Sunrise and Naples.
Lowe's expects to have all the stores closed by the end of the fiscal year, which is Feb. 1, 2019.