Attn: Marvin Ellison, CEO
Hi Marvin,
I hope all is well. I’m submitting this email via your Investor Relations email, as you report directly to the board of Lowes.
About me:
Loyal customer as of four years. I made the switch to Lowes one afternoon after an associate went above and beyond to help me.
Beyond helping me, he helped me in a way I didn’t anticipate; he reminded me what it was like to have a Father, as I’ve gone nearly twenty years without mine.
Ever since then, I’ve been a loyal customer of Lowes.
On to the reason for my email…
I routinely take my four year-old son, Atlas, to Lowes. We call it the ‘Man store’ and it’s been the catalyst for a lot of our adventures together.
Recently, our local Lowes erected a monstrous halloween monster right at the entrance of the store. It’s ghoulish looking, and it’s something that frightens even me – a 37 year-old man with a glock on his hip.
Yes, I’ll admit it. I get scared.
Well, my son does too. And I don’t think that’s ok.
We go to your store for a purpose beyond tools; it’s to enjoy our time together. That time can’t be enjoyed when he’s crying because of what greets him at your store entrance, or battling nightmares at night.
I’m writing you to politely ask that you both remove this ‘decoration’ from your store, as well as stop carrying things that can be offensive the eyes of young children.
Selling items like this to ‘scare’ kids into having a good time is like teaching them how to use a hammer by driving it into their finger; it’s not how things were intended to be used.
Lowes is a really special place for me, Marvin. Beyond my own times with my son, it’s my chance to reflect on my own life as I often go to your store to supply needs for my home project ‘therapy’ that I participate in every week when I’m away from my son.
I hope this email is well-received, and that you consider the request of a single Dad, trying to make the world (and his home) a better place for, and with, his son.
Aaron Plaat
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