By: Mike Kennedy May 29th, 2008 Category: Garrett County News

After nearly 3 years of being under contract, the real estate developer who builds most of the Lowe’s Home Improvement Centers has finally closed on 23 acres of real estate just north of Oakland, Maryland on Route 219. Building crews have already started preparing the site for excavation and completion of the Lowe’s store is expected by Thanksgiving 2008. The 23 acres will also include 6 out parcels in front of the store along Rt. 219 whose use and occupants have yet to be determined.

It will be interesting to see what the eventual impact Lowe’s will have on Garrett County, Maryland as a whole and other related industries in this county such as real estate. With more competition  - will the cost to build a new home in Garrett County or at Deep Creek Lake go down any? Lowe’s will almost certainly put price pressure on the other suppliers of building materials in the area.

Will Lowe’s cause any existing businesses to eventually shut down? Maybe - but probably not. When Walmart moved to Garrett County earlier this decade the only big name company to go out of business was the local Food Lion grocery store. However, like Wal-mart - Lowe’s will probably cause sales to slow down or even decrease at some local businesses who sell the same products.

Many had predicted that Lowe’s would eventually land here in Garrett County as they tend to follow Wal-mart. Many citizens of the county were concerned before Wal-mart moved here and rightly so - this area had never experienced life with a big box retailer. The Wal-mart effect on Garrett County has been both good and bad - but mostly good. Bad in a way that it has certainly hurt some local family owned businesses - but good in a way that Wal-mart is now one of the area’s largest employers providing steady jobs with benefits to an area that certainly needs it - and also providing lower prices to local citizens. Overall most would say Wal-mart has had a positive impact - hopefully in the long run Lowe’s will be another asset to the county.