DAVID GREENE, HOST: NPR's business news starts with an acquisition for Lowe's.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: The home-improvement retailer Lowe's has reportedly agreed to buy Orchard Supply Hardware Stores. The sale price is expected to top $200 million. Now, Orchard is a California-based hardware and garden chain. It was once owned by Sears, and it's now about $230 million in debt.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: If this sale goes through, Lowe's would gain at least 60 of Orchard's 91 stores, expanding its footprint in California and moving into a smaller-box format that many big-box stores are shifting to, as they try to compete with online retailers.
The home-improvement retailer Lowe's has reportedly agreed to buy Orchard Supply Hardware Stores. The sale price is expected to top $200 million. Orchard is a California-based hardware-and-garden chain. It was once owned by Sears, and is now about $230 million in debt.