Nuts and bolts   Home Depot may be twice as big as archrival Lowe's Corp. measured by sales and market value, but the No. 2 home improvement company holds a widening lead over Home Depot in one key financial metric -- Lowe's customers tend to open their wallets far wider. In the first half of 2004, the average transaction per customer at Lowe's was 15 percent higher than at Home Depot, according to company reports. And that margin has been steadily widening since 1999 when Lowe's customers spent only 8 percent more on average. But Lowe's, with stores that typically feature more decor than Home Depot's spartan warehouse-type locations, also sports higher costs. Lowe's net margin, which factors in the costs of operating its stores, came in at 6.9 percent in the second quarter, below the 7.7 percent for Home Depot. But that gap might narrow as Home Depot looks to compete with Lowe's in metropolitan areas, where it costs more to do business. For example, Home Depot recently opened a store in Manhattan in an attempt to lure higher-spending shoppers.  »»»

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