Sourced history · 2021

Making It… With Lowe’s: what the pitch competition was

Making It… With Lowe’s was a pitch program run by the home-improvement retailer Lowe’s and hosted by “Shark Tank” investor Daymond John. Its stated aim was to help diverse small-business owners get their products onto Lowe’s shelves. This page summarizes what public sources say about its first two seasons. It is an independent history, not an official Lowe’s page.

Season one: a virtual pitch program

On February 18, 2021, Lowe’s announced the results of what it called its first virtual pitch program. According to the company’s press release, Lowe’s evaluated more than 400 new products for possible sale on Lowes.com or in its stores. CEO Marvin R. Ellison framed the program as a way to give diverse small-business owners “a shot at the American Dream,” and the release noted that Lowe’s merchandising team collected feedback to make steps such as completing requirements and getting certifications simpler for future entrants.

Three entrepreneurs were named as the season’s top picks:

Lowe’s said all three would get space on Lowes.com and in its stores, with products debuting through 2021. The same release announced that the program would return in the fall.

Season two (fall 2021): the fan vote

The second season added a public vote — the reason this domain once existed. Lowe’s later wrote that thousands of product submissions were narrowed to 14 top entrepreneurs, each of whom submitted a five-minute pitch video. HBS Dealer reported that 14 products appeared on the voting page and that voting ran through October 15, 2021. Voters entered an email address and a mailing address and, per that report, were entered to win a $2,000 Lowe’s gift card. The top vote-getter was to receive a $5,000 grant and one of the spots in a November 1 pitch to Lowe’s executives.

Local outlets covered finalists from their own areas, which is how many of the links to this address came about:

• Birdy Boutique of Romeo, Michigan — sisters Joanna Serra and Barbara Kent, who make educational learning blankets. FOX 2 Detroit reported that it was the only Michigan business among the finalists.
• Starkline of Des Moines, Iowa — owner Tim Zhang’s pre-assembled electric netting for gardens, crops and livestock, competing for the Fan Favorite award, according to the Business Record.
• Other products on the voting page, per HBS Dealer, included a sea-salt soy candle and FreshPaper food-saver sheets. The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) also pointed its network to the vote in its October 2021 newsletter.

Accounts of the prize differed by outlet. FOX 2 Detroit reported that the ultimate winner would receive a $50,000 grant and nationwide shelf placement; Lowe’s own November announcement describes the prize as selling the product on Lowes.com and in stores nationwide and does not mention a cash amount.

Top five, fan favorite and the final pitch

On October 27, 2021, Lowe’s named the five entrepreneurs its executives had selected for the final, plus the fan favorite chosen by online voters:

HBS Dealer listed the November 1 panel as Lowe’s executives Marvin Ellison, Marisa Thalberg, Joe McFarland, Janice Dupre Little and Bill Boltz, with Daymond John hosting. On November 23, 2021, ahead of Small Business Saturday, Lowe’s announced Barnhill — a U.S. Marine veteran — as its top supplier for the year. Lowe’s described QuikSizer as a gauge for measuring round objects such as nuts, bolts, pipe and tubing, with standard and metric scales.

What makers can take from it

The program’s structure — screening thousands of submissions, a short video pitch, an executive panel, then shelf placement — mirrors the general shape of retailer pitch events. The pitch-competition explainer breaks that shape down, and the remaining sheets cover the supplier requirements (barcodes, insurance, packaging, line reviews) that sit behind any “pitch to shelf” headline.