In more than 20 years as a resident of Texas, Lowe’s associate Kalani Manus has experienced a lot of weather-related distress – extreme heat, fallout from hurricanes, destruction from tornadoes.
“Regardless of these prior experiences,” Manus said, “I was still not prepared for the magnitude of the mountain we would be asked to climb when the arctic storm hit us.”
Severe winter weather overwhelmed the state of Texas last week. Millions lost power for an extended period. Frigid temperatures seeped into people’s homes. Pipes burst. Roads were frozen over.
“It was desperate and dire,” said Lowe’s district manager Anthony Mistretta, who is based in Austin. “That’s the best way to describe it.”
Lowe’s prides itself on being there when communities need help most. That commitment was on display throughout the state of Texas, with associates battling the elements to get to work and help customers find what they needed. Last week, that simply meant keeping their families safe and warm.
Manus is the merchandising assistant store manager at the Lowe’s in Bryan, Texas and that team in Bryan exemplified dedication to customer service.
Road conditions prohibited some from travel, but 13 associates who were able to get to the store were determined to show up. Those 13 are now known throughout the store as “The First Responders.”
“We wanted to aid the community with any emergency support we could provide,” Manus said.
The store’s backup generator failed due to the extreme cold, so everyone was forced to navigate the aisles in the dark with the use of flashlights. When power returned, the sprinkler system resumed, which led to busted pipes.
“The joy of having power soon turned into a quick call to action as we rushed to get the system turned off as well as the floor mopped up,” Manus said. “The team was able to overcome this same scenario with three different busted pipes all while assisting customers without missing a beat. Just as one would while climbing a mountain, the team took every step one after another.”
Through it all, Lowe’s in Bryan stayed open.
Store manager Tony Mendoza brought in food he could scrape together – hot dogs and chili – to help his team power through. It was clear this group was on a mission and would not be deterred.
“After that first day, it was like, ‘OK, tomorrow will be better.’ And it wasn’t. We got into Day Three and were thinking, ‘My gosh, when is this going to end?’” Mendoza said. “But those 13 people never stopped. They never got beat down.
“Nobody had any panic. You don’t have time to really think about the disbelief. We knew what we had to do. In the moment, you are serving the customers and just go with the flow.”
After what they all went through, Mendoza said the 13 associates now share a special bond – the kind of bond that comes from working together to help your community get through a crisis.
Our people get it. They understand our values. We stand the tallest
when it’s the most difficult.
