William P. Boltz
Executive Vice President, Merchandising at Lowe's Companies
Thanks, Marvin, and good morning, everyone. In the first quarter, U.S. comparable sales declined 3.8%, but were up 19.7% on a two-year basis. This quarter, we delivered a strong positive comp in building products, driven by our momentum with the Pro, while sales in home decor came in above our expectations driven by solid DIY demand. However, comps and hardlines were down compared to prior year as a delayed spring season impacted seasonal categories.
We are particularly pleased to see improved demand in seasonal categories over the past few weeks as the spring weather has finally arrived. In the quarter, 10 of 15 categories were above company average while eight categories were up over 20% on a two-year basis. Within our home decor division, paint and flooring delivered the strongest comps this quarter. Inside our paint category, the biggest growth drivers were in interior and exterior paint and primers as our in-stocks continue to improve throughout the quarter.
Also, our investments in our Pro Paint offering continue to pay off as we've enhanced our Pro service model, expanded associate training and have built out our job site delivery capabilities. We are building on this momentum with the recent launch of our new incremental paint reward program for our MVPs Pro customers, in addition to the other meaningful rewards they have already received.
Within flooring, luxury vinyl was once again the top contributor as our consumers continue to prefer the low maintenance and stylish solutions that this product category has to offer. We also refreshed our STAINMASTER carpet lineup, continuing to reflect current styles and consumer preferences. And in late March, we launched our first extension of the STAINMASTER brand in tile. And right behind tile, we are launching new laminate and luxury vinyl products in STAINMASTER as well. We're excited to have the STAINMASTER brand within our portfolio and to extend its high-performance characteristics and stain-resistant warranty to these new product categories. With this new brand lineup, we are offering innovative and functional products for the home, all with a great value for our customers.
Now turning to building products. We continue to see broad-based strength across key Pro categories, including electrical, building materials, rough plumbing, millwork and lumber, driven by strong Pro demand and competitive in-stock positions. Building on last year's strong performance, we delivered a positive 38% two-year comp in building products, which continues to reflect the persistent underlying strength in consumer demand for larger core home improvement projects and to a lesser extent, commodity inflation.
Over the past several years, we have been focused on expanding our brand and product offerings to meet the needs of our Pro customers. In this quarter, we are excited about the introduction of Owens Corning new fiberglass rebar known as Pink Bar. This Pro family product is stronger than traditional steel rebar and seven times lighter which makes it both easier for the Pro to work with and less costly to ship.
We are also excited to announce the national expansion of the APOC roof coating brand, which is a leading manufacturer in roofing and an important strategic partner to Lowe's. These new products and brands are strong additions to our outstanding Pro brand portfolio, which already includes other powerful brands like Bosch, Crescent, DeWalt, Eaton, Estwing, FastenMaster, FLEX, GRK, ITW, LESCO, Little Giant, Lufkin, Mansfield, Marshalltown, Metabo, SharkBite, Simpson Strong-Tie, SPAX, Spyder and Werner.
Now looking at our performance in hardlines. As I mentioned earlier, our seasonal categories were impacted by delayed spring. As the weather has finally broken over the past few weeks, we have now seen higher demand across the seasonal categories. And it's important to remember that spring is always a first half event. And while this year's spring season has started slow, the teams are focused on delivering a successful spring again this year.
From the convenience and quality of the EGO, Kobalt, CRAFTSMAN and Skill brands with their zero-emission rechargeable equipment to our other leading brands such as John Deere, Honda, Husqvarna, Aaron's and CRAFTSMAN, we offer the products that our customers need to have the best-looking yard in the neighborhood. We are also continuing to expand our private brand lineup with new products in Origin 21, our new modern brand as well as our popular Allen and Roth brand, which is tailored to the more traditional taste.
SpringFest, which is our new approach to spring, is a multi-week event, and we leveraged several strategic promotions for popular spring items like mulch, soils and hanging baskets to deliver great value for our customers. And we are well positioned to capitalize on the late surge in spring demand, and I look forward to updating on this first half event on our second quarter call.
Now looking at Lowes.com. As Marvin mentioned, we saw a positive 2% sales growth in the quarter and over 39% positive growth on a two-year basis. We continue to enhance the user experience on Lowes.com and our omnichannel capabilities, which is critical for consumers who increasingly expect flexibility and seamlessness in their shopping experience. Our new paint and countertop visualizers are driving better conversion rates and we also enabled our customers the ability to order bagged goods online for in-store pickup ahead of the spring season.
And as Marvin mentioned, our enhanced supply chain capabilities, including our expanded coastal holding facility network are now in place to enable us to flow product quickly to where it's needed as weather breaks across the country. And we continue to leverage our scale and carrier relationships to secure capacity and work to mitigate cost increases within our supply chain. Before I close, I'd like to once again thank our vendor partners and our merchants for their hard work and dedication.
Thank you, and I'll now turn the call over to Joe.