Lowe's Companies (LOW) 10-Q 2005 Q2 Quarterly report

Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION

I, Robert L. Tillman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Lowe's Companies, Inc., certify that: 

1. 	I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 30, 2004 of Lowe's 

	Companies, Inc.;

2.	Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state 

	a material 	fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements 

	were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. 	Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly 

	present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, 

	and for, the periods presented in this report; 

4. 	The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and 

	procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:
	

	(a) 	Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to 

		be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its 

		consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the 

		period in which this report is being prepared; 

	(b) 	Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this 

		report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end 

		of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and 

	(c) 	Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that occurred 

		during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an 

		annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal 

		control over financial reporting; and
	

5. 	The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control 

	over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors 

	(or persons performing the equivalent functions): 

	(a) 	All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control 

		over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to 

		record, process, summarize and report financial information; and 

	(b) 	Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a 

		significant role in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.
 

September 3, 2004 Date   /s/Robert L. Tillman Robert L. Tillman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer