Lowe's closing 51 stores in North America, including 4 in California

Lowe's is closing 51 stores in North America -- including four in California.

The hardware chain announced Monday morning that it is closing underperforming locations as part of an ongoing strategic reassessment - 20 in the United States and 31 in Canada are set to close before Feb. 1.

Lowe's will shut its doors at locations in Aliso Viejo and Irvine as well as San Francisco and San Jose.

The company said it will try to find jobs at nearby stores for employees affected by the closures.

Lowe's has been struggling to compete with Home Depot, a larger home improvement chain, and brought in a new chief executive earlier this year to help turn things around. Since coming aboard in May, CEO Marvin R. Ellison announced the closures of all of the company's Orchard Supply Hardware stores and cut inventory at Lowe's locations.

City News Service contributed to this report.