In my opinion, getting rid of the "Specialist" position would be a big mistake. In reality I really don't care what they call my position as long as they don't try to mess with my pay rate. However, Specialist's (or Pro's) are in their position for good reason, they know about the product and they know how to sell it. If they just have a bunch of CSA's running around the store without product knowledge customers will go elsewhere to find someone who knows what they're talking about. Internet selling is great but you will never get personal product knowledge doing so.
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You can shop at Home Depot, Lowes is trying to get in on their Pro customer sales. Home Depot isn't firing, they are hiring. Lowes has always waited for the Depot to do something and then copy them. Home Depot did this restructuring some years ago. The Depot purchased interline brands and now Lowes just bought Central Wholesalers and Multi Supply Headquarters. It would be stupid of them to get rid of their specialists when a large part of their sales come from contractors.
The Sales Specialists in Plumbing know more than the Pro, they have to know the products because they are held accountable for sales, details, installs, leads, order management etc...
It woiuld be absolute suicide by Corporate to downgrade or boot out the Plumbing Sales Specialists because nobody else is going to do what they do for less pay with that knowledge.
Plumbing also has double the amount of aisles than all other departments, 10 +in most stores.
Our Plumbing Sales Specialist does more than what's required...he goes in at 5am if a freight truck arrived the night before or stays late after his scheduled shift to make sure the Department is downstocked for the following morning.
He is an unsung hero at Lowes and will be sadly missed if these rumoured changes occur!
You are so correct in your observation especially in the plumbing department where many parts look the same. I count on the plumbing pro to assist me with getting the correct parts to make a repair that not only lasts but is up to code.