In Praise of Big-Box Stores
Jul 21, 2019 07:34:26 #
I needed clips to hold a new kitchen sink in place, and I took a chance and went to the hardware store in Woodstock - on a Saturday. The car and pedestrian traffic were both heavy, and I didn't have much hope of finding a parking space in the small lot, but it was on my way to somewhere else, so I thought I'd give it a try. Just as I entered the parking lot, a car pulled out of a spot. I couldn't find the clips in the store, so I asked for help. No clips!
Then I went to Lowe's. A Lowe's woman approached me and asked if she could help. I told her what I wanted, and she walked me across the store directly to the sink clips. I was in and out in five minutes.
Then I went to Lowe's. A Lowe's woman approached me and asked if she could help. I told her what I wanted, and she walked me across the store directly to the sink clips. I was in and out in five minutes.
Jul 21, 2019 07:55:14 #
Sometimes you win, sometimes:
I needed a screw for my lawnmower and went to Home Depot to find it. I’m not good with this stuff so being confronted with a wall of screws in little plastic bags was too much for me and there was no one around to help so I decided to go home, find the parts list online and order the screw.
On the way home I passed the local hardware store and figured I’d give it a shot. I gave the guy the screw, he disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a match. He handed me two of them and said “there’s an extra for the next time”
“How much ?” I say.
He just waved me off.
I’ve been in the store often but wouldn’t categorize myself as a regular customer.
I guess there’s a place for both stores.
I needed a screw for my lawnmower and went to Home Depot to find it. I’m not good with this stuff so being confronted with a wall of screws in little plastic bags was too much for me and there was no one around to help so I decided to go home, find the parts list online and order the screw.
On the way home I passed the local hardware store and figured I’d give it a shot. I gave the guy the screw, he disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a match. He handed me two of them and said “there’s an extra for the next time”
“How much ?” I say.
He just waved me off.
I’ve been in the store often but wouldn’t categorize myself as a regular customer.
I guess there’s a place for both stores.
Jul 21, 2019 08:09:47 #
I've always found Lowe's to be super helpful. Once in awhile I have to stop at the service desk, plus returns are easily made.
But since our local hardware store helps me from the moment I walk in the door, is well-stocked, and only 8 miles away as opposed to 25 miles away, the local one gets first try.
But since our local hardware store helps me from the moment I walk in the door, is well-stocked, and only 8 miles away as opposed to 25 miles away, the local one gets first try.
Jul 21, 2019 08:15:53 #
pacman
Loc: Toowoomba, Qld, Australia.
Love it! I try my small local hardware before going to the Big-Box. Unfortunately, Big-Box have, more often than not, hindered me rather than helped me.
Jul 22, 2019 07:41:55 #
Jul 22, 2019 07:53:09 #
Same thing with me. I needed a quarter-inch nylon bolt so I went to Home Depot's aisle with all the little flat drawers containing specialty parts. Turned out Home Depot had drastically reduced their specialty item area and didn't have it...but my local hardware store did. It seems like Home Depot carries a lot of the items that sell regularly but very little of anything that doesn't. I will admit Home Depot's staff are surprisingly knowledgable but then again, so is the local hardware store's staff plus I can get the latest town gossip from them.
Jul 22, 2019 07:57:27 #
fourlocks wrote:
Same thing with me. I needed a quarter-inch nylon... (show quote)
And there is no way to put a value on good juicy gossip!
Jul 22, 2019 08:08:41 #
Lowes gives me the military discount automatically when they scan my store card, there are also parking spaces up front just for veterans. It still amazes me that almost every employee knows where anything is and their prices are reasonable. However, they have stopped stocking some small items they used to put in bins because of theft.
There is one "old time" hardware store in the area that stocks items people can't find anywhere else and Amazon doesn't know exists. The old timers who work there know where everything is and how to install it. I've heard the store people tell large customers to wait by the register because they are either too tall or too wide to fit down the aisles with out knocking something off the shelves. Years ago they'd open at any hour to help a person in an emergency as they lived above the store, maybe they still do.
Before the computer age, if you paid cash, they'd round out your purchase to whatever coins you had in your hand but most folks would say, "Forget the pennies, put 'em in the jar, buy some kid a gumball."
There is one "old time" hardware store in the area that stocks items people can't find anywhere else and Amazon doesn't know exists. The old timers who work there know where everything is and how to install it. I've heard the store people tell large customers to wait by the register because they are either too tall or too wide to fit down the aisles with out knocking something off the shelves. Years ago they'd open at any hour to help a person in an emergency as they lived above the store, maybe they still do.
Before the computer age, if you paid cash, they'd round out your purchase to whatever coins you had in your hand but most folks would say, "Forget the pennies, put 'em in the jar, buy some kid a gumball."
Jul 22, 2019 08:10:40 #
nikonbug wrote:
And there is no way to put a value on good juicy gossip!
Plus, the local hardware staff offers my kind of humor. When I found the nylon bolt, I walked up to the counter and asked, "What do ya want for this bolt?"
"What do I want?!!" the employee responded; "I want two hundred dollars but you'll never pay me that much!"
"Just give me a buck and a quarter and we're good." he said.
Jul 22, 2019 08:18:17 #
Wow! What planet are you on? In my area, northeast Arkansas, when I to into Lowes, they will look you in the eye, pretend they didn't see you, then run and hide. I think they are following instructions. Management whats you to flounder around in the store and pick up impulse items. I mean, if you go in for a three dollar item, you find it, buy it and leave, that three dollars is all they got out of you that day. If you pick up impulse items, you might spend an additional five to twenty dollars. They do the same thing at Walmart. The folks at Home Depot are much more personable so that's where I go. Lowes lost my business about five years ago.
Jul 22, 2019 09:20:42 #
Several years back I was living in the Old Dominion, just south of Lexington. We had a Tractor Supply and a Wallyworld. Then Lowe's moved in. Everybody who worked in Lowe's took a great deal of pride in NOT KNOWING where Anything was in the store. I was doing some photography for the local paper and would drop off "film" (Remember that?) in the Photo Dept. of Wallyworld. Those ladies who worked there, knew where everything was located in their store. Lowe's is Still the last place I will go for anything.
Jul 22, 2019 09:29:31 #
The epitome of customer service can be found at the Home Depot location at Bell and Grand,Surprise, AZ. Just ask for Danika.......it would take three pages to spell out everything which went wrong with my “special order”......Danika stuck with the challenge, always smiling.
Turned out to be a great experience
Turned out to be a great experience
Jul 22, 2019 10:21:14 #
fourlocks wrote:
Plus, the local hardware staff offers my kind of humor. When I found the nylon bolt, I walked up to the counter and asked, "What do ya want for this bolt?"
"What do I want?!!" the employee responded; "I want two hundred dollars but you'll never pay me that much!"
"Just give me a buck and a quarter and we're good." he said.
"What do I want?!!" the employee responded; "I want two hundred dollars but you'll never pay me that much!"
"Just give me a buck and a quarter and we're good." he said.
I wonder if you didn't pay a buck and a quarter for a .50 bolt. But the humor came for free.
Dennis
Jul 22, 2019 11:44:22 #
Nikon Jon--Perhaps because competition is fierce in Ct. (I can go to 2 Home Depots, 2 Lowes, one Tractor Supply and a few franchise hardware stores within a short distance my home in Bristol.) All the stores offer great assistance although if the store isn't busy you may find the staff clustered in the rear of the store doing what most employees do with idle time.
Jul 22, 2019 12:33:27 #
jerryc41 wrote:
I needed clips to hold a new kitchen sink in place... (show quote)
When I built my darkroom nearly 20 years ago, I went to the small hardware store in the area. The people there literally sat on the floor with me and sorted out all the plumbing I would need for my two Delta darkroom sinks. Not sure I would have ever got it figured out on my own. You can purchase a single screw, bolt, or nut if needed. I always try them first before going to Lowes, Home Depot, or Menards, even if their prices are slightly higher.
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