Lowes vs. Home Depot

[Art]

In NC, Lowes stores are bright and cheerful. HD stores remind me of the inside of a paper bag. Lowes will meet HD prices.

[Art]

If you are buying an extended warranty on an appliance, they are cheap at Lowes compared to Sears.

[Art]

Lowes used to be crap but they have improved dramatically over the last decade or so. I remember a grand opening of a new store in Cary, NC 20 years ago and all the management was there. I told them their stores were crap and showed them how they had bolts without matching size nuts and visa versa. I told them how I could make a ton of money opening a hardware store right next to their store. I doubt they were listening to me but obviously they got the message from somewhere.

[dadiOH]

I prefer Lowes because no one at HD seems to know what exterior plywood is. I needed a couple of sheets of exterior, sanded BC ply, best they could come up with was "sheathing"...CDX. Guys at Lowes knew what exterior ply was, even knew it was marked with a different color on the ends. They also knew what "BC" meant.

Screw HD.

[scott21230]

Lowes has a better selection of items, is more likely to have them in stock, and carries better quality merchandise. For example, I only use stainelss steel hardware. Most Home Depot's have very little, if any, and charge $1 for a bag of 4 screws. Lowes whas a wide selection of stainless steel hardware, and I often go there to get their bags of metric stainless steel hardware to use on my car. You don't find the metric stainless steel at very many places. The wood is a higher grade at Lowes also.

[Buck Turgidson]

Home Depot stores are a mess in my area, and they're always out of stock of basic items. Hell, I went to buy a quart of satin f***ing polyurethane, and they were out. How can you be out of that?

My wife was going to buy me a tool belt for my birthday so I'd be more sexy. Home Depot's selection was dirty, dusty, mixed in the wrong bin, you couldn't tell what was what.

I've given up on Home Depot.

[Mike Plate]

Funny this should come up since I am in the middle of a kitchen remodel and I have been doing pricing between the two stores emphatically.

And my conclusion - depends on the item, and sometimes it is significant. As a store I prefer Lowes, it is cleaner, brighter, easier to find items and easier to find assocaites (cut wire, bring down top stock items).

However here are a few of my recent pricing comparisons (I live in central Mass.)

Vinyl 34=BC x 41=BC double hung window: HD: $125 LW: $102

=BD Copper ball valves w/waste: HD: $8.47 LW: $6.79

R-13 Roll Insulation HD: $10.78 / Owens Corning LW: $18.80 / Johns Manville This was CRAZY, same R value....more or less getting a role almost free by going with OC rolls.

2in Sofet Vents (bag of 6) HD: $8.50 (Plastic vents) LW: $6.40 (Metal Vents)

On and on the list goes. Some are not all that impressive (10ft lengths of copper being .40 cheaper a run at HD) but if you are in a big project and the distances are the same between stores it literally pays to know the prices.

That being said do not underestimate your local stores!

3Mil contractor bags I found for $5 cheaper a box from the local guy and this was my other mind blow, 250ft of 12-3 wire (no not stranded the real solid copper 4 line run) was $112. Where it was $80 from HD for 100ft. More then 50% less per ft!

-Mike-

[Pete C.]

Your junker pickup needs a tune-up. My non junker pickup with the 7.4L /

454ci and 4.56 axles gets 11.5mpg under nearly all load conditions.

Pete C.

[jeffreydesign]

I only *wish* there was a Lowe's nearby. Only rencently Home Depot opened a store about 5 minutes away from my current home. I bought a house (only 9 yrs old but thoroughly trashed by previous owners) a couple of months ago and began interior remodeling.

Right away after I bought the house, I went to HD and ordered Mills Pride Cabinets (about $5k worth) and a Corian countertop (about $3k.) In the last 2 weeks alone I have spent over $15k at HD. Here's what I have got for my money:

I have had to repaint the house interior THREE TIMES because the Behr paint they sell is CRAP. (I will say that even Behr recognized the problem and is refunding the cost of the paint - but that doesn't address all my labor) Their "flat" paint is NOT flat, by the way; it's an eggshell, and their "Flat enamel" is a satin. Don't let the labels fool you.

My cabinet order was delayed (they are SUPPOSED to come in today - we'll see!) two weeks because HD is now discontinuing Mill's Pride and switching to a different cabinet company to replace them. Now the countertop contractor tells me they can't [won't] even "template" (a fancy word for measuring) my job for 3 weeks, and they tell me that they need ANOTHER 2-3weeks to fabricate. According to my HD contract (for the cabinets and countertop) this should all be DONE by September

1. I CLEARLY stated and made it a condition of sale, that all this would be done by the end of Sept. because I need to MOVE IN. Now I don't have kitchen countertops - HD called at this late date and said that they cannot supply them in time. Why couldn't they have told me this when I ordered everything??

Now what? My wife is in tears. I wish there was a Lowes nearby.

Jeff

Mike Plate wrote:

[trbo20]

I'm totally with you, John. When I first saw self checkout I thought "Cool! Nice to have an alternative when I'm just picking up a few small items." Then HD delivered on the other half of their new checkout model. They cut back their staff and now only keep one register open. This means that whenever I need anything oversized, weighed, measured, special ordered -- in other words, whenever I need anything expensive -- I go to the blue store.

Their model basically states that it's much better for you to have to stand there waiting than have a register worker be idle during parts of the day. The way I see it, they're saving money at the expense of my time. Of everything I consider when doing a project such as engineering, labor, materials, cost, and ROI, my time is the most important asset. It's the asset I can't replace.

I once spent 2 hours loading a cart with all kinds of renovation supplies; probably about $250 worth of stuff. I had everything from stove burner elements to crown molding. When I went to check out, I sat at the one register for 10 minutes and got pissed off and walked out. I left the cart sitting where it was. It was childish, but damn it felt good.

I still go to HD for door knobs and such. It's my "convenience store." Lowes gets my big business (windows, shower enclosure, water heater, tools, etc)

Their selection's better anyway.

[avid_hiker]

Quality, definetly Lowes. The wood is straighter and cleaner. Everything else the3 quality is much higher.

I had many issues with HD. One of which, most recent, I purchased a electric fireplace/heater. I took it home, installed it, and the heater thermostat was defective. Brought it back, got a new one, installed it........same thing. Brought it back....made them open it and test it there at the store.........same thing.........all were bad out of about

5 they tested.. After #5 , I got a refund and went to lowes..............its been running now for 2 years without a glitch. I wont ever go to HD again for anything. As far as Im concerned, they sell crap.

Never buy a load a wood from them without checking it first....most will be not straight, water loaded, or splintered.

Just my thoughts :-)

[trbo20]

Oh, one other thing ...

I'm not sure if it's like this everywhere around the country, but at my HD in SE Pennsylvania (same as the OPs) the tool section is in a secured area. They have their own register and make you buy it before you can carry it out. I've been in the situation where I was buying other things and had to wait in line twice because the tool guy refused to ring my other purchases.

Lowes doesn't treat you like a criminal.

[avid_hiker]

Jeff,

get your money back or get some kind of refund for neglection of contract..........or go to Lowes online, and buy it from there.

|0

[Jim McLaughlin]

Good thread. In my book, Loews wins on all counts. And I used to be a devout HD shopper.

I'm in the Portland/ Tigard Oregon area.

I suspect that a goodly art of folks reactions to either HD or Loews is a result of individual store managers and regional zone district management, and that there is no universal rule that fits all Loews and HDs everywhere.

That said, I have some observations that I think are in line with most comments here.

First, my eyes aren't the best in the world. I have some vision issues but hell, I'm 65 so thats to be expected. Bu my nearest Home Depot (Tigard, OR) is dingy. The lighting is bad. Its not comfortable on the eyes to shop there. Other HDs in Beaverton, and Sherwood, OR are almost as bad, but the Tigard HD is just dingy. By comparison, Tigard Loews is brighter. I can see well in the Loews.

Clutter is a parallel story. The HD store's aisles are badly cluttered far too often. The Loews aisles are wider and not a frequently cluttered, in my experience.

Second, there appears to me to be no uniformity to the internal layout of the HD stores. I am most used to the Tigard store and sort of "know" where each department is. If I'm out and about and am nearer the Beaverton HD or Sherwood HD stores, and don't want to make an extra trip to the Tigard HD, I can't find anything in the Beaverton of Sherwood HD stores. Each of those is set up internally differently from the Tigard store and differently from each other. Very frustrating and a wast of my time

I have only ever been to the one Loews store, so I don't know by personal experience if the Loews stores are internally organized in a uniform fashion.

In any event, even though the stores are on different sized and shaped plots of land, it strikes me that an effort should be made to have uniform internal layout. Easier on customers, and in the long run cheaper for operation, easier to transfer crews around and avoid some learning costs.

Third, self checkout. An abomination. I will not use it at HD or at any of the local grocery chains that use it around here. I ran a small professional service business before I hung up my cleats and retired. I never had a computer come in and engage my professional services. Only people. Whenever I have a choice, I'm going to get service from a person, not a machine. If the vendor doesn't give me that choice, I probably won't shop there at all. I think of it as "paying forward" when I deal with a human being. That human being is going to o out and spend her / his wages, maybe some of that with me. HDs computer isn't going to spend jack with me. I'm the same way at a bank when it comes to service by a teller vs. service by an ATM. (And with banks, though you are saving them operating costs when you use an ATM, the %$#^%&^%& banks charge you an extra fee for the dubious "convenience" of the ATM.) I guess you can just call me old fashioned.

Somewhere up thread, someone commented that self checkout was HDs way of transferring part of its operations costs to his precious time. That is absolutely correct. In addition, as bad as HDs pay for a cashier is, its still a job for a real live human being. Jobs, all jobs, are important.

Pricing used to be in favor of HD around here. They were usually about

10% lower overall on stuff than Loews. Here and there one item was more at HD, but the general trend here was HD was cheaper. Over the last 12

- 14 months it "feels" to me as if that has changed, with Loews being consistently cheaper than HD by about 5 %.

Quality of products. Live plant materials seem to me to be better at HD. I suspect thats a local issue dependent upon local wholesale nursery vendors. Lumber seems to be cheaper at Loews, but locally our Loews doesn't stock as many shapes and varieties of molding, chair rail, crown, baseboards. I generally try to get that at two local yards, "Elmo Studd's" (yes, thats the name) in Durham, OR, or another place who's name I can't remember, maybe McCoy's Lumber and Millwork, I think, in East Portland. I can drive you right there, but can't remember the name until see their sign.

Hardware, screws etc are over priced at both HD and Loews, and the selection is lousy. I get that stuff at Faulk Ace Hardware in Beaverton. Great selection and fabulous staff, they really really know their sock and their stuff.

Which brings us to staff. When the HD first opened here, what 12 - 15 years ago, their staff was uniformly excellent. Now, the HD staff is a joke. The Loews staff is almost, but not quite as bad. Loews still has a few competent folks in building materials. Neither has any competence in paint department. HD is ahead in the plumbing department if you get the right guy. Loews is ahead in the plumbing department, but only if you luck into the right guy. If the right guy is not on duty in either department, you are SOL.

Overall, consistently bad, bad service on the floor at the Tigard HD, and horror shows trying to check out with cartloads of "stuff" and the cashier not knowing how to ring up stuff which is advertised at a sale price, with the HD computer insisting on overcharging, and waiting 15 -

20 minutes for a "manager" to show up in response to a cashier's call for help has driven me the the local Loews. I have left several hundred dollars of stuff on carts at the Tigard HD and walked out and gone to Loews at least twice in the last year because of that. No, I don't think its childish. Last time, June 2006, was the last time I set foot in HD.

In my book, Loews wins. YMMV.

[Jim McLaughlin]

Thats Loews ahead locally in plumbing department regarding staff, HD ahead locally in electrical regarding staff. Sorry about the brain fart,

If the right guy is not on

[Percival P. Cassidy]

I've never been in a Lowe's that treats me like a criminal, but HDs vary according to the location. Of the various HD stores at which I shopped on Long Island, NY, some had a separate secure area for the tools while some did not. One HD store even had a security person who metaphorically frisked everyone as they left the store; is it purely coincidental that the racial mix in that community was different from most of the others?

Perce

[Percival P. Cassidy]

I find this report very strange, because HD was the only place that sold Mill's Pride, and if you go to the Mill's Pride Web site it still shows HD as the only place to buy their stuff.

Perce

[Jim McLaughlin]

SNIPS

Wonder what the loss ratio and inventory shrinkage in the store with the security guard at the exit is compared to most of he others?

Try shopping at a computer / electronics emporium on the Wes Coast calle dFry's , or at ant Costco store, in any color neighborhood if you want to know wnat being treated like a ciminal is.

[Bill]

You'll have to try 'em both on for size and decide for yourself. I live in the Eastern burbs of Cleveland. The closest HD is about a mile away, the closest Lowes is much farther afield. I greatly prefer Lowes: much better selection of tools and accessories; employees are far more helpful and knowledgeable; never a long wait at the checkout. If all I need is a box of drywall screws, or a few light bulbs, I hold my nose and go to HD. If I need a big order of stuff, I head down the road to Lowes.

[HeatMan]

uh-huh, right. The only 'tradesmen' that work at that kind of store aren't really tradesmen. they are wanna-be tradesmen, much like the Storming Moron. That kind of store can't afford to really pay tradesmen.