Ever hear of the new 2 fangled inventions called a CELLPHONE and the INTERNET....Idiots....All it takes is a couple of minutes to do your homework before you buy...Sometimes I wonder how some make it through the day by themselves...Tirewarehouse even supplies a phone with numbers to local competitors so you can check in a minute if it's the best price...Money might not be important to some but to some of us every buck counts , especially now....Maybe that's why stores like Walmart and Micky Ds are the only ones not crying for a bailout and MAKING MONEY....
"The Homedepots around here will MATCH any local competitior...I've done it a couple of times... "
A couple of times..impressive.
And how many times have you tried to price match only find that the HD model was not the exact same model as the local stores model - thus, no price match?
How often have you seen a single digit difference or an extra letter in a model number - even from a major manufacturer - making it a "different" item. InSinkErator comes to mind - Lowes vs. HD vs. the local hardware stores all carry different model numbers, even in the same HP ranges. I wonder how that happens.
Tires are easy - in many cases you'll find the same Goodyear/Firestone/ Michelin model at different tires stores. Try that with many of the things we buy from HD. Other than your "couple of times" price matching between stores is a pretty much a farce these days.
I don't shop the mom and pop stores here. The items are covered with dust, their prices are the highest, and they close when I need them most (Fri night, Sat afternoon, and Sundays). There used to be a dumpy-looking woman working there years ago that seemed to know everything, but now she's been replaced with a young good-looking air-head valley girl. HD gets the customers, but there is a lot more worthless junk so shop carefully.
Cost isn't the only factor. Ma'n'pa places, and real supply houses, need to be open when their main customers, tradesmen, are starting THEIR day. DIY homeowners may come in half a dozen times a year. People that fix stuff for a living come in half a dozen times a week. Guess who brings more money in the door? Guess who needs less hand-holding?
Agree on all of the above. Like my friend says they have you doing the "big box dance".
But you do have to watch out for those rotten mom & pop tire places... There are a couple of them in this area. One is right down the road so it is really convenient. You will spend more if you buy from an online store and have them mounted someplace (I checked).
And to prove how rotten they are their service stinks too. I went out one morning and had a flat. It was really cold so I pumped it up and it looked like it would allow me to drive over to the tire place so I did. I pulled in and he told me he was backed up and it would take 15 minutes to get me in. They removed the tire from the wheel and patched it properly from the inside and balanced and mounted it. He said "you are ready to go". I asked how much and he simply said "we sold you those tires so it is no charge". This was even though I had not purchased any additional insurance or coverage.
re: "I don't shop the mom and pop stores here."
Keep in mind that this thread was mainly about HD vs. "real stores". Many (myself included) have been interchanging (or including) "mom & pop stores" with "locally owned stores". Sometimes there's a difference, sometimes there's not.
In many cases, "locally owned" doesn't mean a grizzled old man and dumpy-looking woman behind the counter. It may be a franchise of a national company, such as the Norandex Reynolds where I bought my windows for considerably less than I would have paid at HD or Lowes. Sometimes it's a regional chain, like VP Supply in western NY where they have a plumbing parts counter in the back of The Bath Showroom, and sometimes it *is* a single store owned by an individual or a family.
I think the point was that in many, many cases you can get a better deal and better quality by going to a store that is dedicated to a specific "sector", such as a dedicated paint store, a lighting store with a electircal parts counter or a building supply house that doesn't sell everything from Ajax to snow blowers to electric fireplaces. Some of the real "mom and pop" stores may also have a specialty. We have a small hardware store whose claim to fame is plumbing supplies and another whose paint department rivals anything you'll find at the borgs.
Yes, the hours and locations of the borgs may make them a lot more convenient, but I don't mind the drive or the scheduling required to patronize the "dedicated stores" when shopping for my projects.
re "You will spend more if you buy from an online store and have them mounted someplace (I checked). "
I've checked too. It all depends on when and where. In some cases I've purchased tires from on-line stores and ended up with "4 for the price of 3" compared to the local tire stores, even after mounting and balancing. Was it a bit more inconvenient to have to load the tires into my van once they were delivered? Sure, but for over a $100 in savings, I didn't mind.
In other cases the local stores were having sales, so I bought cheaper locally.
It also depends on where you have them mounted. Take them to a national chain where selling tires is their business, and they may charge you more than the "mom and pop" used tire/used car parts scrap yard where I go. Mounting and balancing is mounting and balancing. I don't need a fancy showroom with a flat screen TV and gourmet coffee machine - where I'm paying extra for those creature comforts. I'd rather put my boots on and walk through a muddy junk yard if it saves me a third or more in the cost of the service. (Although I gotta admit, the 35 cent coffee from the beat up vending machine was brutal!)
One year I saved enough by buying a set of high-end snow tires on-line to purchase a set of used wheels from that same yard so I could leave my snows on the rims and change them myself. None of the "chain stores" could come close to the price I paid for the tires on-line or the rims and mounting from the local shop.
No, but the blowers they do sell will be largely the same models across snowy states. Nor will they be selling Chrismas trees in July. The HD standardization was a big project written about in financial papers about 5 years ago, implemented by the CEO now running chrysler. In my area there is not enough appreciable difference in products to make multiple HD trips worthwhile. About 10 years ago there was a big difference before they standardized suppliers.
I think the only time in recent memory that the "real" store didn't come through for me but HD did was the other day when I needed to make my own knockout hole in an old shop light... and I realized that my Unibit was in my desk drawer at work. None of the mom 'n' pops stocked Unibits, but the HD did (not a Unibit(R) but the Greenlee version thereof.) I paid through the nose for it though.
It was still worth the $36 not to have to stick my head in the office that day though :) It was a work day, but I was on "vacation" - yes, I was hanging lights in my laundry room while on my vacation... (weeps)
The downside to the mom 'n' pops is very limited hours. Need to pick up something on the way home from work? Saturday afternoon? Sunday? Off to That Orange Colored Store...
Last night I drove 300 miles to my Dad's house in Chicopee MA to do some plumbing repairs at his and my sister's house. This morning my sister told me that she had heard that Larry's Heating Hardware & Plumbing Supply was pretty good. Open 7:30 to 5:30, Mon - Sat. Old place, wooden floors, dusty shelves and million parts. One of those "real stores" that some folks in this group have been bad mouthin'.
I needed a kitchen faucet, stems for a Kohler diverter, a tub spout and few other things. So my Dad and I head over to Larry's for our parts.
Jose greeted us with a smile and a hello as soon as we walked in. After showing him what we needed, here's the service we - just a couple of DIY homeowners who had never been in the store before - received:
Faucet: Jose opened 4 - 5 faucets so my dad could decide on one - no shrink-wrap like the borgs, you could actually touch the faucets and parts. Once we decided on the faucet and I described how the old one was in and what I wanted to change to make the installation easier, he went to all the right drawers and gave me all the fittings I needed, first try. "Need any solder or flux or anything like that?" "No thanks, all set."
Diverter Stems: Jose matched up the stems, opened the plastic bags, lubed up the O-rings and put them back in the bag. He reminded me to make sure I take the old washer and O-ring out of the bonnet nut before I install the new stems. "On those old Kohler nuts, you might not even notice the washer is in there."
Tub spout: Jose matched up the tub spout and asked me if I wanted him to remove the nipple from the one I had brought in. "Sure, Thanks!" He went into the back, removed the old nipple and wire-brushed the threads so they were shiny and new.
BTW...we weren't the only customers in the store. A few of the other workers were treating other customers - some of whom were obviously "professionals" - the same way we were being treated. It was apparent that you didn't need to be one of their regulars, or a cash-cow contractor, to get good service.
Yes, the borgs may be open to 10PM on weekdays, and even open on Sundays, but never have I been given service like I got at Larry's today. They've earned my business, and any other projects I do for my Dad will be planned around their hours of operation.
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