I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight.
I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop.
Lowes and the other big-boxes only continue to carry what actually moves. Stock carried varies by store, and they are very good at tracking and predicting. They take their best guess when the open a store, but
12-24 months later, if something has sold only a few, or not it all, they won't have it anymore. 80-20 rule. You mainly worry about the 20% of the line that brings in 80% of your money, and fill in around the edges with the rest. Most of us on this group have run into the same problem. Stuff we used to be able to find anywhere is now an annoying PITA to track down, and in many smaller towns, there is no longer a full-line purveyor to the trade. Builders have to send a truck to the nearest big city when they build a custom house. Lowes answer? 'Oh, we can order that for you'. Yeah, right. You can build a house from Lowes, but it'll be the most white-bread-with-mayonnaise cookie cutter you can imagine, because that is what the bean counters have determined we actually buy.
When Lowe's bought out our local chain, Eagle, it was the same deal. The first 5 things I needed I finally found in the "closeout" area. They stock way less than Eagle did. But they are still often better than HD.
I bought some lawn seed once at HD. Otherwise, I was dismayed at how much they charged for stuff. I can go to any lumber yard and save 30% off HD prices. Lowes is at least sort of competitive, but their inventory has gotten so lousy it is a waste of time to shop there.
Ahhh , must be time for a Big Box Bash-a-Thon....Been a few weeks so I guess it's time...The Big Box Haters need an "atta boy" now and then from other haters to keep that "warm and fuzzy feeling" going...It most usually happens after passing a full Home Depot , Lowes or Walmart parking lot and they get that "left out feeling" or feel they are missing something...An "atta boy" from others that refuse to shop at the big boxes and a few BS horror stories (like the one above) about past experiences and the left out feeling dissipates , for a while.... Therapy for BBDS ..(Big Box Derangement Syndrome)
Big Box stores don't come into an area to save you/us money. After they take the business/ put the local competition out, of business they raise prices and cut inventory to the fast movers or items that offer the larger margins of profit. This is one reason that American made is being made ancient history. Small harware building supply stores often tried rigorously to carry American made. people bought it even if it was a little more. The quality was there, generally. Big Box carries only what it's buyers buy in China etc in volume. Of course lumber and other things are exceptions. There is no concern with what we want. We are forced to buy what they offer because they are the only game in town.
I see nothing wrong by reporting their experiences and most has some positive items as well.
With competition prices are generally fair.
A lot of people are pretty smart about shopping around for the best prices and availability. I ask lots of questions like, "Do you see many returns for service issues for Brand X cordless bacon cooker?"
Customer service is right up there with price in my priorities.
One large retailer showed poor service one too many times for me and they lost me for life.
When I was a manager at a large clothing retailer, managers learned some good material on how to treat customers.
If a customer has a good experience, he may tell 2 or 3 others about the good experience. If he/she has a bad experience, they will on average tell 10 others about it.
Almost forgot. Do you work for a big box store? :-)
Some stores are larger than others, depending on location and demand. And then stores have various marketing strategies. Right now I need gardening supplies and equipment and the large stores have moved all of that out and put in Christmas decorations. I had to do some Internet shopping, and the local stores can't understand why they are not doing so well.
No past experiences here, Bubba. That trip to Lowes was today. If they stock everything you want, good for you. You apparently don't do much around the house.
The big box stores didn't put the lumber yards out of business, but the lumber yards around here close on weekends and at 5:30 PM. One yard used to be the Saturday morning meeting place for hundreds of men in the county, but too many weekend tinkerers go to the big box stores, so that business is gone.
I don't know anyone who buys lumber from the big box stores. They carry some specialty items, like 3/16 planed box stock, that is hard to find anywhere else, but for studs, rafters, TJ-Is and trusses, a lumber yard is the place to go, if you can't go directly to the truss manufacturer.
Big Box never put a small store out of business , unfair stock buying did . Suppliers give price a, to the little guy cause he can only carry 10 saws at once. Price b go's to the big box cause he buys 40 saws , it has made it impossible for the small guy to compete . This is the suppliers fault not the big box also China's fault as this is how they sell .
I see nothing wrong by reporting their experiences and most has some positive items as well.
With competition prices are generally fair.
A lot of people are pretty smart about shopping around for the best prices and availability. I ask lots of questions like, "Do you see many returns for service issues for Brand X cordless bacon cooker?"
Customer service is right up there with price in my priorities.
One large retailer showed poor service one too many times for me and they lost me for life.
When I was a manager at a large clothing retailer, managers learned some good material on how to treat customers.
If a customer has a good experience, he may tell 2 or 3 others about the good experience. If he/she has a bad experience, they will on average tell 10 others about it.
Almost forgot. Do you work for a big box store? :-)
Take care, Andy
No , I am a Drywall Contractor....SWMBO is a manager at Walmart though...Good health insurance....Why do you ask ???..I just find BBDS sufferers amusing , especially the remarks about how stupid folks are for shopping at Big Boxes and how smart they are for not shopping there.....LOL...Capitolism is what it is....Lead , follow or get out of the way....
By the way...We have a Homedepot and Lowes and not one single lumber/hardware store of the 6 or so around (not counting all the other plumbing , electical supply houses and garden centers , ect. have gone under...
Bubba ??? Classy remark....Carefull your IQ is showing...I never said Lowes has everything I need...I go to Homedepot among other lumber yards...I have never been to a Lowes even though it is right in the same area... You don't know shit about what I do around the house...
When the local Lowes went up earlier this year I stopped by to check it out. On the front door was a large welcome sign in both English and Spanish. This theme was repeated throughout the store.
Now I'm pretty sure the last time I checked that this was still America, and that immigrants to this country should understand English if they wish to live here. Apparently not to the executives at Lowes.
I walked out of that store within five minutes of walking into it, and I will never set foot in it again.
They wouldn't do it if it didn't make a positive difference in their bottom line. Even up north here, I see a lot of obviously Hispanic-background folks in Lowe's (and other stores). In the southernmost tier of states, if you are strawbossing a construction site, you better speak at least some Spanish, or have an aide that does. (or in the case of the hospitality industry, whoever heads up your housekeeping department.) So if Lowe's standard signage for down there needs to be bilingual, it makes sense for them to just have the default setup for all the stores be that way. Like it or not, a large part of the buying public in this country has Spanish as their primary language. And not all of them are immigrants. Traditionally, maintaining the 'mother tongue' at home fades away by the third generation, but that was when the 'melting pot' was the path most waves of immigrants followed. Not all ethnic groups follow that practice.
Remember, in some areas of the country, Spanish was the 'official' language well before English was. Us Anglos are the newcomers. I don't know if Lowes is up in Quebec, but I suspect big-boxes up there have English and French on their signs. I do know that in the Little Whatever enclaves of big cities, stores have the language of the local ethnic community on many of their signs.
-- aem sends, not finding the situation all that offensive....
Lowes and Home Depot are in the home improvement business. Both of the stores nearest to me have do have a traditional contractor counter, where commercial customers can place an order, But that's not their emphasis. Like Walmart, their target customer is the family. not primarily men or women. The Lowes does have a pretty good common lumber selection. But considering the amount of space it takes, I think it's there more as a convenience than a profit center.
There probably would be a local Lowes opening soon were it not for a bogged down permit process. If/when it is built, it will be interesting to see how the local lumber yard does. They have to some extent prepared. When some kids burned down their sales building a couple years ago, they associated with Do-It-Best when they rebuilt. But they still operate in behind-the-counter mode for most building materials. So I will probably go to Lowes for my occasional lumber purchase because I will be able to see/select what I'm buying.
Agreed on shrinking in-store selection. I've resorted to ordering online with ship-to-store for several items this summer, with 75% acceptable results. As for the butyl caulk, HD has it in the paint department - DAP Gutter & Flashing; perhaps Lowes also does.
So people should never report their big box experiences because you have succumbed to all of their great marketing and you thing they are your "friend" and no one should ever talk about your "friend"?
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