I just found out yesterday about a HD for contractors. I called the nearest one and the guy said it's the only one in CA. The good news for me is it's about 20 minutes away. The next one is in Phoenix.
So how cool are these stores? I heard they have different tools and lots of lumber. The guy on the phone also rattled off a bunch of stuff that they DON'T carry.
dave
don't know about a store but all the HDs in New York have a Pro Desk. When yiou sign up they give you a CD-ROM which you load. It goes to the internet and downloads inventory and current prices. You supposedly then fax the order in they pick the materialks out for you and yougo pick them up. I just don't use it because it would mostly be sheet goods and and for the stuff I would get at HD, birch plywood, I can get saem price or cheaper and delivered. Why bother?
nah, this is a different store altogether. They don't carry garden stuff and sinks and tons of other stuff. they deal in large quantity packs. You don't need to have a license to buy from the "pro" store, either.
dave
j wrote:
Their employees are just as lame as the retail stores. The contractor store carries most of the same stuff but they are geared for production type contracting and they are always out of what you need just like the retail store. They carry things in 20' lengths instead of 10' (like rebar) so trailers or truck racks are expected. No difference in pricing but the Pro sign seems to scare off the regular shopper so the crowd is smaller. Their hours are also different.
The pro store here in Phoenix is within a couple miles of the 24 hour HD (not a part of town I'd be in at 2 a.m.!) so if you can't find it at one you probably can't find it at the other either!!!!
Gary (the only reason I shop HD is because my wife's company is a sub of HD and she's got ton's of stock)
So ... where is it? I can't find any reference to a Home Depot PRO in the bay area on their web site?
As usual, I'll plug my favorite: Lowe's. In the SF bay area, they have really made an effort to be the "better" store. Currently, all of them are about 1 hour away from us (Gilroy, San Bruno, Union City), but rumor has it that they'll build one soon in South San Jose (corner of Cottle and 85, near the IBM site).
thank for the info. I asked about the hours; 5:30 AM to 6 PM. Glad I asked or I might have gone tonight! An employee at my local HD told me they have tools there not available at the regular stores. True?
dave
GeeDubb wrote:
That might be true, don't know for sure. I don't think the pro store carries the low end B&D stuff that is so orange as to match the outside of the store front!
The HD closest to me carries a ton of contractor stuff because Lowes just opened on the other corner (so if HD doesn't have it Lowes might and it's less than five minutes away). The pro store is 30 minutes away so I usually don't travel there.
rant on- I wasn't impressed with the pro store. I needed one stinking window and that was the one they were out of (not a common window for the retail store and the window supplier I usually use was 6 weeks out for delivery). For two weeks HD PRo kept telling me it would be in "today". Finally got the window at a Lowes.
There's a phrase saying that 'those that can't, teach' which I always thought wrong. Now it should be 'those who can't, work at Home Depot'.
You should see what HD is doing to the previously successful flooring company my wife works for since they bought it out............ rant off-
Gary
Gary,
I feel your pain regarding out-of-stock issues. I live next to the smallest, most poorly stocked HD in the Bay Area. (This is based on not only my observations but upon repeated comments made by many of their own employees.) Since the store is about 4 blocks from my house and the next one is 3-4 miles further (or is it "farther"??), I take my chances and go to the close, small store. My mindset is like that of a gambler who comes back to the slot machine that took his money the night before, figuring "this time I'm gonna get lucky!" What's really annoying is when they are out of stock of common stuff like paint thinner and paint roller pan inserts, and two weeks later they STILL haven't gotten any in. Some days I feel my luck is running low, and go directly to next store.
my rant off.
dave
GeeDubb wrote:
Crocodile tears?
There are some who have _one_ Menards forty plus miles away, or off to Green Bay.
Of course we don't pay your taxes, either.
Hey, I didn't tell you to live in the boonies!!
dave
George wrote:
It would certainly help us if you did pay them for us :):):)
But for a touch of reality,
Rico
Yeah, Arnold is trying to come up with a budget miracle for us as we speak. He just rescinded the car-license fee-increase. I just paid mine at the higher rate, so word is I'll get a refund sometime "early next year".
I think anyone who visits our beautiful state should pay an entrance fee, like at a national park! :)
dave
Rico wrote:
Just got back from the Pro store. The tool section was anemic; I found nothing of interest in any section of that store I couldn't find at a regular HD. No wonder they only bothered to put up one of these types of stores in CA.
dave
Bay Area Dave wrote:
What? It's not enough that you have border guards to inspect my fruit? CharlesJ
-- ======================================================================== Charles Jones | Works at HP, | email: snipped-for-privacy@hp.com Hewlett-Packard | doesn't speak | ICQ: 29610755 Loveland, Colorado | for HP | AIM: LovelandCharles USA | |Jabber: snipped-for-privacy@jabber.hp.com
Interesting site, especially as a former WI taxpayer. However as I compare my current state to WI - I see that WI had(has):
- better roads
- a plethora of local libraries
- better schools
- cheaper tuition for better higher education
Still, no mood to move back.
I'm in Michigan. We did our Prop. 13 equivalent too, then they shifted the school tax from property, where it was controlled, to sales. Oh well, at least we don't pay what my mom in CA has to pay.
Oh yes, percentages are great, now shall we talk actual bucks? How about "hidden" taxes like unemployment and workers' comp? Then there's auto > > Crocodile tears?
With the traffic they have in the Bay Area it probably takes you the same time to drive 40 miles then the 4 blocks that Dave by the Bay drives. ;)
or a freak show! :-] skeez
If you pay the fees, you can call us whatever you want! :)
dave
snipped-for-privacy@home.com wrote:
only if if drives at warp 6.
dave
RK> With the traffic they have in the Bay Area it probably takes you the same
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