I see the word "Borg" refering to Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. here... I'm wondering how the term originated. I'm guessing that it refers to the Borg cube from "Star Wars, the Next Generation" being compared to the large square buildings of above mentioned stores??
BTW, I do enjoy the warped sense of humor that seems to be yet another common factor among WWer's here.
Will
Big Orange Retail Giant, but it applies to either.
Yes, that's pretty much it.
Also refers to the Borg motto:
"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated"
Referring to the fact that whenever a borg shows up in your neighborhood, that many small businesses offereing much higher levels of service go out of business.
They are "assimilated".
Well, "sort-of".
It's a weak pun on the aliens from "Star _TREK_, the Next Generation", As well as a (possibly back-formed) acronym for "ig range etail iant". Referring specifically to Home Depot, originally. Since generalized to refer to any of the "big box" super-stores.
Occasionally 'qualified' with a color, to indicate a particular operation, e.g. "the blue BORG" meaning Lowes. The 'red' BORG is, obviously, Menards.
The Star Trek reference was only somewhat motivated by the 'boxy' nature of the stores. Those aliens were known to invade a territory, and take over
*everything*. Their oft-quoted mantra was: "resistance is futile, prepare to be assimilated."The parallels with regard to the superstores vs. the local mom-and-pop operations are obvious.
I have read a lot of grumbling about the giants coming in and running the small lumber yards out of business. I don't see much evidence of that happening in south central Kansas. What little hardwood they sell is well above local hardwood dealers.
Even more telling is their dealing with contractors. I built one of the first homes in a development that has since added about 80 houses. On the very few occasions that I have seen a big-box delivery out here (I am home during the day) they are dropping off appliances. The lumber and other materials are being delivered by local lumber yards - many are from smaller area towns.
When we built we decided to buy lighting from Lowe's because their prices were much better than the local lighting houses. Our contractor was a little hesitant because he didn't know much about their quality. We did the legwork on getting his account set up, bought the lights ourselves, and he ended up being very pleased with the quality we selected. BUT - getting him a contractor's account with Lowe's was absolutely ridiculous. Their contractor rep was one of the rudest people I have dealt with and he even told a couple of outright lies. If they treat contractors the way they treated us it is no wonder they don't deliver into developments. I still own Lowe's stock but I deal with the locals or big orange more these days.
My son is a superintendent with a heavy construction company. They told Lowe's to pound sand about a year ago because they were impossible to deal with. Their payment terms and penalties do not fit most business cycles - except theirs.
Bottom line - this should be good business for the smaller guys. You can compete if you treat customers and contractors like customers.
This only proves once again that most people care more for cheap stuff at cheap prices that they do for quality service and products.
Dave
Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
---------------------------------------------------------- ** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
...
Definitely seen it in SW KS/SE CO/OK panhandle, however, where there isn't the population density of even central KS.
It's possible to compete in larger markets but very tough in smaller...trasportation costs are a prime killer as the volume problem is exacerbated by rising fuel costs and the distance from suppliers. Consolidation of distributors also is a difficulty.
Mead Best Buy did build a new store here last year but the smaller surrounding communities which had nice little lumber yards have just gone away since the HD in Garden opened as well two in Garden itself. This was a trend in place before the HD opened, but it has been accelerated...what is really move observable in the Wally-World and other retail as the HD hasn't been around quite long enough to really judge its long term effect, but imo it isn't all positive even now. Star in Wichita, for example, has pulled all their western KS stores.
Truthfully, I don't much care about the size of the distributor per se, if purchasing weren't so biased by their practices of "browbeating" distributors who then (somewhat like in the case of medical services who make up for uninsured and Medicare/Medicaid charges by higher costs to the fully-insured) don't provide similar costs to independents.
Service can make up for some w/ some customers but not all and certainly in smaller markets w/ lesser average income levels, the tendency to buy cheap is overwhelming to most.
cheap prices that they do for quality service and products.
I don't know about that.
I've found that, by and large, the Borg has high-quality products.
You can buy cheap goods just as easily at a Mom & Pop.
I do, however, mourn the demise of Mom & Pop stores.
If this weren't true, McDonalds, Burger King and Harbor Freight would all be out of business.
"You too, will become one with The Borg"
Well, it was November 19, 1998 at exactly 12:00 A.M. when Eddie Munster sat down at his keyboard, composed and sent:
Subject: The Borg
The Borg have arrived. I have recently seen a post calling HD the goliath. Well that me be so but my friend, but I call them the Borg. And so does my friend, The Dinger!!!! Beware the Dinger!!!! He always speaks the truth.
They, assimilate. Yes you, little mom and pop hardware store. The competitive pricing policy will eat you alive and assimilate you. It will take the most thoughtfull human and he will turn you in for ten percent of the price difference. We are all guilty, admit it...
The staff there will call it "working for the orange cube. We know it is a Borg Cube!!
JThe whereabouts of Eddie are unknown today but I'm thinking he became aggregate for a slab poured for a brand new Home Depot. Dinger has not been heard from either.
We're just warming up.
UA100
While in this group 'Borg' refers to Lowes/Home Depot or whatever particular megastore is crushing your local hardwares and lumber yards, a bachelor friend believes it refers to women. Specifically the credo of the Star Trek alien - "Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated."
Menards.
Ah, a fellow mid-westerner. As I am a cheese-head, at least Menard's is a local Borg.
The opposite of "cheap" is not necessarily "quality" nor is good quality obligatorily expensive.
McDonalds for example produce excellent french fries, better than anything you can make, and better than anything the top-rated restaurants can produce. A few years ago the New Yorker, a journal not renowned for its support of fast food, ran a long in-depth article on the subject detailing the steps taken to ensure that McDs fries are without parallel. At the time the top-rated restaurant in the US was "Daniel" in NYC owned by Daniel Bouloud and in an interview even he admitted to indulging in the occasional "large fries" pointing out that while most of McDs food was suitable only for the dumpster, their fries were sublime and well beyond what he could produce.
If you're interested, the reason is that the making of good fries is a function highly contingent upon the industrialized processes at which McDs excels. The potatoes have to be of a particular variety and harvested at a time of low water content. Since they're usually sold by weight the farmer has the opposite interest; McDs solves the problem by having exclusive contracts, supervising the growing and harvesting, and ensuring they're harvested at the appropriate time. Even then they go through a long drying process in vast hangers until they reach the optimum level. The cutting and then pre-cooking and freezing for delivery are minutely controlled and finally at the franchisee end those deep fryers maintain exactly the right temperature for the second cooking and notify the grunts by buzzer of the exact moment to remove the ideal french fry.
And no, contrary to rumor, they don't add sugar to the fries.
snipped-for-privacy@NoGoodISP.gov wrote: ...
Well, what you've described is how McDonald's consistency.
Whether they're "unparalleled" is a matter of personal taste. You apparently like their model--while I recognize I can get the same thing at any Mickey-D's, I don't find them nearly as appetizing as a "home-grown" version. But my taste apparently doesn't match yours.
My preference is for my Mom's fries, which I've been unable to duplicate.
Second is Wendy's, followed by McD's. Burger King keeps changing their fries, so it's hard to say.
But if I want the best fast food in my area, it's time for a pilgrimage to Hot Dog Johnny on Butzville. Good dogs, good fries. Two with ketchuponionpickle -- "To the left" iirc, fries, and a buttermilk.
I grew up in Springfield, CO, graduated Boise City OK. Where are you from? I now live in north Idaho.
Will
Not quite. You could have consistently soggy, oily fries as you get in most restaurants, fast food and otherwise, or you can select, process and cook the potatoes correctly to produce the desired superlative product.
I quoted indirectly an acknowledged expert in food taste. I presume you'd say an evaluation by Robert Parker of a wine at 99 was simply "his taste" and by implication no different than yours.
But it's still controlling ... same thing as any other industrial process. Just like any other "six-sigma" process (although I don't know that M-D's uses the formal process, it's the same idea).
I grant the target is one which is palatable to the mass market they're targetting, and more so than some, but it's still simply a matter of personal taste as to whether the target is or isn't one's own favorite.
Well, I'll grant I wouldn't rank as anything of an expert by anyone who was a wine expert--I have some things I enjoy and others I don't. Some of what I enjoy I know is rated moderately well, some of what I have had that has been highly rated I don't care for at all...that is personal preference. I could care less on a choice as to what elses's opinion is---I may consider other recommendations for choices on occasion, but I don't feel at all obligated to cater to their choices if their "educated" or "sophisticated" palate doesn't match mine....
As noted, I stand by my contention that it is all personal preference and for me my preference is far more significant than all the "experts" whose judgement is in large part a support for exclusiveness and elitism designed primarily to justify the financial returns.
RP is an "expert" on wine. But from the point of view of me enjoying a wine, it is in fact the case that his preferences are no more important than mine. For me, the primary utility of his ratings are that they help narrow down the choices among wines I have never tried (cheap wines, since that is all that I buy). But I do know by now that I am much more likely to enjoy the dry wines that he has recommended and to stay away from those where the word "fruit" is emphasized in his description. He rated the 2000(?) Vitiano higher than the following year's; I liked the latter better personally, but I "agreed" that both were quite good for the money.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.