Lowe's closing 50 stores !

[Budweiser John]

In my trading area we have Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Menards. Menards being the last big box store to compete in the area.
For my buck Menards is the store if choice as their inventory depth and selection is superior. Home Depot runs a close second and Lowe’s a distant third. Granted it may be local astute management, but asking a Menards sales associate where to find a product or fitting will result in that associate walking you to it’s exact location in the store.
Some time ago I was in Lowe’s and witnessed a conversation between a sales associate? and a DIY guy about the difference between IC (insulation contact) recessed fixtures and common recessed fixtures. The sales guy told the customer “no neeed to pay the higher price for the IC cans as the’re interchangeable”.
WHOW, I simply had to jump in and set the record straight. That dude could have burned his house down.

B. John

 

[2manyrocks]

About 15 years ago a Sears store near here had over 60 electric drills on display. Store closed a month or two ago.

Bruce

In the back of my mind, I was thinking that Lowes seems to be following the recent Sears model on tools: carrying lots of overlapping tools at high prices resulting in shoppers going elsewhere for more competitive deals.

The whole reason for shopping at Sears back in the day was getting a good deal on a quality tool. I don't mean their prices were cheap. There was a time when their prices were competitive, and the tools were good quality at reasonable prices.

 

[tjkubota93]

In the back of my mind, I was thinking that Lowes seems to be following the recent Sears model on tools: carrying lots of overlapping tools at high prices resulting in shoppers going elsewhere for more competitive deals.

The whole reason for shopping at Sears back in the day was getting a good deal on a quality tool. I don't mean their prices were cheap. There was a time when their prices were competitive, and the tools were good quality at reasonable prices.

Sounds logical to me.

So, craftsman is the new albatross to wear around your neck?

 

[Ford850]

In my trading area we have Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Menards. Menards being the last big box store to compete in the area.
For my buck Menards is the store if choice as their inventory depth and selection is superior. Home Depot runs a close second and Lowe’s a distant third. Granted it may be local astute management, but asking a Menards sales associate where to find a product or fitting will result in that associate walking you to it’s exact location in the store.
Some time ago I was in Lowe’s and witnessed a conversation between a sales associate? and a DIY guy about the difference between IC (insulation contact) recessed fixtures and common recessed fixtures. The sales guy told the customer “no neeed to pay the higher price for the IC cans as the’re interchangeable”.
WHOW, I simply had to jump in and set the record straight. That dude could have burned his house down.

B. John

Your first couple paragraphs are similar to an earlier post of mine. Menards is our first choice most times.

 

[looch]

Sounds logical to me.

So, craftsman is the new albatross to wear around your neck?

Rona (owned by Lowes up here) now has signs outside of their stores declaring with pride that they are now the sole retailer of Craftsman Tools. Yeah - anyone who cares knows that Craftsman jumped the shark at least 10 years ago. Good luck with that.

 

[looch]

In my trading area we have Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Menards. Menards being the last big box store to compete in the area.
For my buck Menards is the store if choice as their inventory depth and selection is superior. Home Depot runs a close second and Lowe’s a distant third. Granted it may be local astute management, but asking a Menards sales associate where to find a product or fitting will result in that associate walking you to it’s exact location in the store.
Some time ago I was in Lowe’s and witnessed a conversation between a sales associate? and a DIY guy about the difference between IC (insulation contact) recessed fixtures and common recessed fixtures. The sales guy told the customer “no neeed to pay the higher price for the IC cans as the’re interchangeable”.
WHOW, I simply had to jump in and set the record straight. That dude could have burned his house down.

B. John

I overheard a client being advised that if they used 12 gauge wire on a 15A circuit that their house would burn down. "14/2 is the correct wire/gauge for a 15A circuit, sir." Yeah, that's the standard - but going thicker certainly won't cause a problem.

 

[dgl24087]

Several years ago Lowe's closed a few stores in my area. A few years later new stores were being built just a few miles from the closed stores.

 

[goeduck]

I overheard a client being advised that if they used 12 gauge wire on a 15A circuit that their house would burn down. "14/2 is the correct wire/gauge for a 15A circuit, sir." Yeah, that's the standard - but going thicker certainly won't cause a problem.

They must have thought 12 gauge was smaller than 14 since the number is lower. :banghead:

I wonder what other pearls of wisdom that employee offered up to other people.

 

[HillStreet]

Rona (owned by Lowes up here) now has signs outside of their stores declaring with pride that they are now the sole retailer of Craftsman Tools. Yeah - anyone who cares knows that Craftsman jumped the shark at least 10 years ago. Good luck with that.

I don’t even look at Craftsman tools anymore, watered down junk.

 

[HillStreet]

I went into Lowes earlier this week to but 1 x 4 PVC boards to use for trim. The store worker asked me if he could help and I said where are the PVC boards, and he brought me to the aisle where they are located. He kept searching the labels and I finally asked him what he was looking at. He told me these boards were 3/4 x 3-1/2, not 1 x 4 and would that be alright. I was astounded that this 30 something guy did not know nominal dimensions. Then when I checked out I asked for shrink wrap to wrap the 19 boards together. They had tumbled in the cart and a different kid came over to wrap them just as they tumbled, no stacking, and the shrink wrap wasn’t even tight. I had to rewrap when I loaded them. Both asked me if there was anything else they could help me with. It was all I could do to tell them their help was not very good. This is sad, very poor service.