Why do we keep driving to far away stores that are understocked, understaffed and don't care?

[Diggin It]

I have a couple of locally owned hardware stores (OK, ACE franchises) that are generally well stocked and often at or below the Big Box store prices. I try to use them when I can.

Same with farm stores and grocery stores.

My Big Box stores have weird stock discrepancies. They may have some 1 1/2 pipe and a few fittings, but they might have Ts but no Ls or caps, but no plugs. Or they might only have flanges in 1". It's worse in electrical, but I can't think of an example right off.

I refuse to do O'Reileys.


We already had AutoZone, Advance and NAPA within a mile or so of each other in a few areas. The O guys came in and planted their flags within site of at least one of the others in three different parts of town. I hate leaches.

 

[sixdogs]

I will say I try to buy what I can in town and don't mind paying up to support the community. But they earn it. Once, I needed a bag of seed to finish and it was near July 4th and everyone was closing up. I called to see if they had it and they did. The guy insisted he take the long--25 mile-- way home and drop it off where I was. I told him not to bother and we left it like that but when I got to the field, there was that bag of seed. Guess where I buy all my seed now?

Another was around $800 worth of tractor parts I had on order that showed up early. I really needed them and on Saturday at noon just before a long weekend that would have frosted my cookies, there they were in the yard. 35 miles between us.

 

[Alan W.]

Yeah my favorite line when you call a store to see if something is in stock is. We can order it. To which I reply I can do that but I wanted it today.
I weigh the urgency of my needs and price before making my purchase decision local or online.

 

[MossRoad]

In my experience they’re sky high. Tractor supply and Rural King for regular stuff and Fastenal as a last ditch effort. Rural King has by far a better selection than tractor supply or Lowes at least the local stores here.

My guess is if I want to Rural King for a dozen half inch by 3.5" stainless steel bolts and nuts, if they had any at all, they'd have less than a dozen.

 

[Jchonline]

I recently spent 40 minutes driving to a big box store to get some auto parts, filters, household goods and supplies. I came back with only a headache. The big name store is in a smallish town so the auto parts were marked up higher than what I expected, but hey, I was already there.

It was hard to find the electric razor head I needed and I could not find a single employee to help. I read the package for a while and then a young employee came by and answered "if we have it, it's on the shelf" to each question. Heck, I could work there. When I asked where shop vac filters were, he told me construction and lumber. I knew that was wrong so had him look it up and it was somewhere entirely different. What a confusing mess and it happens more often than not.

So I went home, looked everything up on line and clicked away. My stuff will get here Wednesday, a (probably) nice guy will bring it to the door and I could have saved the wear and tear and gas money on something meaningful like intellectual consciousness .


Seriously, why even bother going to brick and mortar stores when we are more knowledgeable than them, when staying home is easier and no driving is required? Are they trying to self destruct?

I always call first as long as that takes….its annoying. Even those that have “real” time stock online are often wrong when you actually get to the store.

Most of my ordering these days is online. I would love to go in a store, but as you say its just not worth it.

 

[MossRoad]

Don't you have to buy mass quantities?

Not that I recall. Even if I need 6 bolts and have to buy a box of 10, it's cheaper than driving a bunch of miles and hitting 2-3 different stores hoping they'll have enough.

Call Fastenal, tell them what you need, ask them how much they cost and how many you have to buy. They'll have it in a bag waiting for you at the counter.

 

[jyoutz]

I'm gladly paying the folks near by a small markup because they have it, they're going to put those dollars right back into my community, and I don't have to support Amazon. I do buy stuff online but I'm trying to reduce that even further. Big name stores are all similar to what you described, it's pointless to go in there and risk your life for nothing

True, but the biggest problem with small local businesses is that they haven’t updated their business hours to fit the current times. Most of them are closed when I drive to work and closed when I’m driving home. So I shop at Walmart and other big box stores in the evenings because they are the only businesses that are open.

 

[jyoutz]

I spent 3 hours and $20 worth of gas a while back trying to find a couple of 1/2x3-1/2 Stainless Steel bolts in decent quality. By decent I was willing to settle for 18-8 grade. The only stores in town that had ANY stainless in that size was Ace Hardware. I asked what grade they sold and they said they didn't know so I drove to the store and went to the bin with a magnet. Sure enough every SS bolt in the bin was magnetic. Not what I'm going to stick in the transom of a boat that will see salt water.

My want had nothing to do with cost. I simply wanted a good quality part. The size was even a compromise since I really wanted a 3-1/4" length. I tried calling a few places and got no help. One girl at a auto parts store told me to come look in the bin for myself. Two places said they had what I wanted and when I got there neither did. I was able to check stock for a few places that would have been open on Monday and neither had it in stock according to their web sites.

I ended up coming home and ordering 316 grade in the exact size I wanted from McMaster Carr. Their packaging for matching nuts and washers were 10 per pack so I went ahead and got 10 bolts just in case I needed them in the future. I spent $48 for my task that needed 2 bolts, 4 washers, and 2 lock nuts. Had it in 3 days instead of their usual next day.

The only local stores I have found that have great hardware selections are the old school Ace and True Value hardware stores. They still have awesome selection for nuts, bolts and screws.

 

[jyoutz]

Can you get a discount on Filson from an on-line retailer? Years ago I could get 35% off from a shop where I used to live but that's gone away with an influx of better heeled tourists.

I have a 40% discount on Filson’s entire catalog. I’m a forester and they have a special program for professional outdoor people. I know that fishermen, loggers, and probably lots of other job categories qualify. Once you apply for the program and get accepted, they give you a special online login username and password; then everything in their inventory can be purchased with the 40% discount.

 

[the old grind]

1) Lowest prices
2) Lowest shipping/tax/mileage cost
3) Always in stock in quantity
4) 24/7/365 service

That isn't too much to ask, is it? (There's no excuse for 'bad management'.)