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

[jyoutz]

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.

Leeches? I thought that is how capitalism works. Competition is good for the consumer.

 

[TractorGuy]

Do you have a Fastenal branch near you? Pretty handy store for nuts and bolts.

Yep. I must always have special needs because they never have what I want. They are also 25 miles away and only open M thru F.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

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.

Wait for the sales. I know Filson and Carhart offer deep discounts seasonally. I just bought some high quality T shirts from Carhart for 20 bucks a piece.

 

[MossRoad]

Yep. I must always have special needs because they never have what I want. They are also 25 miles away and only open M thru F.

Bummer.

 

[Oaktree]

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.

I was thinking the same thing, not exactly a high demand item, not surprised no one had them in stock.

 

[Oaktree]

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.

Agreed. I get that they can't carry the inventory of a box store, but I don't have much sympathy for those who complain that the box store ran them out of business when they're not open hours that are convenient for customers. Yes, that means evenings, weekends and holidays.

 

[Rebeldad1]

Amazon for us is first choice. Opens a window to pretty much anything we need. Its a 170 mile round trip to a city of any size.
Have tried calling and ordering over the phone, They are always happy to take our order. Last time we did this the shipping for 3 oil filters was about $25.00.
Amazon looks better every day. Our UPS drivers are great and will do anything they can to deliver our order.

If you live near big cities you dont see the problem of just using a local store.

 

[hayden]

Grainger still provides excellent service and prices with accounts not bad and in some cases cannot be beat with national account...

I must have the wrong kind of account. In my experience they are about the most expensive place you can buy anything.

 

[Torvy]

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.

To be fair, this is often city zoning. You see these types of businesses clumped together because that is where the city management want them.

 

[4570Man]

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.

There’s 3 ace hardware stores where I live. 2 of them are pretty limited in selection and always high. You shop there to save driving somewhere else not because of superior service. The 3rd one is pretty well stocked but still probably 1/4 the selection lowes has. They have pretty cheap pex fittings and rebar but that’s about the only time they beat lowes. The other downside, they close at 5:00. There’s 4 non chain plumbing/electric supply houses here. Their help is even more incompetent than lowes, they’re virtually always higher than lowes and they close between 3-5 pm. There is a non chain plumbing store here that has by far the best plumbing selection in the county.

 

[ultrarunner]

I must have the wrong kind of account. In my experience they are about the most expensive place you can buy anything.

I kid you not... it was more expensive to throw away 4' GE bulbs than to buy them delivered from Grainger...

My brother was shopping the internet for dimmable compact fluorescents prior to LED for family room canned lights... I had 4 delivered to his house for the price he paid for one...

The Hubbel hospital grade outlets better than anyone at the time and when I needed medical grade vacuum pumps Grainger offered identical but 40% less than the medical suppliers...

On the other hand let's just say I have not bought any power tools from Grainger.

When you think about it... the company must be doing something right to remain an industry leader all these years but it is through contract pricing.

 

[ultrarunner]

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.

Yep... the ACE that closed had an entire room just nuts and bolts and nails...

Another was for glass and screens...

They also had a retired locksmith in the lock department.

You can tell I still miss the convince and my truck was never broken in... wish I could say the same for Home Depot and OSH...

 

[ddbackhoe]

Big box stores (and tractor dealers) could be built closer to customers, but they're not. Small stores could lower their prices and increase their stock to compete with them, but they won't. Frankly I miss home dairy delivery, the ice man, and the coal delivery truck. What do you think is going on these days? It's 'bad management'. Do they want our biz or not?

The big box stores have redefined retail management. Most of them defer any issues to the store management and the store management blames corporate. In-store is not responsible for most things because they blame the “vendor” .
Rather pitiful that the customer is the problem in their view. Self -service registers are not a plus either. Almost forgot; a shrug of the shoulders and a strong “sorry bout that” resolves all issues.

 

[ddbackhoe]

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.

Yep. I must always have special needs because they never have what I want. They are also 25 miles away and only open M thru F.

We have the same at our local branch. I quit trying and just order from other places like mcmaster

 

[Hay Dude]

I kid you not... it was more expensive to throw away 4' GE bulbs than to buy them delivered from Grainger...

My brother was shopping the internet for dimmable compact fluorescents prior to LED for family room canned lights... I had 4 delivered to his house for the price he paid for one...

The Hubbel hospital grade outlets better than anyone at the time and when I needed medical grade vacuum pumps Grainger offered identical but 40% less than the medical suppliers...

On the other hand let's just say I have not bought any power tools from Grainger.

When you think about it... the company must be doing something right to remain an industry leader all these years but it is through contract pricing.

I have a Grainger outlet nearby and have bought a few very overpriced items from them. One of the counter sales guys told me their bread and butter is state/local/city accounts where nobody cares how much they overpay for their stuff.

 

[sixdogs]

The big box stores have redefined retail management. Most of them defer any issues to the store management and the store management blames corporate. In-store is not responsible for most things because they blame the “vendor” .
Rather pitiful that the customer is the problem in their view. Self -service registers are not a plus either. Almost forgot; a shrug of the shoulders and a strong “sorry bout that” resolves all issues.

Not only this but the modern corporate big box store is trying to do absolutely everything possible to get 100% of the money you spend as gross profit. If they can buy something for 1/4 cent and sell it for $1.00, it's likely high fives in the marketing department.

 

[MossRoad]

I'm gonna have to jump on the Grainger is Expensive band wagon as well. We only use them as a last resort now. However, they do have good service and we've never had a problem with them other than pricing.

 

[MossRoad]

We used to have both Ace and True Value hardware stores here in town. The local Ace family has slowly bought up all the Ace hardware stores in the area, then bought up all the True Value stores and converted them to Ace and branded them with their family name in front of Ace.

I liked both stores. Fortunately, they've seemed to keep the same employees, and they all are very well stocked, have knowledgeable people in the stores (at least one old guy in every store) and are just all around pleasant places to do business. They are just a bit higher priced than the big chains, but worth it in my opinion.

 

[TheMan419]

I recently needed a part for my mom's mower and the local dealers wanted 4 times what it was online and they didn't even have it in stock. The locals didn't get my business.

I have found if I show the amazon price they will often price match. Especially when it is that large of a difference. Of course that does not help the not having it in stock issue.

 

[TheMan419]

We used to have both Ace and True Value hardware stores here in town. The local Ace family has slowly bought up all the Ace hardware stores in the area, then bought up all the True Value stores and converted them to Ace and branded them with their family name in front of Ace.

I liked both stores. Fortunately, they've seemed to keep the same employees, and they all are very well stocked, have knowledgeable people in the stores (at least one old guy in every store) and are just all around pleasant places to do business. They are just a bit higher priced than the big chains, but worth it in my opinion.

The one on the South Side closed. I keep hearing they are moving to a new location, but no idea on an opening date or actual location. Any rumors?