Lowes/Home Depot vs. small local stores - recent experience

[aczlan]

I find the difference between family owned and family run. Family run means the most useless, lazy kid is behind the counter, and he knows he can't get fired

And he is there because he wouldn't stop tearing up forklifts/trucks out back, so they sent him inside where he cant do as much physical damage.

Aaron Z

 

[Martian]

My favorite place to shop is my local Ace, which I'm lucky in the fact that they carry building materials, lumber and even rent out equipment. One of the best Ace's I've ever been in. The people are overly helpful, there's often more staff in the store than customers and you'll have 3-4 guys trying to help you out with something. Really friendly people too. Sometimes I know what I want and don't want to be 'bothered' but if you so much as look in the general direction of the staff they are right on top of you. MUCH different than my local Home Depot. Though the store is probably 3-4 times the size they have about the same number of staff and not very willing to help. Needless to say, I do most my business with Ace.

 

[Ed of all trades]

My local yard is wonderfull. Great people, and they always beat the big store prices. I go to lowes for the little things, easy, but I buy at my local store. Ask the local contractors where they shop, and follow them.

 

[s219]

Our local Lowes used to be darn near useless in terms of customer service. Then Home Depot built a store less than 1/2 mile away. That caused a huge turnaround in attitude at Lowes. I think it's all about competition, and whether or not they need to care. Both stores have pretty good service now.

When I was a teenager, I worked for my dad's construction business, and one of my jobs as the "gopher" (go for this, go for that) was to get materials from the local yards. One place in particular was family run. The old man at that business was mean as heck, and would great all customers with a scowl as if they were causing him a problem. Talk about intimidating! The sons were nicer, but not super outgoing. We probably gave them over $50-60K in business per year, and this was back in the 80s. My dad said they were the only lumber yard in the area, and they didn't have to be nice. He did get into it with the old man one time, when they sold us a cube of lumber that was almost all punky, and wouldn't take it back. Boy, talk about a battle! From then on, we ordered cubes straight from Georgia Pacific, and only went down to that yard for small purchases.

 

[300UGUY]

There are no lumber yards in my county. The big box stores ran them out years ago. Even the contractor yards are gone. Prices were the big issue, but hours and service were problems also. A lot of the old family businesses were closed on Sunday, and half of Sat. Competing against that is hard for a small operation.

 

[aczlan]

A lot of the old family businesses were closed on Sunday, and half of Sat. Competing against that is hard for a small operation.

I agree. I do most of my purchases after 5 and on weekends, only being open till noon means that I will be headed to Lowes when I need something.

Aaron Z

 

[dmccarty]

When we built our house we worked out a deal with HD for 10% off what we bought for the house. We had to create a list that they approved but it worked for them and us.

There was not a Lowes nearby at the time and the HD was near our city house which worked out well. A few years after we built our house a Lowes opened up nearby. The people in Lowes are pretty good. I can't think of any problems. We did have a problem with the Lowes in town when building the house. HD did not always have what we wanted and a Lowes had opened so we would shop there for what HD did not have. We ordered our interior doors with Lowes and when they were moving them with a fork lived the damaged one of the doors. When the doors were delivered to the house, the damaged door was stacked on the bottom, so we might miss the damage. I did not miss the damage. Lowes did replace the door without a problem but I was a bit miffed they tried to hide it. Thing is, the finish carpenters hung the door and pretty much were able to cover the damage. Lowes did not want the door so it is in storage in the barn and we will reuse that door someday.

I really don't care if the business is local or not. Local is good but the price has to be right as does the service. There is one dealer in town that I try not to visit because of his hours of operation and attitude. Some times I have not choice but since my JD dealer sells the same product line I would rather buy from the JD dealer. Nicer people. Service is a big deal to me which mainly means being polite. If they are not polite I will take my money elsewhere.

We just did a short trip further south and on the way back we stopped at a museum we like. This was our second visit and I recognized the person collecting the money from our first trip. We were one of the first visitors of the day and I had a $100 bill in my hand. I was not sure I was going to giver her that bill for the entrance or not since I was rummaging around to see how much cash I had. I was most likely going to charge the fee but I was still pondering the cash balance in the wallet. I was about to comment to the woman that I remembered her from our first visit when she barked at me telling me that she did not have change for a $100. Her tone of voice and attitude pushed my buttons. Last visit she was very friendly and helpful but her attitude ticked me off. I came very close to telling her that her attitude was not appreciated but I left it alone since she was nice during the first visit. We are likely to visit the museum a couple more times so it will be interesting to see if she is still there next trip and I will checking her attitude.

Later,
Dan

 

[jack43]

I have found a quick way to get fast service at lowes or home depot.Find one of the ladders that they uses for stocking,clime up a few steps and in a very short time two or three sales people will be there asking,Sir Sir can i please help you? Jack

 

[cdaigle430]

I'm pretty happy with Lowes and Home Depot-they have been great for me, cheaper too. Able to answer most questions and willing to go above and beyond. I could care less if all the smaller shops close if they dont compete better with knowledge and prices.

 

[sailorman]

At my HD the personnel are right on the spot to offer help, but not knowledgeable . I ask my question . 9 times out of 10 their reply is, " I 'm not sure let get someone that knows " . They disappear to a different aisle never to be seen again and no other person shows up to help .

My Lowes has terrible quality lumber if they have what I want at all . And their employees are just like the HD . Funny they are within blocks of each other, but seem to have decided not to compete with each other .

All my local lumber houses are way over priced and it takes along time to get a turn to order at the counter . If you are not a regular customer or a big contractor they can 't be too bothered . The mom and pop place with good prices and service were driven out of business years ago .