In article oAjJg.1045$Xw6.788@trndny02, says...

"Keith Williams" wrote in message
Which store? The ACE (I think it was) in EJ never did have
anything to sell. They had no stock *years* before HomeDespot knew
VT existed. Several others were the same. Good riddance!

No, some stores have no idea how to compete. They don't *DESERVE*
my patronage (come on Lowes!).

Ace and True Value stores have access to more stuff than you can imagine.
If they choose not to stock it, shame on them. The put themselves out of
business.

Exactly. There were a few really good HW stores in the
Poughkeepsie NY area when I lived there. HD came in in the mid
'90s. The good HW stores are still there and thriving. They had
exceptional inventory and service. Since they did a lot of
contractor volume their pricing wasn't all that bad either.

OTOH, the marginal stores had crap selection, no service to speak
of, and did such measly volume their prices were outta sight. In
short, they had nothing *to* sell. I don't owe a store my business
just because the owner may be a local.

--
Keith