on 7/21/2008 6:04 PM George said the following:
willshak wrote:
on 7/21/2008 3:17 PM Boden said the following:
George wrote:
wrote:

Over the weekend, the wife and I put on Cabot 1407 opaque oil-based
stain on the floor of the deck. At the recommendation of the person
who recommended the stuff to her at Lowe's, she now wants to put on
Thompson's watersealer. Is this necessary? Cabot claims to be
waterproof.


Sorry to hear Cabots is now available in big box stores. I have
previously had good results with Cabot products. I wonder how much
the quality has gone down?

Thompsoms watersealer is testimony that if you market something
intensively even if it is the most useless concoction made people
will believe it works. Their "watersealer" is a complete waste of
time.
Thompson's is little more than paraffin. I used it once almost 20
years ago and still regret it.

Cabot used to be a good product. I hope it still is.

My worry is that the big box stores seem to be able to convince
manufacturers to cheapen a product yet still retain the branding of
their formerly good product.

The big box stores get their profit from volume retail selling, which
also benefits the manufacturers for their volume wholesale selling,
and therefore, are willing to lower their wholesale prices to those
big box stores.

If it were only that simple. Quite often when the big box stores get
to be the major seller of something they name the price they will pay
for a product. Then the manufacturer has only two choices (three
actually), Become benevolent, stop selling or cheapen the product to
meet the big box price offer.

You meant stop selling to the big box stores, right?
The big box stores can contract the manufacturer to have them make a
cheaper version of the product, but I doubt that the manufacturer will
want their name on a cheaper product. Ergo, Store brands.


I've bought the same color Cabots from a small hardware/paint store
and also from the big box stores (Lowes). They are no different in
quality that I noticed.
BTW, the small stores, with their small storage areas, usually only
carry the Cabots base, and they have to tint it with the final color.
The big box stores carry the color stain already mixed.



--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
in the original Orange County
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