On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:36:58 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

They put their stores up on every corner, they drive out the majority
of the neighborhood stores, and then set their prices wherever they
want. There are fewer and fewer of us who will drive the extra mile
and spend the extra time to find the few places that are left that
sell quality at reasonable prices. That allows the kings of the borgs
to charge their lazy subjects higher prices for the same (or usually
lower) quality.

All that said, I'm not naive enough to think that my buying my windows
from a contractor supply house or dedicated window store is going to
have any impact on the borgs. It would take millions of people like
you and me to put a dent in their profits and that's just not going to
happen. They are just too convenient for the average consumer to pass
up.

You're probably right in your second paragraph, but I am doing my part
to encourage everyone around me to patronize local businesses.
Recently a colleague was talking to me about replacing his kitchen
floor and mentioned he'd gone to HD. I told him not to waste his time
or money with HD and to go to a local flooring place I'd used. He
eventually did just that and was very happy with the price and
installation and told me that the guy who laid the floor said he
thought he'd laid the original floor in the house, 20+ years earlier.
I've already told my story of buying my Weber Genesis Silver B grill
from a local merchant for the same price as HD was charging, but ALSO
getting a partially full tank of propane and a jar of BBQ sauce. Now
that's customer relations.

Plus, I don't have any objection to the local hardware stores charging
18% restocking fee as this drastically cuts down the likelihood that I
myself will walk out with a defective product or an item that's
missing parts, as often happens with HD. In fact, I have such a good
relationship wth my neighborhood hardware store that I can exchange
items without this fee, again good customer relations.