HeyBub wrote:

Other reports (WSJ - behind a paywall) attribute the Home Depot
failure to labor being so cheap in China that home and apartment
dwellers find it cheaper to hire work done rather than do it
themselves.

So when these affluent Chinese home and appartment dwellers hire someone
to perform some work, install some new fixture, etc - where do the
hired contractors buy the materials / fixtures / tools ???

Large contractors have traditionally had enough contacts on the
wholesale side that they didn't need to buy stuff at retail outlets, but
Home Despot (and other similar big-box building stores) have enabled
more people to get into the contracting business on a smaller scale. I
would have thought the same would apply in China too.