Duane Bozarth wrote:

Nova wrote:

Although Lowes has recently opened in my area Home Depot has been around for many
years. For their intended purpose I have no complaints with their methods of
operation.

You're in a large enough population area to be moderately well-insulated
against the effect. Fortunate for you--you will probably continue to
have (at least slightly reduced) choice for the forseeable future.
Others is smaller markets such as here know full well the actual
consequences....

I agree. The Buffalo area has always been a competitive market. The "mom and pop"
hardware stores continue to survive because they have build their business by offering
specialized service filling a particular niche. While there have a few local hardware
stores close since Home Depot came to town they have closed due to a change in
demographics rather than the competition. About the only businesses affected by Home
Depot I can think of have been other "mega" stores (Builder's Square and Chase Pitkins
come to mind). With the opening of Lowes, from what I've seen so far, unless they get
their prices in line with the other stores in the area they are going to have
problems. Most people I know are not willing to play their price matching game.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
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