on 3/17/2005 3:30 PM SawDust (Pat) said the following:
1) Big sign at one of our local HD's "Franchise Opportunities".

I may have missed it but everything that I did find indicated all stores
are company owned and on the Canadian site it specifically stated that
there were no franchise opportunities. You in Canada or close enough to
be checking both sides of the border?

2) Big Difference between employee benefits depending on whether your
looking at the US website or the Canadian Website. US website has
decent benefits for part-time staff. I was quite impressed. The
Canadian website benefits are no different than what they are required
to give an employee by law in the province in which I live, and their
a fraction of what is offered on the US site. Although they do
offer some minor benefits, which I'm sure are at the full cost of the
employee.

Well, the benefits do look pretty good but then you have to wonder if
they have a "cafeteria" plan, what % is covered by HD, etc.

3) Just as easy to talk to a human and get everything explained and
the OP might walk out with a job too.

As it turns out the OP already had everything we've kicked around but
wanted specifics, apparently down to the dollar amounts. He's only
going to get that information (with any accuracy) by naming the locale
of the store and hooking up with a current employee who's savvy on the
local offerings or, as you and I both suggested, walk in the door, fill
out an application or at least express interest in working there.

Now that we know what he knows and what he wants to know, his original
question is not unlike asking, "What kind of hammer should I buy?" g