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#1
Posted to misc.rural,alt.home.repair
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron
water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. -- For email, replace firstnamelastinitial with my first name and last initial. |
#2
Posted to misc.rural,alt.home.repair
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
Larry Caldwell wrote:
I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. Lowes and the other big-boxes only continue to carry what actually moves. Stock carried varies by store, and they are very good at tracking and predicting. They take their best guess when the open a store, but 12-24 months later, if something has sold only a few, or not it all, they won't have it anymore. 80-20 rule. You mainly worry about the 20% of the line that brings in 80% of your money, and fill in around the edges with the rest. Most of us on this group have run into the same problem. Stuff we used to be able to find anywhere is now an annoying PITA to track down, and in many smaller towns, there is no longer a full-line purveyor to the trade. Builders have to send a truck to the nearest big city when they build a custom house. Lowes answer? 'Oh, we can order that for you'. Yeah, right. You can build a house from Lowes, but it'll be the most white-bread-with-mayonnaise cookie cutter you can imagine, because that is what the bean counters have determined we actually buy. -- aem sends... |
#3
Posted to misc.rural,alt.home.repair
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
Larry Caldwell wrote:
I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. When Lowe's bought out our local chain, Eagle, it was the same deal. The first 5 things I needed I finally found in the "closeout" area. They stock way less than Eagle did. But they are still often better than HD. |
#4
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:06:48 -0400, aemeijers
wrote: Larry Caldwell wrote: I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. Lowes and the other big-boxes only continue to carry what actually moves. Stock carried varies by store, and they are very good at tracking and predicting. They take their best guess when the open a store, but 12-24 months later, if something has sold only a few, or not it all, they won't have it anymore. 80-20 rule. You mainly worry about the 20% of the line that brings in 80% of your money, and fill in around the edges with the rest. Most of us on this group have run into the same problem. Stuff we used to be able to find anywhere is now an annoying PITA to track down, and in many smaller towns, there is no longer a full-line purveyor to the trade. Builders have to send a truck to the nearest big city when they build a custom house. Lowes answer? 'Oh, we can order that for you'. Yeah, right. You can build a house from Lowes, but it'll be the most white-bread-with-mayonnaise cookie cutter you can imagine, because that is what the bean counters have determined we actually buy. In my area, the Lowes stores lean more towards "home decorating" items and HD leans more towards general building supplies. You can get a front door, or a ceiling fan at HD, but Lowes will have a bigger selection of nicer ones. |
#6
Posted to misc.rural,alt.home.repair
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
"Larry Caldwell" wrote in message .. . I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. -- For email, replace firstnamelastinitial with my first name and last initial. Ahhh , must be time for a Big Box Bash-a-Thon....Been a few weeks so I guess it's time...The Big Box Haters need an "atta boy" now and then from other haters to keep that "warm and fuzzy feeling" going...It most usually happens after passing a full Home Depot , Lowes or Walmart parking lot and they get that "left out feeling" or feel they are missing something...An "atta boy" from others that refuse to shop at the big boxes and a few BS horror stories (like the one above) about past experiences and the left out feeling dissipates , for a while.... Therapy for BBDS ..(Big Box Derangement Syndrome) |
#7
Posted to misc.rural,alt.home.repair
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
Larry Caldwell wrote:
I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. Big Box stores don't come into an area to save you/us money. After they take the business/ put the local competition out, of business they raise prices and cut inventory to the fast movers or items that offer the larger margins of profit. This is one reason that American made is being made ancient history. Small harware building supply stores often tried rigorously to carry American made. people bought it even if it was a little more. The quality was there, generally. Big Box carries only what it's buyers buy in China etc in volume. Of course lumber and other things are exceptions. There is no concern with what we want. We are forced to buy what they offer because they are the only game in town. |
#8
Posted to misc.rural,alt.home.repair
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
On Sep 12, 7:48*pm, "benick" wrote:
"Larry Caldwell" wrote in message .. . I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. *None of the other items were in stock. *What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. *The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. -- For email, replace firstnamelastinitial with my first name and last initial. Ahhh , must be time for a Big Box Bash-a-Thon....Been a few weeks so I guess it's time...The Big Box Haters need an "atta boy" now and then from other haters to keep that "warm and fuzzy feeling" going...It most usually happens after passing a full Home Depot , Lowes or Walmart parking lot and they get that "left out feeling" or feel they are missing something...An "atta boy" from others that refuse to shop at the big boxes and a few BS horror stories (like the one above) *about past experiences and the left out feeling dissipates , for a while.... Therapy for BBDS ..(Big Box Derangement Syndrome) I see nothing wrong by reporting their experiences and most has some positive items as well. With competition prices are generally fair. A lot of people are pretty smart about shopping around for the best prices and availability. I ask lots of questions like, "Do you see many returns for service issues for Brand X cordless bacon cooker?" Customer service is right up there with price in my priorities. One large retailer showed poor service one too many times for me and they lost me for life. When I was a manager at a large clothing retailer, managers learned some good material on how to treat customers. If a customer has a good experience, he may tell 2 or 3 others about the good experience. If he/she has a bad experience, they will on average tell 10 others about it. Almost forgot. Do you work for a big box store? :-) Take care, Andy |
#9
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:08:13 -0700, Larry Caldwell
wrote: I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. Some stores are larger than others, depending on location and demand. And then stores have various marketing strategies. Right now I need gardening supplies and equipment and the large stores have moved all of that out and put in Christmas decorations. I had to do some Internet shopping, and the local stores can't understand why they are not doing so well. |
#11
Posted to misc.rural,alt.home.repair
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
In article , nada (nada
) says... Big Box stores don't come into an area to save you/us money. After they take the business/ put the local competition out, of business they raise prices and cut inventory to the fast movers or items that offer the larger margins of profit. This is one reason that American made is being made ancient history. Small harware building supply stores often tried rigorously to carry American made. people bought it even if it was a little more. The quality was there, generally. Big Box carries only what it's buyers buy in China etc in volume. Of course lumber and other things are exceptions. There is no concern with what we want. We are forced to buy what they offer because they are the only game in town. The big box stores didn't put the lumber yards out of business, but the lumber yards around here close on weekends and at 5:30 PM. One yard used to be the Saturday morning meeting place for hundreds of men in the county, but too many weekend tinkerers go to the big box stores, so that business is gone. I don't know anyone who buys lumber from the big box stores. They carry some specialty items, like 3/16 planed box stock, that is hard to find anywhere else, but for studs, rafters, TJ-Is and trusses, a lumber yard is the place to go, if you can't go directly to the truss manufacturer. -- For email, replace firstnamelastinitial with my first name and last initial. |
#12
Posted to misc.rural,alt.home.repair
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
On Sep 12, 9:58*pm, Larry Caldwell
wrote: In article , nada (nada ) says... Big Box stores don't come into an area to save you/us money. After they take the business/ put the local competition out, of business they raise prices and cut inventory to the fast movers or items that offer the larger margins of profit. This is one reason that American made is being made ancient history. Small harware building supply stores often tried rigorously to carry American made. people bought it even if it was a little more. The quality was there, generally. Big Box carries only what it's buyers buy in China etc in volume. Of course lumber and other things are exceptions. There is no concern with what we want. We are forced to buy what they offer because they are the only game in town. The big box stores didn't put the lumber yards out of business, but the lumber yards around here close on weekends and at 5:30 PM. *One yard used to be the Saturday morning meeting place for hundreds of men in the county, but too many weekend tinkerers go to the big box stores, so that business is gone. * I don't know anyone who buys lumber from the big box stores. *They carry some specialty items, like 3/16 planed box stock, that is hard to find anywhere else, but for studs, rafters, TJ-Is and trusses, a lumber yard is the place to go, if you can't go directly to the truss manufacturer. * -- For email, replace firstnamelastinitial with my first name and last initial. Big Box never put a small store out of business , unfair stock buying did . Suppliers give price a, to the little guy cause he can only carry 10 saws at once. Price b go's to the big box cause he buys 40 saws , it has made it impossible for the small guy to compete . This is the suppliers fault not the big box also China's fault as this is how they sell . |
#13
Posted to misc.rural,alt.home.repair
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
"Mint" wrote in message ... On Sep 12, 7:48 pm, "benick" wrote: "Larry Caldwell" wrote in message .. . I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. -- For email, replace firstnamelastinitial with my first name and last initial. Ahhh , must be time for a Big Box Bash-a-Thon....Been a few weeks so I guess it's time...The Big Box Haters need an "atta boy" now and then from other haters to keep that "warm and fuzzy feeling" going...It most usually happens after passing a full Home Depot , Lowes or Walmart parking lot and they get that "left out feeling" or feel they are missing something...An "atta boy" from others that refuse to shop at the big boxes and a few BS horror stories (like the one above) about past experiences and the left out feeling dissipates , for a while.... Therapy for BBDS ..(Big Box Derangement Syndrome) I see nothing wrong by reporting their experiences and most has some positive items as well. With competition prices are generally fair. A lot of people are pretty smart about shopping around for the best prices and availability. I ask lots of questions like, "Do you see many returns for service issues for Brand X cordless bacon cooker?" Customer service is right up there with price in my priorities. One large retailer showed poor service one too many times for me and they lost me for life. When I was a manager at a large clothing retailer, managers learned some good material on how to treat customers. If a customer has a good experience, he may tell 2 or 3 others about the good experience. If he/she has a bad experience, they will on average tell 10 others about it. Almost forgot. Do you work for a big box store? :-) Take care, Andy No , I am a Drywall Contractor....SWMBO is a manager at Walmart though...Good health insurance....Why do you ask ???..I just find BBDS sufferers amusing , especially the remarks about how stupid folks are for shopping at Big Boxes and how smart they are for not shopping there.....LOL...Capitolism is what it is....Lead , follow or get out of the way.... By the way...We have a Homedepot and Lowes and not one single lumber/hardware store of the 6 or so around (not counting all the other plumbing , electical supply houses and garden centers , ect. have gone under... |
#14
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
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#16
Posted to misc.rural,alt.home.repair
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
Larry Caldwell wrote:
I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. When the local Lowes went up earlier this year I stopped by to check it out. On the front door was a large welcome sign in both English and Spanish. This theme was repeated throughout the store. Now I'm pretty sure the last time I checked that this was still America, and that immigrants to this country should understand English if they wish to live here. Apparently not to the executives at Lowes. I walked out of that store within five minutes of walking into it, and I will never set foot in it again. Jon |
#17
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
"Jon Danniken" wrote in message When the local Lowes went up earlier this year I stopped by to check it out. On the front door was a large welcome sign in both English and Spanish. This theme was repeated throughout the store. Now I'm pretty sure the last time I checked that this was still America, and that immigrants to this country should understand English if they wish to live here. Apparently not to the executives at Lowes. Sears Essentials store is like that also. |
#18
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
benick wrote:
Ahhh , must be time for a Big Box Bash-a-Thon....Been a few weeks so I guess it's time...The Big Box Haters need an "atta boy" now and then from other haters to keep that "warm and fuzzy feeling" going...It most usually happens after passing a full Home Depot , Lowes or Walmart parking lot and they get that "left out feeling" or feel they are missing something...An "atta boy" from others that refuse to shop at the big boxes and a few BS horror stories (like the one above) about past experiences and the left out feeling dissipates , for a while.... Therapy for BBDS ..(Big Box Derangement Syndrome) So, someone describes poor service or selection at a particular store and you launch into low-budget long-distance psycho-analysis of people you've never met, not to mention dismissing their accounts as "BS" without bothering to explain why they are unbelievable. Actually you've said more about yourself than about the people you're attempting to sneer at. |
#19
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
"Jon Danniken" wrote in message When the local Lowes went up earlier this year I stopped by to check it out. On the front door was a large welcome sign in both English and Spanish. This theme was repeated throughout the store. Now I'm pretty sure the last time I checked that this was still America, and that immigrants to this country should understand English if they wish to live here. Apparently not to the executives at Lowes. Sears Essentials store is like that also. They wouldn't do it if it didn't make a positive difference in their bottom line. Even up north here, I see a lot of obviously Hispanic-background folks in Lowe's (and other stores). In the southernmost tier of states, if you are strawbossing a construction site, you better speak at least some Spanish, or have an aide that does. (or in the case of the hospitality industry, whoever heads up your housekeeping department.) So if Lowe's standard signage for down there needs to be bilingual, it makes sense for them to just have the default setup for all the stores be that way. Like it or not, a large part of the buying public in this country has Spanish as their primary language. And not all of them are immigrants. Traditionally, maintaining the 'mother tongue' at home fades away by the third generation, but that was when the 'melting pot' was the path most waves of immigrants followed. Not all ethnic groups follow that practice. Remember, in some areas of the country, Spanish was the 'official' language well before English was. Us Anglos are the newcomers. I don't know if Lowes is up in Quebec, but I suspect big-boxes up there have English and French on their signs. I do know that in the Little Whatever enclaves of big cities, stores have the language of the local ethnic community on many of their signs. -- aem sends, not finding the situation all that offensive.... |
#20
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 19:58:37 -0700, Larry Caldwell wrote:
... The big box stores didn't put the lumber yards out of business, but the lumber yards around here close on weekends and at 5:30 PM. One yard used to be the Saturday morning meeting place for hundreds of men in the county, but too many weekend tinkerers go to the big box stores, so that business is gone. I don't know anyone who buys lumber from the big box stores. They carry some specialty items, like 3/16 planed box stock, that is hard to find anywhere else, but for studs, rafters, TJ-Is and trusses, a lumber yard is the place to go, if you can't go directly to the truss manufacturer. Lowes and Home Depot are in the home improvement business. Both of the stores nearest to me have do have a traditional contractor counter, where commercial customers can place an order, But that's not their emphasis. Like Walmart, their target customer is the family. not primarily men or women. The Lowes does have a pretty good common lumber selection. But considering the amount of space it takes, I think it's there more as a convenience than a profit center. There probably would be a local Lowes opening soon were it not for a bogged down permit process. If/when it is built, it will be interesting to see how the local lumber yard does. They have to some extent prepared. When some kids burned down their sales building a couple years ago, they associated with Do-It-Best when they rebuilt. But they still operate in behind-the-counter mode for most building materials. So I will probably go to Lowes for my occasional lumber purchase because I will be able to see/select what I'm buying. Agreed on shrinking in-store selection. I've resorted to ordering online with ship-to-store for several items this summer, with 75% acceptable results. As for the butyl caulk, HD has it in the paint department - DAP Gutter & Flashing; perhaps Lowes also does. |
#21
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
benick wrote:
"Larry Caldwell" wrote in message .. . I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. -- For email, replace firstnamelastinitial with my first name and last initial. Ahhh , must be time for a Big Box Bash-a-Thon....Been a few weeks so I guess it's time...The Big Box Haters need an "atta boy" now and then from other haters to keep that "warm and fuzzy feeling" going...It most usually happens after passing a full Home Depot , Lowes or Walmart parking lot and they get that "left out feeling" or feel they are missing something...An "atta boy" from others that refuse to shop at the big boxes and a few BS horror stories (like the one above) about past experiences and the left out feeling dissipates , for a while.... Therapy for BBDS ..(Big Box Derangement Syndrome) So people should never report their big box experiences because you have succumbed to all of their great marketing and you thing they are your "friend" and no one should ever talk about your "friend"? |
#22
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 19:58:37 -0700, Larry Caldwell
wrote: In article , nada (nada ) says... Big Box stores don't come into an area to save you/us money. After they take the business/ put the local competition out, of business they raise prices and cut inventory to the fast movers or items that offer the larger margins of profit. This is one reason that American made is being made ancient history. Small harware building supply stores often tried rigorously to carry American made. people bought it even if it was a little more. The quality was there, generally. Big Box carries only what it's buyers buy in China etc in volume. Of course lumber and other things are exceptions. There is no concern with what we want. We are forced to buy what they offer because they are the only game in town. The big box stores didn't put the lumber yards out of business, but the lumber yards around here close on weekends and at 5:30 PM. One yard used to be the Saturday morning meeting place for hundreds of men in the county, but too many weekend tinkerers go to the big box stores, so that business is gone. I don't know anyone who buys lumber from the big box stores. They carry some specialty items, like 3/16 planed box stock, that is hard to find anywhere else, but for studs, rafters, TJ-Is and trusses, a lumber yard is the place to go, if you can't go directly to the truss manufacturer. One time I went to 84 Lumber and needed to buy several 2x4s. As I sorted thorugh the boards associate approached me and said, "You can't do that!" Hugh? He stated that I picked the best ones there would be a useless pile of warped, waned, split, and twisted boards left. HD or Lowes never does that. Guess who went out of business? |
#23
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
Mint wrote:
On Sep 12, 7:48 pm, "benick" wrote: "Larry Caldwell" wrote in message .. . I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. -- For email, replace firstnamelastinitial with my first name and last initial. Ahhh , must be time for a Big Box Bash-a-Thon....Been a few weeks so I guess it's time...The Big Box Haters need an "atta boy" now and then from other haters to keep that "warm and fuzzy feeling" going...It most usually happens after passing a full Home Depot , Lowes or Walmart parking lot and they get that "left out feeling" or feel they are missing something...An "atta boy" from others that refuse to shop at the big boxes and a few BS horror stories (like the one above) about past experiences and the left out feeling dissipates , for a while.... Therapy for BBDS ..(Big Box Derangement Syndrome) I see nothing wrong by reporting their experiences and most has some positive items as well. With competition prices are generally fair. A lot of people are pretty smart about shopping around for the best prices and availability. I ask lots of questions like, "Do you see many returns for service issues for Brand X cordless bacon cooker?" Customer service is right up there with price in my priorities. One large retailer showed poor service one too many times for me and they lost me for life. When I was a manager at a large clothing retailer, managers learned some good material on how to treat customers. If a customer has a good experience, he may tell 2 or 3 others about the good experience. If he/she has a bad experience, they will on average tell 10 others about it. Almost forgot. Do you work for a big box store? :-) Take care, Andy Odd, the problem that the OP describes is almost guaranteed when I go to the Orange-Colored Store. The (much less convenient) Lowe's IME has much better stock. However, I've pretty much given up on finding any metric stainless hardware locally, even in the good non-chain stores (which is awful handy for adding accessories to bicycles, for instance) and have ended up buying in bulk from McMaster-Carr, thus ensuring that I have 50 or 100 of an item that I only needed two of (but saves me money and time on gas, and then I have a lifetime supply thereafter...) Anyone need some 5 or 6mm stainless nylocs? nate -- replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply. http://members.cox.net/njnagel |
#24
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
On Sep 12, 10:20*pm, "benick" wrote:
"Mint" wrote in message ... On Sep 12, 7:48 pm, "benick" wrote: "Larry Caldwell" wrote in message . .. I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. -- For email, replace firstnamelastinitial with my first name and last initial. Ahhh , must be time for a Big Box Bash-a-Thon....Been a few weeks so I guess it's time...The Big Box Haters need an "atta boy" now and then from other haters to keep that "warm and fuzzy feeling" going...It most usually happens after passing a full Home Depot , Lowes or Walmart parking lot and they get that "left out feeling" or feel they are missing something...An "atta boy" from others that refuse to shop at the big boxes and a few BS horror stories (like the one above) about past experiences and the left out feeling dissipates , for a while.... Therapy for BBDS ..(Big Box Derangement Syndrome) I see nothing wrong by reporting their experiences and most has some positive items as well. With competition prices are generally fair. A lot of people are pretty smart about shopping around for the best prices and availability. I ask lots of questions like, "Do you see many returns for service issues for Brand X cordless bacon cooker?" Customer service is right up there with price in my priorities. One large retailer showed poor service one too many times for me and they lost me for life. When I was a manager at a large clothing retailer, managers learned some good material on how to treat customers. If a customer has a good experience, he may tell 2 or 3 others about the good experience. If he/she has a bad experience, they will on average tell 10 others about it. Almost forgot. Do you work for a big box store? :-) Take care, Andy No , I am a Drywall Contractor....SWMBO is a manager at Walmart though...Good health insurance....Why do you ask ???..I just find BBDS sufferers amusing , especially the remarks about how stupid folks are for shopping at Big Boxes and how smart they are for not shopping there.....LOL...Capitolism is what it is....Lead , follow or get out of the way.... By the way...We have a Homedepot and Lowes and not one single lumber/hardware store of the 6 or so around (not counting all the other plumbing , electical supply houses and garden centers , ect. have gone under... I live in Pearland, Texas and I have a Loew's and Home Depot within 5 miles. I also have an ACE hardware where you get great service and good advice and the employees aren't playing hide-and-seek when you are looking for help. :-) There are also another 2 locally owned hardware stores that have been here at least 20 years. It nice to go into a store and the employees smile and actually like working there. Hurricane Ike did a big number on the fences in my area, Friendswood, Alvin, and Houston. I have had plenty of fence jobs. :-) Take care, Andy |
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
Phisherman wrote:
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 19:58:37 -0700, Larry Caldwell wrote: In article , nada (nada ) says... Big Box stores don't come into an area to save you/us money. After they take the business/ put the local competition out, of business they raise prices and cut inventory to the fast movers or items that offer the larger margins of profit. This is one reason that American made is being made ancient history. Small harware building supply stores often tried rigorously to carry American made. people bought it even if it was a little more. The quality was there, generally. Big Box carries only what it's buyers buy in China etc in volume. Of course lumber and other things are exceptions. There is no concern with what we want. We are forced to buy what they offer because they are the only game in town. The big box stores didn't put the lumber yards out of business, but the lumber yards around here close on weekends and at 5:30 PM. One yard used to be the Saturday morning meeting place for hundreds of men in the county, but too many weekend tinkerers go to the big box stores, so that business is gone. I don't know anyone who buys lumber from the big box stores. They carry some specialty items, like 3/16 planed box stock, that is hard to find anywhere else, but for studs, rafters, TJ-Is and trusses, a lumber yard is the place to go, if you can't go directly to the truss manufacturer. One time I went to 84 Lumber and needed to buy several 2x4s. As I sorted thorugh the boards associate approached me and said, "You can't do that!" Hugh? He stated that I picked the best ones there would be a useless pile of warped, waned, split, and twisted boards left. HD or Lowes never does that. Guess who went out of business? Agreed, at the end 84 was also pretty sad, and carried a very limited line. Our 84 went away shortly after Menards opened up across the street from Lowes. No traditional full-line yards left near here, just a couple boutique places that specialize in high-end doors/windows or fancy millwork, and only have a small supply of normal stuff. I assume they survive on M-F crack-of-dawn business from the trade, because during the few hours they are open when I can shop there, the parking lots are always empty. A regional franchise, 'The Yard', tried to open up here a few years ago. Selection was slanted to rural country folk houses or pole barns, and prices were on the high side, but at least the small showroom smelled like a real lumberyard. They went away when the money-lenders imploded last year. I miss the Wolohans we used to have. They tried to match the selection Lowes had on decorator frou-frou, and cut back their selection of actual building materials, and the real builders quit going there. They had been like a traditional yard, in an industrial area and all, but they weren't that old. I think they were the ones that made the local ma'n'pa yards that stored their framing lumber in outside racks go under or become boutique specialty yards. -- aem sends... |
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
aemeijers wrote in
: Remember, in some areas of the country, Spanish was the 'official' language well before English was. Us Anglos are the newcomers. I don't know if Lowes is up in Quebec, but I suspect big-boxes up there have English and French on their signs. I do know that in the Little Whatever enclaves of big cities, stores have the language of the local ethnic community on many of their signs. up here in New England, most store signs were in American & Quebec French (which is nothing like Parisian French) up until about 15-20 years ago. big box signs are in American/Spanish now, but i think the French speakers still outnumber Spanish speakers. lee |
#27
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:11:05 -0700, "Jon Danniken"
wrote: Larry Caldwell wrote: I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. When the local Lowes went up earlier this year I stopped by to check it out. On the front door was a large welcome sign in both English and Spanish. This theme was repeated throughout the store. Now I'm pretty sure the last time I checked that this was still America, and that immigrants to this country should understand English if they wish to live here. Apparently not to the executives at Lowes. I walked out of that store within five minutes of walking into it, and I will never set foot in it again. Jon Jesus didn't speak English, either. |
#28
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:11:05 -0700, Jon Danniken wrote:
Now I'm pretty sure the last time I checked that this was still America, and that immigrants to this country should understand English if they wish to live here. Apparently not to the executives at Lowes. Immigration policy is the government's business. Lowes business is selling stuff to anybody who wants to buy it, even those who don't speak English, not determining immigration policy. |
#29
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
Jon Danniken wrote:
Larry Caldwell wrote: I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. When the local Lowes went up earlier this year I stopped by to check it out. On the front door was a large welcome sign in both English and Spanish. This theme was repeated throughout the store. Now I'm pretty sure the last time I checked that this was still America, and that immigrants to this country should understand English if they wish to live here. Apparently not to the executives at Lowes. I walked out of that store within five minutes of walking into it, and I will never set foot in it again. Jon Hmmm, Where can you go then? |
#30
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
I had much the same impression, the couple time I've been in
Lowe's. I wish people would learn to speak American, which is noticably different than English. -- Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org .. "Jon Danniken" wrote in message ... When the local Lowes went up earlier this year I stopped by to check it out. On the front door was a large welcome sign in both English and Spanish. This theme was repeated throughout the store. Now I'm pretty sure the last time I checked that this was still America, and that immigrants to this country should understand English if they wish to live here. Apparently not to the executives at Lowes. I walked out of that store within five minutes of walking into it, and I will never set foot in it again. Jon |
#31
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
He does in my Bible. But not the Jesus who wants to mow my
lawn. -- Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org .. wrote in message ... Jesus didn't speak English, either. |
#32
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
Jon Danniken wrote:
Larry Caldwell wrote: I went to Lowe's today to pick up an assortment of materials; a 1 micron water filter, a toilet handle, a tube of butyl calk, a gallon of Snow Roof, a 3" self-closing RV trailer dump fitting, and a 3x2 curb mount Velux skylight. I ended up getting the toilet handle. None of the other items were in stock. What kind of building supply store doesn't stock butyl calk? Last month I went there looking for a quad 20 breaker, and they didn't stock those either. The irritating thing is that, when Lowes built their store, a local building supply went out of business, but I could buy all the stuff at the local building supply in one stop. When the local Lowes went up earlier this year I stopped by to check it out. On the front door was a large welcome sign in both English and Spanish. This theme was repeated throughout the store. Now I'm pretty sure the last time I checked that this was still America, and that immigrants to this country should understand English if they wish to live here. Apparently not to the executives at Lowes. I walked out of that store within five minutes of walking into it, and I will never set foot in it again. Jon Hi, Your name does not look like a native Indian. America/Canada is melting pot of multi culture. If you can't go to a store displaying multi lingual, I think there won't be many stores you can visit world wide. |
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote: I've pretty much given up on finding any metric stainless hardware locally Really? If you live in a city large enough to support a half dozen machine shops, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a tool and hardware store dedicated to serving them. It'll be on a dead-end side street in the industrial part of town. They'll have 100 or 1000 times the hardware that your average big box has, but of course you'll have to go talk to the guy at the counter to get it, because it won't be in little plastic bags hanging on a customer-accessible pegboard. |
#34
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
Smitty Two wrote:
In article , Nate Nagel wrote: I've pretty much given up on finding any metric stainless hardware locally Really? If you live in a city large enough to support a half dozen machine shops, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a tool and hardware store dedicated to serving them. It'll be on a dead-end side street in the industrial part of town. They'll have 100 or 1000 times the hardware that your average big box has, but of course you'll have to go talk to the guy at the counter to get it, because it won't be in little plastic bags hanging on a customer-accessible pegboard. They have those around here. Open 0700-1600, M-F. Which is fine for their main customers- Joe Blow civilian buying 20 bucks a year is at best a nuisance to them anyway. You gotta know exactly what you want when you walk in, though. Vendors to the trade may tolerate retail customers, but no hand-holding is offered. -- aem sends... |
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
Tony Hwang wrote:
Hmmm, Where can you go then? I go to the locally owned hardware store; they carry ACE stuff. If I want paint, I go to a locally owned paint store. Better prices, better products, and the money stays in the local economy. If you want to move to this country, great. Do it legally, learn English, and welcome to America. Jon |
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Lowe's Lousy Inventory
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