PING Jules
 

As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?

AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. Whats the Mercan equivalent of
Homebase & Wickes?

Is there a TLC Direct or Screwfix equivalent?


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

PING Jules
 

The Medway Handyman wrote:
As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?

AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. Whats the Mercan equivalent of
Homebase

Walmart.

--
Adrian C

PING Jules
 

On Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:47:38 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?

AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. Whats the Mercan equivalent of
Homebase & Wickes?

Adrian's probs right about Mal-Wart for Homebase/Wickes, if I'm
remembering rightly the type of stuff they used to sell :)

Menards are probably better than Home Depot in terms of range (and
probably price), but I think they only serve part of the US (and our
nearest one's a couple of hours' drive away)

I'm not sure if where I am is typical or not, but there are a lot of
big local stores around here which usually seem to out-do the national DIY
sheds both on price and product range - we've got a good farm supply place
(tools, fixtures/fittings, hardware, mower/tractor parts, animals +
animal feed, outdoor clothing etc.), a couple of good lumber yards, a
place specialising in stonework etc.

Home Depot is reasonably good (I've just come back from there to get a new
element for our 'leccy water heater) but it's wise to know your
products; they're actually often quite expensive.

Is there a TLC Direct or Screwfix equivalent?

I'm not sure if there is - I really like seeing what I'm buying before I
part with money, so I like good ol' traditional shops :-)

I usually go to the farm supply place for screws, nails etc.

(They sell most stuff like that by weight there - there are big bins of
stuff in the aisles and weighing scales, and I just load up what I need
into heavy-duty bags, write down the weight/price, and take it to the
front to pay. It's like sweet shops used to be in the UK ;)

cheers

Jules

PING Jules
 

Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-01, Adrian C wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?

AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. Whats the Mercan equivalent of
Homebase
Walmart.

Have you ever been able to buy groceries in Homebase?


Why, sweets at the till, and 'grow yer own's' from the gardening
section. Cans of diet coke, and a burger van outside. Sorted. :-p

Yeah, admittedly Homebase is rather a (huge) lot smaller than Walmart.

--
Adrian C

PING Jules
 

Jules wrote:
On Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:47:38 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?

AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. Whats the Mercan equivalent of
Homebase & Wickes?

Adrian's probs right about Mal-Wart for Homebase/Wickes, if I'm
remembering rightly the type of stuff they used to sell :)


While I would agree about WalMart being a a replacement for Homebase I
am not so sure about it being a replacement for Wickes. I have always
perceived Wickes as being rather more towards the Builder Merchant end
of the spectrum. What about Lowe's?

Andrew

PING Jules
 

Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-02, Adrian C wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-01, Adrian C wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?

AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. Whats the Mercan equivalent of
Homebase
Walmart.
Have you ever been able to buy groceries in Homebase?

Why, sweets at the till, and 'grow yer own's' from the gardening
section. Cans of diet coke, and a burger van outside. Sorted. :-p

Yeah, admittedly Homebase is rather a (huge) lot smaller than Walmart.

My point was that Walmart is a supermarket that happens to sell DIY stuff,
whereas Homebase is a DIY shed only.


Homebase? DIY? doan make me larf.

Ours is a garden center, interior furnsihings and fixtures and fittings
shop. With a teeny excuse for a really poor BM stuck on the back. Even B
& Q is better.

Time and again I've looked at their 'half price' taps etc etc and found
them half the price at a proper BM.

PING Jules
 

On Oct 2, 11:19*am, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-02, Adrian C wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-01, Adrian C wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?

AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. *Whats the Mercan equivalent of
Homebase
Walmart.
Have you ever been able to buy groceries in Homebase?

Why, sweets at the till, and 'grow yer own's' from the gardening
section. Cans of diet coke, and a burger van outside. Sorted. :-p

Yeah, admittedly Homebase is rather a (huge) lot smaller than Walmart.

My point was that Walmart is a supermarket that happens to sell DIY stuff,
whereas Homebase is a DIY shed only.

Homebase? DIY? doan make me larf.

Ours is a garden center, interior furnsihings and fixtures and fittings
shop. With a teeny excuse for a really poor BM stuck on the back. Even B
& Q is better.

But they do occasionally have things that you can't get in the other
sheds.

MBQ

PING Jules
 

Man at B&Q wrote:
On Oct 2, 11:19 am, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-02, Adrian C wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-01, Adrian C wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?
AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. Whats the Mercan equivalent of
Homebase
Walmart.
Have you ever been able to buy groceries in Homebase?
Why, sweets at the till, and 'grow yer own's' from the gardening
section. Cans of diet coke, and a burger van outside. Sorted. :-p
Yeah, admittedly Homebase is rather a (huge) lot smaller than Walmart.
My point was that Walmart is a supermarket that happens to sell DIY stuff,
whereas Homebase is a DIY shed only.
Homebase? DIY? doan make me larf.

Ours is a garden center, interior furnsihings and fixtures and fittings
shop. With a teeny excuse for a really poor BM stuck on the back. Even B
& Q is better.

But they do occasionally have things that you can't get in the other
sheds.


Ah. Like swine flu?

MBQ

PING Jules
 

Andrew May wrote:
Jules wrote:
On Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:47:38 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?

AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. Whats the Mercan equivalent
of Homebase & Wickes?

Adrian's probs right about Mal-Wart for Homebase/Wickes, if I'm
remembering rightly the type of stuff they used to sell :)


While I would agree about WalMart being a a replacement for Homebase I
am not so sure about it being a replacement for Wickes. I have always
perceived Wickes as being rather more towards the Builder Merchant end
of the spectrum. What about Lowe's?


In some parts of the US, Loewe's is giving Home Depot a run for its
money, with a better selection and lower prices.

PING Jules
 

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:39:30 +0100, Andrew May wrote:

What about Lowe's?

Never been to a Lowes - they do advertise on local TV, but the nearest
one's still a couple of hours away (which is still 'local' on US scales,
but not somewhere I'm going to go to unless I happen to be passing).

One day I'll drop in to one and have a look, I expect.

cheers

Jules

PING Jules
 

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:26:42 +0100, Adrian C wrote:
Yeah, admittedly Homebase is rather a (huge) lot smaller than Walmart.

The Walmart's I've had the misfortune to be in don't really seem any
bigger than the larger Tesco stores in the UK - although they do pack
things in a lot tighter... awful places, really.

cheers

Jules

PING Jules
 

Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-02, Adrian C wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-01, Adrian C wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?

AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. Whats the Mercan equivalent of
Homebase
Walmart.
Have you ever been able to buy groceries in Homebase?

Why, sweets at the till, and 'grow yer own's' from the gardening
section. Cans of diet coke, and a burger van outside. Sorted. :-p

Yeah, admittedly Homebase is rather a (huge) lot smaller than Walmart.

My point was that Walmart is a supermarket that happens to sell DIY stuff,
whereas Homebase is a DIY shed only.

Remember that HB is part of Sainsbury though - you quite often find them
next to each other on many retail parks etc. So if you take both
together (ignoring the separate buildings issue), you are closer to
walmart.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

PING Jules
 

John Rumm wrote:


Remember that HB is part of Sainsbury though - you quite often find them
next to each other on many retail parks etc. So if you take both
together (ignoring the separate buildings issue), you are closer to
walmart.

HB *was* part of Sainsbury. It now part of Home Retail Group
http://www.homeretailgroup.com/ alongside Argos - formerly part of GUS.

(And yes, I still always think of JS when going to HB.)

--
Rod

PING Jules
 

rOn Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:44:20 +0100, Rod had
this to say:

John Rumm wrote:


Remember that HB is part of Sainsbury though - you quite often find them
next to each other on many retail parks etc. So if you take both
together (ignoring the separate buildings issue), you are closer to
walmart.

HB *was* part of Sainsbury. It now part of Home Retail Group
http://www.homeretailgroup.com/ alongside Argos - formerly part of GUS.

(And yes, I still always think of JS when going to HB.)

Added to the fact that both use Nectar cards :-)

--
Frank Erskine

PING Jules
 

On Oct 2, 8:34*pm, John Rumm wrote:

Remember that HB is part of Sainsbury though - you quite often find them
next to each other on many retail parks etc.

Certainly used to be. Now Home Retail Group
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Retail_Group
(same as Argos, and it shows!)

PING Jules
 

Part timer wrote:
On Oct 2, 8:34 pm, John Rumm wrote:

Remember that HB is part of Sainsbury though - you quite often find them
next to each other on many retail parks etc.

Certainly used to be. Now Home Retail Group
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Retail_Group
(same as Argos, and it shows!)

That could explain some things.... still it was not that much cop when
under JS control IME anyway ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

PING Jules
 

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-02, Adrian C wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-01, Adrian C wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?

AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. Whats the Mercan
equivalent of Homebase
Walmart.
Have you ever been able to buy groceries in Homebase?

Why, sweets at the till, and 'grow yer own's' from the gardening
section. Cans of diet coke, and a burger van outside. Sorted. :-p

Yeah, admittedly Homebase is rather a (huge) lot smaller than
Walmart.

My point was that Walmart is a supermarket that happens to sell DIY
stuff, whereas Homebase is a DIY shed only.


Homebase? DIY? doan make me larf.

Ours is a garden center, interior furnsihings and fixtures and
fittings shop. With a teeny excuse for a really poor BM stuck on the
back. Even B & Q is better.

Homobase.

Time and again I've looked at their 'half price' taps etc etc and
found them half the price at a proper BM.

Yup, their sales bring their prices down to slightly above everyone else.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

PING Jules
 

Man at B&Q wrote:
On Oct 2, 11:19 am, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-02, Adrian C wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-01, Adrian C wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?

AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. Whats the Mercan
equivalent of Homebase
Walmart.
Have you ever been able to buy groceries in Homebase?

Why, sweets at the till, and 'grow yer own's' from the gardening
section. Cans of diet coke, and a burger van outside. Sorted. :-p

Yeah, admittedly Homebase is rather a (huge) lot smaller than
Walmart.

My point was that Walmart is a supermarket that happens to sell DIY
stuff, whereas Homebase is a DIY shed only.

Homebase? DIY? doan make me larf.

Ours is a garden center, interior furnsihings and fixtures and
fittings shop. With a teeny excuse for a really poor BM stuck on the
back. Even B & Q is better.

But they do occasionally have things that you can't get in the other
sheds.

Like a bad attitude towards customers.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

PING Jules
 

On 2 Oct, 11:49, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Man at B&Q wrote:
On Oct 2, 11:19 am, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-02, Adrian C wrote:
Huge wrote:
On 2009-10-01, Adrian C wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
As an ex pat living in Merica, who are the main DIY sheds?
AIUI B&Q is largely based on Home Depot. *Whats the Mercan equivalent of
Homebase
Walmart.
Have you ever been able to buy groceries in Homebase?
Why, sweets at the till, and 'grow yer own's' from the gardening
section. Cans of diet coke, and a burger van outside. Sorted. :-p
Yeah, admittedly Homebase is rather a (huge) lot smaller than Walmart.