Heard on the news last night that Lowes is coming to Canada, specifically
Toronto to start. Never having been in one, is there anything about them to
distinguish them from another big box home store?

They prefer the color blue ( as opposed to orange.)

Upscale wrote:

Heard on the news last night that Lowes is coming to Canada, specifically
Toronto to start. Never having been in one, is there anything about them to
distinguish them from another big box home store?

"Mark and Kim Smith" wrote in message
They prefer the color blue ( as opposed to orange.)

Smart ass! g

We had a HD here for about three years before Lowes arrived. The HD
got very dirty, the parking lot has craters in it and the part time
help didn't know their products. They did install self service check
out.

Lowes arrived with a bright new store two years ago. Today it is still
bright and clean, it has more "home" type stuff like lighting and
appliances. The parking lot is well maintained. Lately they have
reduced the number of cashiers so checkout has slowed.

Neither store can get a special order right. Neither store stocks good
woodworking tools or accessories.

On balance my wife really prefers Lowes and I appreciate clean stock
and not exercising my Jeep's off road abilities in the parking lot.

We still buy paint and BBQ accessories at HD, but the parking lot has
even larger craters in it now.

Lowes arrived with a bright new store two years ago. Today it is still
bright and clean, it has more "home" type stuff like lighting and
appliances. The parking lot is well maintained. Lately they have
reduced the number of cashiers so checkout has slowed.

Neither store can get a special order right. Neither store stocks good
woodworking tools or accessories.


That's been my experience too. There is one of each within my driving radius
and the HD is smaller, crowded, darker and dirtier. But they have a lardger
selection of flooring (tiles and such) and the do have self checkout (which
I happen to like).

Lowes is bigger brighter and cleaner, wider isles with less clutter. It is a
more pleasant shopping experience. In the end, however, I shop there because
it is closer.

-Steve

Lowes does a tremendous amount of market research
and their managers are measured very heavily on
customer satisfaction.

They design and light and stock the stores in
favor of what women prefer. Somebody finally
noticed that women make way over 50% of all
purchases in big box stores.

Lowes is much preferred over Home Depot by women.



Upscale wrote:

Heard on the news last night that Lowes is coming to Canada, specifically
Toronto to start. Never having been in one, is there anything about
them to
distinguish them from another big box home store?

Upscale wrote:

Heard on the news last night that Lowes is coming to Canada, specifically
Toronto to start. Never having been in one, is there anything about them to
distinguish them from another big box home store?



The one that recently opened in Buffalo seems to like to restock their
lumber isle during normal business hours keeping the isles closed to the
customers?

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

(Remove -SPAM- to send email)

"no(SPAM)vasys" wrote in message news:IuidnV-
The one that recently opened in Buffalo seems to like to restock their
lumber isle during normal business hours keeping the isles closed to the
customers?

Maybe that's the only times they arrange delivery for some reason.

Upscale wrote:
Heard on the news last night that Lowes is coming to Canada, specifically
Toronto to start. Never having been in one, is there anything about them to
distinguish them from another big box home store?

HD sells Homelite, Remington and Poulan chainsaws, Lowes sells Echo and
Husqvarna. They both carry a fair amount of homeowner quality tools,
and limited backup for those tools. I've got a fair number of both near
me. I try HD first and then go to Lowes, because of distance, if Lowes
was closer, I'd go there first.

Dave in Fairfax
--
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.patinatools.com

On 8-Jun-2005, "Upscale" wrote:

Heard on the news last night that Lowes is coming to Canada, specifically
Toronto to start.

It'll be interesting to see how they do coming so late in the game.
They're up against HD, Rona, Building Box, Tim'br and others.

Based on the other responses, Rona already has the bright lights and
clean store thing down pat, so Lowes won't seem so much of a change.

Tower records came and went and Krispy Kreme isn't making things work
up here - I wonder if Lowes is up to it? I'll be watching.

Mike

"Michael Daly" wrote in message
It'll be interesting to see how they do coming so late in the game.
They're up against HD, Rona, Building Box, Tim'br and others.

The news said that eventually, they were planning in excess of 100 stores.
Guess they figure if the blitz Canada hard enough, the competition will have
to make room.

In article ,
says...
Heard on the news last night that Lowes is coming to Canada, specifically
Toronto to start. Never having been in one, is there anything about them to
distinguish them from another big box home store?

I think I mentioned this before, but here in Spokane WA Lowes bought out
a chain called Eagle Hardware. If you went into Eagle and asked for a
2" long 3/8" bolt, the clerk asked what grade you wanted.

Then Lowes took over. It is now known locally as LOWES: Less Of What
Eagle Stocked :-).

That said, they do seem to carry more of what I buy than Home Depot.

--
BNSF = Build Now, Seep Forever

"lgb" wrote in message

That said, they do seem to carry more of what I buy than Home Depot.

Well, I'll be checking them out. Went to a Home Depot a month ago to pick up
a sharper 3/8-16 die for threading some rod and that was the only size they
were out of. Went again two weeks later and they were still out of stock of
just that size. Ended up using the older die I already had, but not as clean
a thread job as I might have wanted. Did what I needed though. Should have
saved my time and effort by going to the local Canadian Tire.

"Upscale" wrote in
:



Heard on the news last night that Lowes is coming to Canada,
specifically Toronto to start. Never having been in one, is there
anything about them to distinguish them from another big box home
store?



Up until the (b)Lowe's switch to "Tradesman" and "GMC" as their
housebrand tools, I thought Lowes had the best power tool price points.
Here they still carry Bosch, Milwaukee, DeWalt, Hitachi and Makita.
There's still a few Delta items left, and mine carries one Jet
contractors saw.

Other than that -- Not really.

Just prepare yourself to be really aggravated when neither one has what
you're looking for.

"Upscale" wrote in message
...
Heard on the news last night that Lowes is coming to Canada, specifically
Toronto to start. Never having been in one, is there anything about them
to
distinguish them from another big box home store?

Biggest difference, as others have pointed out, is in the age of the stores.
The new Lowe's here are much better stocked hardware-wise, much cleaner and
brighter than the older HD.

On Wed, 08 Jun 2005 18:40:50 +0000, Dave in Fairfax wrote:

Upscale wrote:
Heard on the news last night that Lowes is coming to Canada, specifically
Toronto to start. Never having been in one, is there anything about them to
distinguish them from another big box home store?

HD sells Homelite, Remington and Poulan chainsaws, Lowes sells Echo and
Husqvarna. They both carry a fair amount of homeowner quality tools,
and limited backup for those tools. I've got a fair number of both near
me. I try HD first and then go to Lowes, because of distance, if Lowes
was closer, I'd go there first.

Dave in Fairfax

Lowes also sells Poulan. I bought a 20" "Pro" (snicker, snicker) chainsaw
there Monday. I also made the mistake of asking the clerk in the aisle if
he had any ripping chains. After reading the same labels I had just spent
20 minutes reading he hailed another guy walking an aisle over. They spent
several minutes re-reading the labels and then both went off in pursuit of
another guy who, they said, would know. Apparently they both met with foul
play or they would have been back by now.

I just hope that 'the guy who knows' is okay. Apparently there is only one
per store.

Bill

On 8-Jun-2005, lgb wrote:

I think I mentioned this before, but here in Spokane WA Lowes bought out
a chain called Eagle Hardware. If you went into Eagle and asked for a
2" long 3/8" bolt, the clerk asked what grade you wanted.

Then Lowes took over. It is now known locally as LOWES: Less Of What
Eagle Stocked :-).

When Home Depot first moved into Toronto, they took over Aikenhead's.
Same problem - a supplier of all sorts of neat stuff replaced by a
supplier of the lowest common denominator.

Mike

"Michael Daly" wrote in message

When Home Depot first moved into Toronto, they took over Aikenhead's.
Same problem - a supplier of all sorts of neat stuff replaced by a
supplier of the lowest common denominator.

Aikenheads on Temperance street in downtown Toronto. Man, does that bring
back memories. Bought my first tablesaw there when I was 18 years old. 10
years later when I wound up in a wheelchair, I was still able to get to all
five storeys of that building because they had an elevator. Back then, that
was unusual for a low rise building. I spent countless hours buying and
window shopping at Aikenheads. Went down there one time after a three month
absence and found that the building was demolished. Man was I crestfallen.
Didn't find out until 6 months later that Home Depot bought them out.

In article ,
says...

Aikenheads on Temperance street in downtown Toronto. Man, does that bring
back memories. Bought my first tablesaw there when I was 18 years old. 10
years later when I wound up in a wheelchair, I was still able to get to all
five storeys of that building because they had an elevator. Back then, that
was unusual for a low rise building. I spent countless hours buying and
window shopping at Aikenheads.

Sounds like Belknap Hardware in Louisville when I was growing up.
Several floors, floor to ceiling drawers and cabinets in row after row.
And always some clerk who looked like he'd been there forever and knew
exactly what was in every drawer and where it was :-).

Really irritates me that places like that are gone.

--
BNSF = Build Now, Seep Forever

lgb writes:

Sounds like Belknap Hardware in Louisville when I was growing up.
Several floors, floor to ceiling drawers and cabinets in row after row.
And always some clerk who looked like he'd been there forever and knew
exactly what was in every drawer and where it was :-).

Really irritates me that places like that are gone.

We had a place like that up until the 1980s. A hardware store that had
everything but only the guys who worked forever knew where it all was.
You could easily get lost even though it wasn't that big really.

The fire marshall was finally going to close them down due tofire code
problems, so they agreed to build a new building behind the old one. The
old building was torn down for a parking lot.

The city just bought the current building they are in and is tearing it
down for townhouses. The hardware store is building a new store down the
road that is over twice the size of the current store.

Brian Elfert

lgb wrote in
:

In article ,
says...

Aikenheads on Temperance street in downtown Toronto. Man, does that
bring back memories. Bought my first tablesaw there when I was 18
years old. 10 years later when I wound up in a wheelchair, I was
still able to get to all five storeys of that building because they
had an elevator. Back then, that was unusual for a low rise building.
I spent countless hours buying and window shopping at Aikenheads.

Sounds like Belknap Hardware in Louisville when I was growing up.
Several floors, floor to ceiling drawers and cabinets in row after
row. And always some clerk who looked like he'd been there forever
and knew exactly what was in every drawer and where it was :-).

Really irritates me that places like that are gone.


No, they're not. I've got one 4 blocks from me here. Yesterday, while
having a recurring case of the plumbing stupids, I took the parts I'd
bought from them last week, and went back down there. 5 minutes of gentle
instruction, and the problem was solved.

I can't imagine that happening at a local BORG.

Patriarch

"Patriarch" wrote in message

No, they're not. I've got one 4 blocks from me here. Yesterday, while
having a recurring case of the plumbing stupids, I took the parts I'd
bought from them last week, and went back down there. 5 minutes of gentle
instruction, and the problem was solved.

Only a few people here may be able to take advantage, but how about giving
the name and location of the place.

"Upscale" wrote in
:

"Patriarch" wrote in message

No, they're not. I've got one 4 blocks from me here. Yesterday,
while having a recurring case of the plumbing stupids, I took the
parts I'd bought from them last week, and went back down there. 5
minutes of gentle instruction, and the problem was solved.

Only a few people here may be able to take advantage, but how about
giving the name and location of the place.


(Peter) Eames Hardware, a Do it Best affiliate, in Pleasant Hill, CA. Two
of his brothers run Ace Hardware in Albany, CA, and his sister has an Ace
Hardware in North Oakland, CA. They are all run the same way, with a mix
of experienced older staff, and well-trained younger workers, who know how
to get the right answers, or bring in the experts. This is already their
third generation in the business, and the kids are already working there on
weekends.

They are my first stop, because the problem gets solved most of the time,
inside of 5 minutes. You cannot even park at HD in that period of time.

And, while I'm at it, I've had really pleasant experiences lately at
Yardbirds Home Center, in Martinez, CA. A small regional chain, their
people are better trained, their staffing levels match customer loads,
their prices are competitive, and their selection, particularly on hand
tools, is as good as any in the area. A special order yesterday evening
went pretty well (we'll see when it arrives), but I cannot imagine dealing
with HD on a similar product in nearly as comfortable a manner.

Patriarch

HD does the same damn thing. I guess that it's cheaper to do that then to
hire people to work after hours.

--
If at first you don't succeed, you're not cut out for skydiving


"no(SPAM)vasys" wrote in message
...
Upscale wrote:

Heard on the news last night that Lowes is coming to Canada,
specifically
Toronto to start. Never having been in one, is there anything about them
to
distinguish them from another big box home store?



The one that recently opened in Buffalo seems to like to restock their
lumber isle during normal business hours keeping the isles closed to the
customers?

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

(Remove -SPAM- to send email)

Lowes has no fear of HD and in many cases will build their stores in sight
of the HD. They both have their strong points and seem to exist well
together.

--
If at first you don't succeed, you're not cut out for skydiving


"Michael Daly" wrote in message
...
On 8-Jun-2005, "Upscale" wrote:

Heard on the news last night that Lowes is coming to Canada,
specifically
Toronto to start.

It'll be interesting to see how they do coming so late in the game.
They're up against HD, Rona, Building Box, Tim'br and others.

Based on the other responses, Rona already has the bright lights and
clean store thing down pat, so Lowes won't seem so much of a change.

Tower records came and went and Krispy Kreme isn't making things work
up here - I wonder if Lowes is up to it? I'll be watching.

Mike