Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they any
better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy big box
store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions will
surprise me.
Thanks

My opinion would be "just another crappy big box store." I would
recommend that you stay as far away from their "Tool Shop" brand of
tools as possible too.

YMMV

On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:07:43 GMT, me wrote:

Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they any
better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy big box
store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions will
surprise me.
Thanks

In article , me wrote:

Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they any
better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy big box
store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions will
surprise me.
Thanks

The lumber here in Michigan is way better than at Lowes or Home Depot,
in fact it is better than many of the local yards that have been around
a while.

They typically have a large yard for outdoor lumber and supplies
(including trusses and drainage pipe). They have a large drive through
lumber area for construction lumber - bought some 24 foot long 2 by 12s
there this spring for a deck. Their cedar has been wonderful. The clear
white pine in the inside store is very good, and is very useful for
softwood projects that will be painted.

The hardwood selection is mostly limited to Oak, Maple, Birch and
Poplar. But there is a wide variety of sizes and you are welcome to pick
through what they have - for bookcases - I typically will choose 1 board
in 3 if I am going to use a light finish - for a dark finish it is 1
board in 2. At Lowes it is more like one in 7 or 8 for dark finish and
at Home Depot 1 in 20 or 30...

me wrote in :

Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they
any better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy
big box store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions will
surprise me.
Thanks

Menards is a great store, it distinguishes itself easily from the blue and
orange BORGs. They carry a variety of tools, varying in quality from /too
cheap to be useful/ to /use it everyday--hard/.

Unfortunately, they switched to an industrial warehouse style for their
larger power tools and items like bath tubs, which makes it harder to look
at tools on upper levels.

Puckdropper
--
If you're quiet, your teeth never touch your ankles.

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm

me wrote:

Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they any
better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy big box
store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions will
surprise me.

Here in the Des Moines area they're another junkwood big box store with
some occasional good buys. I was using clear (select) 1x6 and 1x8 pine
for solar panels and could usually find one good 12' board out of three
dozen or so. They have 3/4x4x8 papered two sides MDO for $55/sheet,
which is decent, and 3/4x4x8 baltic birch (I haven't bought yet) for
just under $65. Two weeks ago I bought some rain soaked 8' tubafors for
$1.77 each for use as pallet skids (about all they'd be good for).

OTOH, I bought a dozen tubes of clear DAP silicone caulk for $3.95/tube
which was just under half of what True Value Hardware wanted for the
same stuff from GE. Seemed like a good buy.

Their low-price plywoods are nasty - full of voids and thinner than
anyone else's.

I'm learning not to expect too much from lumber outlets that sell
Halloween decorations and groceries...

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Morris Dovey wrote:
I'm learning not to expect too much from lumber outlets that sell
Halloween decorations and groceries...


LOL. That's a new sig file if I ever read one.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

me wrote:
Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they any
better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy big box
store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions will
surprise me.
Thanks

Menards is no better and no worse than the other big boxes. Just don't
loose your sales receipt if you expect to return anything. If they have
to go to the computer for a price to give you for a return without
receipt they use the lowest price at which the item ever sold at. I
wanted to return some shelving material and was offered about half what
I paid. The manager said take it or leave it. He really wasn't required
to take a return. I kept the material and quit visiting them for about 6
months. Big blue and big orange got my money. Then I discovered the
local toy store (Woodcrafters).

Dave N

me wrote:
Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they any
better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy big box
store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions will
surprise me.
Thanks

We don't have a Menards in the metro Detroit area, the closest one is
about a 2-hour round trip. But, there's a few on the west side of the
state where my parents live, which I've been to probably a dozen times
or so. Anyway, their tool selection seems pretty standard for a big box,
I can't speak to the quality of their lumber. They did have a better
selection of hardwood plywood.

Most of my experience with them involves home improvement type stuff. I
really wish we had one closer, as they carry a lot of brands/models that
the other big boxes don't. They have a really nice selection of bathroom
vanities, medicine cabinets, toilets, etc. that pretty much doubles the
variety available at Lowes/HD. Their hardware selection of pulls and
such puts the others to shame. They also have a lot more random stuff on
clearance, I picked up a granite top for my bath vanity at 50% off. Oh,
and their weekly ads actually have sale items, instead of just featured
items. It's just nice to have a third option when shopping for a faucet
or whatnot, at least one that you don't have to special order.

Greg M

Menards has everything. Home Depot has half of everything.

Inevitably, when I go to Home Depot shopping for a project, I end up
stopping at Ace or MyNards 'cuz Home Depot is about inventory
management (like Wally World) whereas MyNards is about stuff.

E.g., Home Depot will sell you a hot tub, but you have to go to
Menards for hot tub chemicals 'cuz the Despot doesn't carry 'em nor
sell them. Just wrong.

In WI, they both have the same kids running around, half of which
don't know the difference between a stove bolt and a stove pipe.

D'ohBoy

D'ohBoy wrote:
Menards has everything. Home Depot has half of everything.

Inevitably, when I go to Home Depot shopping for a project, I end up
stopping at Ace or MyNards 'cuz Home Depot is about inventory
management (like Wally World) whereas MyNards is about stuff.

E.g., Home Depot will sell you a hot tub, but you have to go to
Menards for hot tub chemicals 'cuz the Despot doesn't carry 'em nor
sell them. Just wrong.

In WI, they both have the same kids running around, half of which
don't know the difference between a stove bolt and a stove pipe.

Going to Lowes I pass the local lumberyard first, then Home Despot.
I've reached the point that if the local yard doesn't have it, I
generally just skip Home Despot and go straight to Lowes, because the
one thing I can count on is that Home Despot won't have whatever it is
that I'm looking for.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

On Nov 9, 8:07*pm, me wrote:
Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they any
better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy big box
store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions will
surprise me.
Thanks

Since moving to Colorado from Minnesota the two stores I really miss
are Menard's and Mills Fleet Farm (The Men' Mall).

Someday maybe one of them will venture to the west.

Pat

me wrote:
Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they any
better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy big box
store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions will
surprise me.
Thanks
My first choice when I need something is Menards, then Home Depot, then
Fleet Farm and Lowes is a no choice. I went there on opening day and
Lowes is a bi-lingual store, so I told the mgr. that since I am not
bi-lingual, good-bye. Their prices weren't that good anyway.

Menards was a so-so store until HD came to town, then Lowes and now they
are much much better with their stocking procedure, quality, service.

"Norvin" wrote in message
...
me wrote:
Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they
any better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy big
box store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions will
surprise me.
Thanks
My first choice when I need something is Menards, then Home Depot, then
Fleet Farm and Lowes is a no choice. I went there on opening day and Lowes
is a bi-lingual store, so I told the mgr. that since I am not
bi-lingual, good-bye. Their prices weren't that good anyway.

Menards was a so-so store until HD came to town, then Lowes and now they
are much much better with their stocking procedure, quality, service.

I feel here in Springfield, IL Lowe's has the best construction lumber.
Menard's requires a lot of picking through to find a good 2X4. A lot of it
is junk wood. However, I find that Menard's has the best cabinet plywood
( Baltic birch, birch, oak, and maple). When you buy birch ply there you
have to make sure you get the best grade. They have 2 grades of 3/4 birch,
1 for around 20 bucks ( which has voids in it and looks ok from the outside)
is crappy, the other sells for 30 dollars or more is OK. I haven't seen much
cabinet grade at Lowe's, They don't have much of a selection for
woodworkers. If they do have it, it's a lot higher than Menard's. Their
tools there at Lowe's are fine. We don't have a Home Depot here.

Dave wrote:

"Norvin" wrote in message
...
me wrote:
Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are
they any better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another
crappy big box store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions
will surprise me.
Thanks
My first choice when I need something is Menards, then Home Depot,
then Fleet Farm and Lowes is a no choice. I went there on opening day
and Lowes is a bi-lingual store, so I told the mgr. that since I am not
bi-lingual, good-bye. Their prices weren't that good anyway.

Menards was a so-so store until HD came to town, then Lowes and now they
are much much better with their stocking procedure, quality, service.

I feel here in Springfield, IL Lowe's has the best construction lumber.
Menard's requires a lot of picking through to find a good 2X4. A lot of
it is junk wood. However, I find that Menard's has the best cabinet
plywood ( Baltic birch, birch, oak, and maple). When you buy birch ply
there you have to make sure you get the best grade. They have 2 grades
of 3/4 birch, 1 for around 20 bucks ( which has voids in it and looks
ok from the outside) is crappy, the other sells for 30 dollars or more
is OK. I haven't seen much cabinet grade at Lowe's, They don't have much
of a selection for woodworkers. If they do have it, it's a lot higher
than Menard's. Their tools there at Lowe's are fine. We don't have a
Home Depot here.
I buy very little of the construction grade lumber since I do mostly
furniture building and I get my red oak from a local wood provider at
about 40% of the cost. My last buy was red oak for $2.25 bf, and all
good stuff. When I do want construction I will hit HD first, then Menards.

"J. Clarke" wrote

Going to Lowes I pass the local lumberyard first, then Home Despot.
I've reached the point that if the local yard doesn't have it, I
generally just skip Home Despot and go straight to Lowes, because the
one thing I can count on is that Home Despot won't have whatever it is
that I'm looking for.

Lowe's will have it, but it won't be in a box, will be in the wrong bin, and
because it took you 30 minutes to find it, and it being the ONLY one in the
damn store, you will wait another 20 minutes at the cash register while they
have an employee's summit conference on what price to ring up.

But ... in general, the women who shop at Lowes are much higher class and
easier on the eyes.

After all, scenery is very important while you wait.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Subject

ALL the mass merchandisers play the 80/20 game.

80% of your sales come from 20% of the items.
80% of your profits come from 20% of your sales.
80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers.

The list goes on, but the above illustrates the point.

Forget customers, bean counters rule.

Those who expect to find quality and selection found at speciality
stores won't find it.

But then again, there is a matter of cost.

Lew

80% of your sales come from 20% of the items.
80% of your profits come from 20% of your sales.
80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers.


80% of your work is done by 20% of your employees.


Just an afterthought,
Why are the bathrooms in home stores always about as torn up and scuzzy
as a highway exit gas station?


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

-MIKE- wrote in news:gfald4$uus$1
@registered.motzarella.org:

80% of your sales come from 20% of the items.
80% of your profits come from 20% of your sales.
80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers.


80% of your work is done by 20% of your employees.


Just an afterthought,
Why are the bathrooms in home stores always about as torn up and scuzzy
as a highway exit gas station?



The Lowes in town has a nice one for their customers, and even on the
heaviest day it wouldn't be full. It seems to me they're missing an
opportunity by using all the same toilet, though. By installing one of
each toilet they carry in stock, customers could compare working models.

Of course, it'd have to be like Noah and the Ark. Two of each kind, one
for males and one for females. :-)

Puckdropper
--
If you're quiet, your teeth never touch your ankles.

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm

Puckdropper wrote:

The Lowes in town has a nice one for their customers, and even on the
heaviest day it wouldn't be full. It seems to me they're missing an
opportunity by using all the same toilet, though. By installing one of
each toilet they carry in stock, customers could compare working models.

Of course, it'd have to be like Noah and the Ark. Two of each kind, one
for males and one for females. :-)

I wonder if I could negotiate a beer concesion...

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Dave wrote:

"Norvin" wrote in message
...
me wrote:
Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are
they any better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another
crappy big box store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions
will surprise me.
Thanks
My first choice when I need something is Menards, then Home Depot,
then Fleet Farm and Lowes is a no choice. I went there on opening day
and Lowes is a bi-lingual store, so I told the mgr. that since I am not
bi-lingual, good-bye. Their prices weren't that good anyway.

Menards was a so-so store until HD came to town, then Lowes and now they
are much much better with their stocking procedure, quality, service.

I feel here in Springfield, IL Lowe's has the best construction lumber.
Menard's requires a lot of picking through to find a good 2X4. A lot of
it is junk wood. However, I find that Menard's has the best cabinet
plywood ( Baltic birch, birch, oak, and maple). When you buy birch ply
there you have to make sure you get the best grade. They have 2 grades
of 3/4 birch, 1 for around 20 bucks ( which has voids in it and looks
ok from the outside) is crappy, the other sells for 30 dollars or more
is OK. I haven't seen much cabinet grade at Lowe's, They don't have much
of a selection for woodworkers. If they do have it, it's a lot higher
than Menard's. Their tools there at Lowe's are fine. We don't have a
Home Depot here.

Every body has good and bad wood. I once bought some 2x4x96 boards at
Lowes down the street. By the time I got them home some of the perfect
boards I bought had a 90 degree twist in them. Must have been the change
in temperature/humidity. ;^)

Dave N

On Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:51:15 -0500, Doug Houseman
wrote:

In article , me wrote:

Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they any
better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy big box
store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions will
surprise me.
Thanks

The lumber here in Michigan is way better than at Lowes or Home Depot,
in fact it is better than many of the local yards that have been around
a while.

They typically have a large yard for outdoor lumber and supplies
(including trusses and drainage pipe). They have a large drive through
lumber area for construction lumber - bought some 24 foot long 2 by 12s
there this spring for a deck. Their cedar has been wonderful. The clear
white pine in the inside store is very good, and is very useful for
softwood projects that will be painted.

The hardwood selection is mostly limited to Oak, Maple, Birch and
Poplar. But there is a wide variety of sizes and you are welcome to pick
through what they have - for bookcases - I typically will choose 1 board
in 3 if I am going to use a light finish - for a dark finish it is 1
board in 2. At Lowes it is more like one in 7 or 8 for dark finish and
at Home Depot 1 in 20 or 30...


Well, I have purchased qualiy lumber at Home Depot, but only after
sifting though several pieces. The local 84 Lumber never allowed
customers to pick through sacks, and eventually went out of business.
The hardwoods at HD and Lowes are overpriced, pine okay.

On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:07:43 GMT, me wrote:

Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they any
better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy big box
store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?
I suppose it's just another crappy store but hoping that opinions will
surprise me.
Thanks

Generally they are bigger in size than Lowes or HD, carry more
hardwoods (shrink wrapped even). Have a broader selection of price
levels than the other two.

That seems to be the case here in Southern Illinois.

Mark

The "new" Lowes are all designed for that
class of woman you refer to.

They did a huge amount of research on
who does the shopping and the spending
in a Lowes and women are a major hitter.

The clear isles and cheery lighting is
for one group of folks.

Lowes is a old N.C. firm that started out
as a ratty looking lumber company that
carried the "cheap stuff".

About 10-15 years ago, they hired some
research folks and the rest is history.

They are now eating Home Depot's lunch.

My wife goes to Lowes on her lunch hour
a couple times a week.

Swingman wrote:

But ... in general, the women who shop at Lowes are much higher class and
easier on the eyes.

After all, scenery is very important while you wait.

Gee ... it's feels good to be vindicated by research. I didn't know the
reason, figured it was the relative cleanliness of Lowe's, but being a
self-styled connoisseur of the opposite gender and quick to notice beauty
(expect nothing less from a Coonass), I knew, only in my heart mind you,
that something was up.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

"Pat Barber" wrote
The "new" Lowes are all designed for that
class of woman you refer to.

They did a huge amount of research on
who does the shopping and the spending
in a Lowes and women are a major hitter.

The clear isles and cheery lighting is
for one group of folks.

Lowes is a old N.C. firm that started out
as a ratty looking lumber company that
carried the "cheap stuff".

About 10-15 years ago, they hired some
research folks and the rest is history.

They are now eating Home Depot's lunch.

My wife goes to Lowes on her lunch hour
a couple times a week.

Swingman wrote:

But ... in general, the women who shop at Lowes are much higher class and
easier on the eyes.

After all, scenery is very important while you wait.

me wrote:
Do Dah Flatland (wichita Ks) is supposedly getting a Menards. Are they any
better / worse than Lowes and Home Depot or just another crappy big box
store - from the woodworking /tools/lumber perspective?

Where I live, there's not a Menards. When my wife and I visit her
parents in Cedar Rapids, Iowa I somehow manage to always get myself
volunteered for some type of project. That typically breaks down to
about 10 trips to Menards, 5 to Home Depot, 1 or 2 to Lowe's, and
another 1 or 2 to Acme Tools. A lot of the trips to Menards are just
because it's the closest, but also because they have more selection.
In particular I like that Mendards carries hardwood moldings and
have a selection of S4S hardwoods as well. It is odd though
buying hardwood boards that are shrink wrapped. But these are things
that neither Home Depot or Lowes ever carries.

I expect Espresso or cappuccino machines any day now.

They are really going after womens money.

I read a story in one of the financial rags about
how HD have started to look into that same theory,
although they are just a little behind.(15 years)

Notice the next time you are there, as to how much
of the store is "guy stuff" and how much is "home"
based stuff.

Most of those stores are 120,000 sq ft
and lumber is on one or two rows.

Paint and wallpaper take up four rows.

The "Garden Center" is HUGE.


Swingman wrote:
Gee ... it's feels good to be vindicated by research. I didn't know the
reason, figured it was the relative cleanliness of Lowe's, but being a
self-styled connoisseur of the opposite gender and quick to notice beauty
(expect nothing less from a Coonass), I knew, only in my heart mind you,
that something was up.