Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

People do make outlandish claims with no basis in fact. I seriously doubt
that HD does not care about people getting killed.


Ed,
You've never noticed the number over the entrance?

Berlin, CT, has "225". I've been told this is the number of customers
who have gone in and not come out.


Stay away from stores with numbers like 10497 over the door!

Barry

"CW" writes:

I live in a very small town (2000). If I want anything I have to go to the
next town population about 35000. There are three hardware stores there I
can think of off hand and yes, there is also a Lowes. Your idea of the small
hardware store being almost extinct is bull.

I know a town of 12,000 where both hardware stores closed in the past
year. The nearest competitior of any size (little bitty lumber yard) is
12 miles away and the closest hardware store is 40 miles away. No Home
Depot or Lowes in town.

Brian Elfert

In article , Brian Elfert wrote:
"CW" writes:

I live in a very small town (2000). If I want anything I have to go to the
next town population about 35000. There are three hardware stores there I
can think of off hand and yes, there is also a Lowes. Your idea of the small
hardware store being almost extinct is bull.

I know a town of 12,000 where both hardware stores closed in the past
year. The nearest competitior of any size (little bitty lumber yard) is
12 miles away and the closest hardware store is 40 miles away. No Home
Depot or Lowes in town.

Indeed, as CW says, the small hardware store is not *yet* extinct, but it's
sure headed that way. I live in a major city (Indianapolis, *in* the city, not
out in suburbia) and there is exactly *one* small hardware store (an ACE)
within four miles of my house. There used to be another ACE closer, but it
went belly-up three years ago; there were several mom-and-pops even closer
still, but they've been gone even longer than that.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Bloomington, In has a really fine hardware store - Kleindorfers. They are on
the west side of town. When I know what I'm doing, I buy at Lowes. When I
don't have a clue, I buy at Kleindorfers. I pay for the experience and
advice they are willing to share.


"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. com...
In article , Brian Elfert
wrote:
"CW" writes:

I live in a very small town (2000). If I want anything I have to go to
the
next town population about 35000. There are three hardware stores there
I
can think of off hand and yes, there is also a Lowes. Your idea of the
small
hardware store being almost extinct is bull.

I know a town of 12,000 where both hardware stores closed in the past
year. The nearest competitior of any size (little bitty lumber yard) is
12 miles away and the closest hardware store is 40 miles away. No Home
Depot or Lowes in town.

Indeed, as CW says, the small hardware store is not *yet* extinct, but
it's
sure headed that way. I live in a major city (Indianapolis, *in* the city,
not
out in suburbia) and there is exactly *one* small hardware store (an ACE)
within four miles of my house. There used to be another ACE closer, but it
went belly-up three years ago; there were several mom-and-pops even closer
still, but they've been gone even longer than that.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Kevin wrote:

Bloomington, In has a really fine hardware store - Kleindorfers. They are on
the west side of town. When I know what I'm doing, I buy at Lowes. When I
don't have a clue, I buy at Kleindorfers. I pay for the experience and
advice they are willing to share.
....

Unfortunately, by buying at Lowes you're probably hastening the time at
which you won't be able to buy at Kleindorfers. That's my complaint
-- too many people are too short-sighted to understand that the service
they want when they want it can't be there if they're not willing to
support it.

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 03:37:03 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:



"Joe Bleau" wrote in message

Some have claimed that HD has a deliberately policy of not doing
anything about stacking shelves safely because it would be more
expensive for them to do this than to pay out the numerous death and
accident claims which they use every trick in their lawyers' arsenal
to keep to a minimum.

People do make outlandish claims with no basis in fact. I seriously doubt
that HD does not care about people getting killed.


for sure.. the cost of saving a few hours a day x a few employees is peanuts
compared to one law suit..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 20:55:05 -0500, Silvan wrote:
TeamCasa wrote:

The balls were lead but very hard for some reason. They were still round
and showed not deformation as if they were fired at the tree. All I am
sure is they nicked the blades up pretty bad.

An old (muzzle loader) gun guy told me they sometimes mixed lead balls
with other metals for use in cannons. Maybe this was a cannon grape shot?

There's something you can mix with lead to make it hard. Antimony? Tin?
Bismuth? Something like that.

Yes, yes, and yes, in that order. Wheel weights are a pretty hard
alloy of lead, but aren't good for muzzleloaders where you _want_
that deformation (to expand to fit the rifling grooves). For that,
..22 bullets (recycled, obviously) are nice.

Dave Hinz

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 12:00:33 GMT, B a r r y wrote:
Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

People do make outlandish claims with no basis in fact. I seriously doubt
that HD does not care about people getting killed.


Ed,
You've never noticed the number over the entrance?

Berlin, CT, has "225". I've been told this is the number of customers
who have gone in and not come out.

Stay away from stores with numbers like 10497 over the door!

Um, Barry? That's the "address".

Around The Dallas Area there is Turner Hardware and Elliot's Hardware. Both
really great places. I can't take the check book in there unless my wife is
holding it!

Grant

Leon wrote:

"CW" wrote in message
...
I live in a very small town (2000). If I want anything I have to go to the
next town population about 35000. There are three hardware stores there I
can think of off hand and yes, there is also a Lowes. Your idea of the
small
hardware store being almost extinct is bull.

Exactly, I live in Houston. Houston has surrounded several small towns.
Southwest of Houston is a small city called. Stafford. The only thing that
separates them is the city limits line. In Stafford there is a Court's
hardware. Court's has been around a long long time and is family owned.
Court's is growing steadily and is cheaper than Lowe's and HD and every one
there, probably 11 employee's, can point you or advise you correctly every
time. HD and Lowe's has only sucked up the hardware stores that were
destined to fail. There are at least 4 HD's and Lowe's within 15 minutes of
that great hardware store.

Dave Hinz wrote:

Um, Barry? That's the "address".

Just playing... G

Barry

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 18:51:14 GMT, B a r r y wrote:
Dave Hinz wrote:

Um, Barry? That's the "address".

Just playing... G

Just checking...

In article ,
Brian Elfert wrote:

"CW" writes:

I live in a very small town (2000). If I want anything I have to go to the
next town population about 35000. There are three hardware stores there I
can think of off hand and yes, there is also a Lowes. Your idea of the small
hardware store being almost extinct is bull.

I know a town of 12,000 where both hardware stores closed in the past
year. The nearest competitior of any size (little bitty lumber yard) is
12 miles away and the closest hardware store is 40 miles away. No Home
Depot or Lowes in town.

Brian Elfert

Aside from The Big Borgs... there is the Amazon effect.

In article ,
Duane Bozarth wrote:

Kevin wrote:

Bloomington, In has a really fine hardware store - Kleindorfers. They are on
the west side of town. When I know what I'm doing, I buy at Lowes. When I
don't have a clue, I buy at Kleindorfers. I pay for the experience and
advice they are willing to share.
...

Unfortunately, by buying at Lowes you're probably hastening the time at
which you won't be able to buy at Kleindorfers. That's my complaint
-- too many people are too short-sighted to understand that the service
they want when they want it can't be there if they're not willing to
support it.

Hear! Hear!

Mom & Pop, brick & mortar made this place.

The biggest, privately owned lumber yard and hardware store took a
broadside from Home Despot when they first opened here.
Business went down 60%.. but 6 months later business mysteriously
recovered and HD had to let people go........
The smaller, local builders figured out that HD wasn't going to float
them for a few weeks till their projects were completed.
HD must have seen that coming, because this was one of the first
down-sized HDs this side of the border. The HD at the next town is twice
the size.
Their prices are nothing to write home about. The selection is so-so.
The staff is mostly part timers. The only thing that *I* go there
for.... is the odd Ridgid piece.


FWIW

Joe Bleau wrote:

Back when there were still neighborhood hardware stores in America all
you had to do was to go to any one of them to have a piece of glass
cut to measure. Slowhand, have you tried to get a piece of glass cut
lately at one of the borgs you are so fond of?

A Lowes finally opened up in my area last week. They have a booth near the
center of the store (enclosed in Plexiglass for safety reasons I imagine). The
sign on the booth indicates it's the glass cutting station.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
(Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

Nova wrote:
....
A Lowes finally opened ...a booth near the center of the store ...
sign on the booth indicates it's the glass cutting station.

....

And the chances of the "associate" standing in the booth having a clue
of what he's up to is... ????

CW wrote:

No doubt there are such places. There are many areas that don't have much
need for a hardware store.

Why is that? Unless they're close to a metro area, seems unlikely there
aren't needs...

Problem is the cost of staying in business is just too much for a small
community to support, not that they don't have a need.

No doubt there are such places. There are many areas that don't have much
need for a hardware store.

"Brian Elfert" wrote in message
...
"CW" writes:

I live in a very small town (2000). If I want anything I have to go to
the
next town population about 35000. There are three hardware stores there I
can think of off hand and yes, there is also a Lowes. Your idea of the
small
hardware store being almost extinct is bull.

I know a town of 12,000 where both hardware stores closed in the past
year. The nearest competitior of any size (little bitty lumber yard) is
12 miles away and the closest hardware store is 40 miles away. No Home
Depot or Lowes in town.

Brian Elfert

Duane Bozarth wrote:

Nova wrote:
...
A Lowes finally opened ...a booth near the center of the store ...
sign on the booth indicates it's the glass cutting station.

...

And the chances of the "associate" standing in the booth having a clue
of what he's up to is... ????

I really can't say as no one was buying glass while I was there but it
looked like they had a Fletcher glass cutter (
http://www.reuels.com/reuels/product11686.html) which isn't difficult to
operate.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
(Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 16:59:11 -0500, Nova
wrote:

Joe Bleau wrote:

Back when there were still neighborhood hardware stores in America all
you had to do was to go to any one of them to have a piece of glass
cut to measure. Slowhand, have you tried to get a piece of glass cut
lately at one of the borgs you are so fond of?

A Lowes finally opened up in my area last week. They have a booth near the
center of the store (enclosed in Plexiglass for safety reasons I imagine). The
sign on the booth indicates it's the glass cutting station.


Wait til they have driven the competition out of business. They
always open with a glass-cutting section. They give wonderful service
when they first open up. Repost in a year and tell us what you think
of Lowes or HD then.

Joe Bleau wrote:

Wait til they have driven the competition out of business. They
always open with a glass-cutting section. They give wonderful service
when they first open up. Repost in a year and tell us what you think
of Lowes or HD then.

Although Lowes has recently opened in my area Home Depot has been around for many
years. For their intended purpose I have no complaints with their methods of
operation.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
(Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

Dave Hinz wrote:

There's something you can mix with lead to make it hard. Antimony? Tin?
Bismuth? Something like that.

Yes, yes, and yes, in that order. Wheel weights are a pretty hard
alloy of lead, but aren't good for muzzleloaders where you _want_
that deformation (to expand to fit the rifling grooves). For that,
.22 bullets (recycled, obviously) are nice.

Wellll, score one for Silvan.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/

"Joe Bleau" wrote in message
...

Wait til they have driven the competition out of business. They
always open with a glass-cutting section. They give wonderful service
when they first open up. Repost in a year and tell us what you think
of Lowes or HD then.

Well, we've had both around here for years now and the locals are still in
business. Maybe you should report back when your fears become realized.
--

-Mike-

Duane Bozarth wrote:

Unfortunately, by buying at Lowes you're probably hastening the time at
which you won't be able to buy at Kleindorfers. That's my complaint
-- too many people are too short-sighted to understand that the service
they want when they want it can't be there if they're not willing to
support it.

I agree completely in principle, but it's hard to pay anywhere from 40% to
300% more for the same stuff. It's also hard to drive all the way across
town on the other side of umpty scadillion stoplights when Lowe's is only
two stoplights away.

When I lived in town, the situation was reversed. Better to spend 40% to
300% more and not have to drive all the way to the outskirts of town
through umpty scadillion stoplights.

Maybe the lesson here is that the hardware stores need to move out to the
'burbs and the outskirts and go where the other business is.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/

"Joe Bleau" wrote in message
...


Wait til they have driven the competition out of business. They
always open with a glass-cutting section. They give wonderful service
when they first open up. Repost in a year and tell us what you think
of Lowes or HD then.

It may all have to do with the business mentality of the community and those
that run that run the stores. With in 7 miles of my house are 3 HD's, 1
Lowe's, 1 old fashioned lumber yard, and 1 old fashioned hardware store
that I frequent.
Since all have opened the oldest, the lumber yard and the hardware store are
thriving and enlarging. The Lowe's has become busier and the 3 HD's have
become less busy. Maybe the customers in the SW Houston are a smart enough
to see the difference. Don't blame the store, blame the community and
customers for what flies.

Silvan wrote:

Duane Bozarth wrote:

Unfortunately, by buying at Lowes you're probably hastening the time at
which you won't be able to buy at Kleindorfers. That's my complaint
-- too many people are too short-sighted to understand that the service
they want when they want it can't be there if they're not willing to
support it.

I agree completely in principle, but it's hard to pay anywhere from 40% to
300% more for the same stuff. It's also hard to drive all the way across
town on the other side of umpty scadillion stoplights when Lowe's is only
two stoplights away.

When I lived in town, the situation was reversed. Better to spend 40% to
300% more and not have to drive all the way to the outskirts of town
through umpty scadillion stoplights.

Maybe the lesson here is that the hardware stores need to move out to the
'burbs and the outskirts and go where the other business is.

I've never found anywhere near that kind of price differential on the
same product between the Borg's and other retailers. In a lot of
cases, the Borq is like WalMart where the one or two lead items is
cheaper but be careful!--a lot of other stuff is at least has high if
not higher. If it's 300% cheaper there's only one reason--one is
Chinese-imported crap (unless there's a fire-sale closeout or some other
very unsupportable condition that's not sustainable in the long run).

As for location, one can only be located in one spot for any given
store--if Amurracuns continue to look only at the short term effects of
buying cheap imports, that will be all there is and service, if desired
will not be. It's a choice.

Nova wrote:

Joe Bleau wrote:

Wait til they have driven the competition out of business. They
always open with a glass-cutting section. They give wonderful service
when they first open up. Repost in a year and tell us what you think
of Lowes or HD then.

Although Lowes has recently opened in my area Home Depot has been around for many
years. For their intended purpose I have no complaints with their methods of
operation.

You're in a large enough population area to be moderately well-insulated
against the effect. Fortunate for you--you will probably continue to
have (at least slightly reduced) choice for the forseeable future.
Others is smaller markets such as here know full well the actual
consequences....

Mike Marlow wrote:

"Joe Bleau" wrote in message
...

Wait til they have driven the competition out of business. They
always open with a glass-cutting section. They give wonderful service
when they first open up. Repost in a year and tell us what you think
of Lowes or HD then.

Well, we've had both around here for years now and the locals are still in
business. Maybe you should report back when your fears become realized.

How large a population base do you have?

I can attest that in small, rural areas even a Wally-World and a branch
lumber market (Meade Best Buy) effectively drive the locals out, then
raise costs above what the locals in the even smaller communities are
at...

Duane Bozarth wrote:

Nova wrote:

Although Lowes has recently opened in my area Home Depot has been around for many
years. For their intended purpose I have no complaints with their methods of
operation.

You're in a large enough population area to be moderately well-insulated
against the effect. Fortunate for you--you will probably continue to
have (at least slightly reduced) choice for the forseeable future.
Others is smaller markets such as here know full well the actual
consequences....

I agree. The Buffalo area has always been a competitive market. The "mom and pop"
hardware stores continue to survive because they have build their business by offering
specialized service filling a particular niche. While there have a few local hardware
stores close since Home Depot came to town they have closed due to a change in
demographics rather than the competition. About the only businesses affected by Home
Depot I can think of have been other "mega" stores (Builder's Square and Chase Pitkins
come to mind). With the opening of Lowes, from what I've seen so far, unless they get
their prices in line with the other stores in the area they are going to have
problems. Most people I know are not willing to play their price matching game.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
(Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

"Duane Bozarth" wrote in message
...


As for location, one can only be located in one spot for any given
store--if Amurracuns continue to look only at the short term effects of
buying cheap imports, that will be all there is and service, if desired
will not be. It's a choice.

You're right Duane, it's a choice. I don't think it's a problem here
though. There's a class of people who are happy with the cheap stuff or the
"convenience" of a big box store, but those are the folks that are now
getting exposed to things they were never exposed to before - therefore,
they become new members of a community that does things like woodworking or
home repairs on their own. As for the folks that kept the local hardware
stores alive in the past, or the folks that bought high quality tools
intended to last a lifetime, those folks are still out there, and still
buying from pretty much the same places they always did. It's a matter of
who's money is being spent on quality, and I'd argue that the same types of
people who have always spent on quality still are. At the same time,
there's a whole new field of people who either have always bought junk
because they don't use it alot, or who were never even a part of the food
chain in some of these areas, and now are - albeit at the low end.
--

-Mike-

Duane Bozarth wrote:

As for location, one can only be located in one spot for any given
store--if Amurracuns continue to look only at the short term effects of
buying cheap imports, that will be all there is and service, if desired
will not be. It's a choice.

I don't have enough real numbers to argue hard on the price issues at the
moment, but I can argue the imports issues. It's a question of sending
money to China by way of North Wilkesboro, NC, or sending money to China by
way of Mom & Pop. It's not like the local place only sells American stuff.
They sell the same imported crap everybody else does, at higher prices, in
packaging with different colors on it.

The only reason I shop there is for their overpriced, marginal quality, but
handily available lumber. That's the same justification I've heard lots of
folks use for shopping at Lowe's, incidentally. Other than lumber, this
place is basically the same as Lowe's, except dark, dusty, dirty, and
disorganized. If they have stuff Lowe's doesn't carry, I have no idea
where the hell it is in that mess anyway. And as for the help, they're all
retired guys who stand around talking about fishing. There can be four of
them standing there, and nobody will ever ask me if I need help. If I ask
one of them, they play round robin ask Bill ask Ted ask Jimmy and it takes
half an hour to find what I'm looking for. This sounds a lot like Lowe's
too.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/

"Duane Bozarth" wrote in message
...
Mike Marlow wrote:

"Joe Bleau" wrote in message
...

Wait til they have driven the competition out of business. They
always open with a glass-cutting section. They give wonderful service
when they first open up. Repost in a year and tell us what you think
of Lowes or HD then.

Well, we've had both around here for years now and the locals are still
in
business. Maybe you should report back when your fears become realized.

How large a population base do you have?

I can attest that in small, rural areas even a Wally-World and a branch
lumber market (Meade Best Buy) effectively drive the locals out, then
raise costs above what the locals in the even smaller communities are
at...

In my immediate area Duane, it's very rural. In the surrounding area
(~30miles), Syracuse would be considered a small to medium sized city. It
was interesting to watch Wal-Mart come to the local community. There was a
faction that was crying doom and gloom. Largely they were led by a local
merchant who had held a monopoly in the grocery store space for decades. He
had his faction fired up predicting the failure of his store and every other
store in the area if Wal-Mart was allowed in. Within days of Wal-Mart
opening, his store closed. Really - it was that immediate. Clearly, he
wanted the store to close and Wal Mart was only an excuse. He was never
competitive in the old days and most people drove 20-30 miles to the bigger
regional chains for regular grocery shopping. He was part of a large co-op
and his prices were always the highest of the co-op member stores. He could
have been more competitive, but didn't want to.

At the time all of the hullabaloo was going on trying to stop Wal-Mart from
coming to town, I talked to the owner of the local Ace Hardware. Asked him
what his thoughts were on the whole thing. He told me that he went to Ace
HQ and asked them what he should do about Wal Mart moving in and if they had
anything to offer him to help battle them. To his surprise, they told him
that the best thing that could happen to his business is if Wal Mart or Home
Depot or whatever moved right in across the street. The fact of the matter
is these guys know what impacts their business better than any of us and
though it seems logical from one perspective to believe that the big will
swallow up the small, it's just not true.

Wal Mart has been in the neighboring town for about 4 years now and only one
business closed its doors. That business was the grocery store that I
mentioned earlier. Every other pharmacy, hardware store, convenience store,
grocery store, you name it, are still here and doing as well as before Wal
Mart came to town.

When businesses close it's not because the big guy came to town. They were
doing something else wrong for a long time and this was just the straw that
broke the proverbial camel's back. I bet if you think back on the opinions
of those local merchants you used to know, there was probably more grumbling
about price gouging, bad attitudes, etc. way back when, than there were
glowing compliments about how much everyone liked shopping there.

--

-Mike-

Subject

Biggest reason to avoid Lowes around here is location.

They are all located in a shopping centers with traffic control patterns
designed to insure that "you can't get there from here".

Can't remember the last time I was in one.

It isn't worth the frustration of wasting all that time just to find a
place to park, much less stand in line to pay for your purchases after
making a selection.

Lew

Nova wrote:
I agree. The Buffalo area has always been a competitive market. The "mom and pop"
hardware stores continue to survive because they have build their business by offering
specialized service filling a particular niche. While there have a few local hardware
stores close since Home Depot came to town they have closed due to a change in
demographics rather than the competition.



I'll agree with you and raise you this thought. How many of
the stores that close were already on the cusp of
failure/were failing anyway and have used (insert mega store
name here) as the scape goat?

Here in Da Falls we have an Ace Hardware (Neu's). The owner
wanted to sell the lot across the street from his store
(highway frontage) to Home Depot but the village wouldn't
let him onna 'count of access (it would have been a
nightmare/no really).

Home Depot did end up opening a mile(ish) away as did also a
Menard's. Neu's doesn't open on Sunday and they keep short
hours on Tuesday and Thursday. And guess what, all three
places are making money.

I was eventually disappointed that Neu's wasn't able to let
a Home Depot open across the street just to watch both stay
in business but I'm happy with the proximity/it serves to
prove a point.

UA100

Nova wrote:


I agree. The Buffalo area has always been a competitive market. The "mom and pop"
hardware stores continue to survive because they have build their business by offering
specialized service filling a particular niche. While there have a few local hardware
stores close since Home Depot came to town they have closed due to a change in
demographics rather than the competition.

One of the things not widely known are the "tax break" deals cut by the
biggies before they agree to open a store.

At a minimum, no local taxes as well as they keep all the sales taxes
collected for at least one year.

All that just to gain access to the store payroll for income taxes.

Lew

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
nk.net...

One of the things not widely known are the "tax break" deals cut by the
biggies before they agree to open a store.

At a minimum, no local taxes as well as they keep all the sales taxes
collected for at least one year.

I have heard of local governments working tax advantage deals with a company
but I would be shocked if the store gets to keep the states portion of the
sales tax collected. Oddly a Sam's Club moved 1 block about 4 years ago.
Its new location is on 2 separate city lines. These two cities share the
sales tax collected at the store.

Leon wrote:

sales tax collected. Oddly a Sam's Club moved 1 block about 4 years ago.
Its new location is on 2 separate city lines. These two cities share the
sales tax collected at the store.

You must live in Pennsylvania.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/

"Silvan" wrote in message
news
Leon wrote:

sales tax collected. Oddly a Sam's Club moved 1 block about 4 years ago.
Its new location is on 2 separate city lines. These two cities share the
sales tax collected at the store.

You must live in Pennsylvania.

SW side of Houston, Tx. About a stones throw from Sugar Land, Stafford, and
Meadows Place city limits.

Lew Hodgett wrote:

One of the things not widely known are the "tax break" deals cut by the
biggies before they agree to open a store.

At a minimum, no local taxes as well as they keep all the sales taxes
collected for at least one year.

All that just to gain access to the store payroll for income taxes.

Lew

Usually when a tax incentive is given to attract a business the local media broadcast the
information. "Bass Pro" just signed a deal with the city to open a store in downtown
Buffalo and the amount the city is SUPPOSED to kick is was well publicized. I've heard of
no incentives given to Lowes.

The City Of Buffalo and The County of Erie (Buffalo is in Erie County) are in major
financial trouble. The Erie County executive just tried to push through a 1% increase in
county tax which would have raised the combined state/county sales tax to 9.25%, the
highest in the country. This was after blowing, IIRC, a $12 million surplus left the the
previous administration and squandering the millions received by the county from the
tobacco law suit. The attempt to raise the tax failed to pass this past Friday. The
county parks are now closed, county roads are not being plowed, county workers are supposed
to be laid off in droves and the department heads is taking the matter to the courts.

I sure hope Lowes wasn't given a tax break. There'll be public hanging.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
(Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 20:00:20 -0500, Nova wrote:

.... snip

The City Of Buffalo and The County of Erie (Buffalo is in Erie County) are in major
financial trouble. The Erie County executive just tried to push through a 1% increase in
county tax which would have raised the combined state/county sales tax to 9.25%, the
highest in the country. This was after blowing, IIRC, a $12 million surplus left the the
previous administration and squandering the millions received by the county from the
tobacco law suit. The attempt to raise the tax failed to pass this past Friday. The
county parks are now closed, county roads are not being plowed, county workers are supposed
to be laid off in droves and the department heads is taking the matter to the courts.


So your county officials are throwing a hissy fit and punishing the
voters? Funny how when tax increases don't pass, it's the services most
visible that get cut first, isn't it? Nobody would have noticed any
decreases in staff at the county offices such as a few less clerks or some
county officials having to share executive assistants or maybe some cuts in
landscaping staff or other "non-essential" services. Nope, when the public
refuses to go along with a tax increase, they want to show how shortsighted
the move was by cutting where people will see it.


I sure hope Lowes wasn't given a tax break. There'll be public hanging.



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The absence of accidents does not mean the presence of safety
Army General Richard Cody
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Silvan wrote:

....an all too true lament for the old-timey store...

Yeah, there's one of those here, too....although in this one he won't
get up out of the chair she will and seems to have an uncanny knowledge
of where everything is, some of which has been there collecting dust for
50 years or more...it's the one place I go when needing an old whatever
it is because it will be the only place there's a chance. But, you're
right a lot of their new stock is the same as the Borg's since the only
distributors left are all the same ones...

There're a couple of farm supplies that still buy American for the most
part here (the Co-Op) primarily, and that's the primary place I go.
Somewhat more expensive for routine hardware, but not outrageous.

As for true "woodworking" supplies, there's no place in town for
anything other than some carpentry supplies...too small a market. But
that's not a new phenomenon.