Which of these two Home Improvement stores do you shop?

KK

Lifer
Jan 2, 2001
15,903
4
81
lowes seems more geared toward home owners, hd seems more toward contractors.
 

Ronstang

Lifer
Jul 8, 2000
12,493
18
81
When the poll shows to be lopsided towards Lowe's you will then understand why their stock price puts HD to shame.
 

clamum

Lifer
Feb 13, 2003
26,252
403
126
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
You forgot Menards, the worst major home improvement store there is.

Haha... that's the only one of the three we have here.
 

SarcasticDwarf

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2001
9,574
2
76
Originally posted by: clamum
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
You forgot Menards, the worst major home improvement store there is.

Haha... that's the only one of the three we have here.

They actually are not all that bad, there are just two problems:


1) Very, very confusing store layouts
2) Relatively low quality goods (even when compared to HD).
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,134
2,449
126
I like my local Ace or True Value hardware stores much more than the big box hardware stores. Those guys normally staff smart folks who actually know the products that they sell.

That said, I have a Home Depot within two miles of me. Because of that, so they get a lot more of my money that Lowe's does.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
46
91
Lowe's is a mile from my house.
I'm annoyed at Home Depot because they sold me a half-used can of stain and refused to take it back.
 

BMdoobieW

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 2000
3,166
0
76
I work next to what was the first Home Depot in Manhattan. I run in there for batteries and snow shovels and what have you and what not.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
19
81
Home Depot. It's closer.

For regular little hardware items, there's a ValuCity nearby. I think that's what it's called. It's got a big yellow sign, and it's got a lot of standard hardware.
 

mpitts

Lifer
Jun 9, 2000
14,732
1
81
I prefer Lowe's. It's always cleaner and I never have a problem finding someone to help if I need it.
 

doze

Platinum Member
Jul 26, 2005
2,786
0
0
I go to home depot more often b/c it is closer but both are basically the same. If there is an Ace hardware nearby I prefer to go there.
 

Bryophyte

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
13,430
13
81
Both about equally. We have both of them side by side, literally sharing a parking lot and I go back and forth when I'm pricing stuff out and comparing what they carry. Having said that, I like Lowe's better for most things. Stores are better lit and nicer to browse in. They have more home "stuff" than Home Depot (like they stock curtains and kitchen organizers and stuff that HD either doesn't carry at all or carries a poor selection of.) Home Depot seems to be more liberal with sending out 10% off coupons, but since they take one another's coupons, it's a moot point.
 

Bryophyte

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
13,430
13
81
There was a chain in the Puget Sound area that closed down (think that Lowe's bought it) called Eagle that I liked a lot. The closest I've found to it is a store in Eugene Oregon called Jerry's. Lowe's makes an acceptible substitute to Eagle, though.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,333
10,842
136
(1) Home depot

(2) Lowes


I almost always shop home depot because even though its just about always a PITA to find where the stuff I'm looking for has been relocated to (LOL), when I DO find the section they seem to have better selection & prices then Lowes, along with more stock so I don't have to make more then one trip.
 

herbiehancock

Senior member
May 11, 2006
789
0
0
Well, Home Depot seems headed for terrible financial horizons ahead.

Last month Home Depot announced a whopping 28% decline in earnings for the fourth quarter. Even more striking, same-store sales were down 6.6% from the previous year. This had never happened before, not in all 28 years of company history. Once a growth darling, "the new Wal-Mart" and a stock that sold at twice the market multiple, Home Depot is now widely discussed as a potential private-equity buyout candidate because it earns 22% on shareholder equity and has lots of assets to hock. Today it sells at a below-market multiple of 14.4 and offers an above-average dividend yield of 2.2%.

Embattled CEO Robert Nardelli resigned nearly a month ago, and the company recently announced plans to hire more sales associates for its stores. But little has changed for investors.

For one thing, the company's management change wasn't radical enough. The board didn't go outside the company to find a person with years of retailing experience -- it elevated Frank Blake, a Nardelli hire and another former General Electric man. Though Blake will try to put his own stamp on the company, he was behind many of the moves that investors have questioned, most notably the move into construction supply. What Home Depot needed was a leader who understands retail and the customer experience. Blake isn't that man.

Maybe that's why the stock hasn't made much headway. It's possible Blake will prove the skeptics wrong by improving customer service, inventory management and store appeal, but there is nothing in his past to suggest that he possesses the skill set to accomplish those tasks.

There's no reason to invest your money on the hope that he will succeed.

Home Depot's stock has rebounded some 22% off its summer lows amid hopes that a bottom in the real estate market would translate into improved performance. Now you can't even make a compelling valuation argument for buying the stock at current levels. Home Depot currently sells at 14 times next year's estimated earnings of $2.88 per share. That might seem cheap until you realize that earnings over the next year are expected to climb by a scant 1.4%. By comparison, Lowe's trades at 15.8 times estimated earnings, with a growth rate of nearly 5%.

But I'd like to suggest a much bigger reason that Home Depot has become a troubled and unloved company. I call it time abuse.

Home Depot is a consistent abuser of its customers' time. Let me explain.

Back in 1990, when my wife and I loved Home Depot, the stores were staffed with well-trained, knowledgeable and helpful people. If you had a question, even a silly one, it was easy to find someone who knew the answer. Home Depot had an amazing inventory. It also had a staff that helped you access that inventory and make choices.

Though it didn't have employees waiting at the door, as do high-service stores such as Elliot's in Dallas and Big Jo in Santa Fe, you could make a purchase quickly at Home Depot.

But that was then.

Today, it is difficult to find a staff person at a Home Depot. Personally, I've left the store empty-handed after a hopeless wait. During one long wait shortly before Christmas, I commented to a worker that the store was so busy they must be getting lots of overtime.

"No way," the employee said.

My wife has gotten so frustrated waiting -- while trying to buy carpeting for an entire house -- that she has taken her business elsewhere.

I know we're not alone. One of my friends started to seethe when I mentioned Home Depot. He'll buy things almost anywhere, except Home Depot. He hates having his time abused.

That's what Home Depot does by short-staffing. It abuses our time. We can't get the help we need, and we can't make our purchases quickly. The result is that a once iconic, wonderfully American store has become an aggravation rather than a blessing.

Let's hope the board of directors at HD takes the time to learn what's obvious to ordinary people who do a lot for themselves and need to make good use of their time.

The solution is to add people to the payroll rather than reducing both.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
65,238
13,505
146
Hmme Depot here has staffing shortages, but overall, has more knowledgeable people than the Lowes does. Seems like the Lowes hires the ones who can't get hired at Home Depot...
I agree that Lowes is usually much cleaner, but their products seem to be lower quality (home owner vs contractor quality?) Granted, many name brand things are the same (duh) but Lowe's "house" brands seem cheaper and more shoddily built. They only get my business if HD doesn't have what I want in stock.
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
21,330
1
81
herbie,

Simply put, Nardelli's practices finally caught up with the company. Doing stuff like turning SKUs off at the ends of quarters to make the bottom line look better (resulting in not having products for a month), not having enough people on the floor, and implementing impossible metrics which your pay is based on led to the company shying away from what got them to the top in the first place, like customer service, product knowledge, a wide selection of products, and having them in stock.

On a weekend, it's not uncommon for each associate that's actually working in the store to have a line of people waiting for assistance. On top of that, you're supposed to face and downstock, and also keep the aisles clean. The managers don't see how hard you work to help the customers out. All they see is the aisle's appearance and the products you brought down to put on the shelves. Again, thank Nardelli for this.

Blake is taking a page out of the founders' book and supposedly taking steps to re-implement the "upside down/inverted triangle." He's also said how he wants to concentrate on things like CS, stock, and selection. Time will tell if he's serious about it.

Another problem is always doing things for the investors. Investors only see the bottom line. They don't see how policies implemented today lose us future customers because they're resulting in temporarily increased profits.
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
21,330
1
81
Originally posted by: BoomerD
Hmme Depot here has staffing shortages, but overall, has more knowledgeable people than the Lowes does. Seems like the Lowes hires the ones who can't get hired at Home Depot...
I agree that Lowes is usually much cleaner, but their products seem to be lower quality (home owner vs contractor quality?) Granted, many name brand things are the same (duh) but Lowe's "house" brands seem cheaper and more shoddily built. They only get my business if HD doesn't have what I want in stock.

It may look like a staffing shortage, but we actually have plenty of employees. The problem is to make plan they will schedule the absolute bare minimum number of employees. In my department, except for myself, no part timers have hours. We have 4 FTers (including the DH) and 5 PTers. I haven't seen some of the other PTers for almost a month. For the past 3 weeks I've had to cover around 3-4 departments. The job can be frustrating but the pay and tuition assistance is nice.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
65,238
13,505
146
Originally posted by: BigJ
Originally posted by: BoomerD
Hmme Depot here has staffing shortages, but overall, has more knowledgeable people than the Lowes does. Seems like the Lowes hires the ones who can't get hired at Home Depot...
I agree that Lowes is usually much cleaner, but their products seem to be lower quality (home owner vs contractor quality?) Granted, many name brand things are the same (duh) but Lowe's "house" brands seem cheaper and more shoddily built. They only get my business if HD doesn't have what I want in stock.

It may look like a staffing shortage, but we actually have plenty of employees. The problem is to make plan they will schedule the absolute bare minimum number of employees. In my department, except for myself, no part timers have hours. We have 4 FTers (including the DH) and 5 PTers. I haven't seen some of the other PTers for almost a month. For the past 3 weeks I've had to cover around 3-4 departments. The job can be frustrating but the pay and tuition assistance is nice.

Then, by your very post you prove my point about staffing shortages. IF you don't have enough people to fill the positions, and provide the service to the customer, you have staffing shortages, regardless of what the business plan may say.