Weekly Poll - May 8th, 2005
The independent hardware stores and lumber yards apparently don’t stand a chance with us house bloggers. Home Depot outsells Lowes 49% to 43%, and this is definitely within our margin or error. These two behemoths are roughly tied. Check out the complete results here.
I have to say this is unfortunate. And dramatic – I can remember as a kid there were no Home Depots or Lowes in my part of the country, and going to the independent lumber yard with my dad was practically a weekend ritual. I don’t recall ever having to stand in line at checkout either.
This week’s poll: How old were you first learned some basic carpentry skills? And, I do mean BASIC, like, your mom (Happy Mother’s Day!) showed you how to swing a hammer.
7 Comments
jm·May 8, 2005
Although we do end up purchasing quite a bit at a big box store (Lowe’s for service/selection, Home Depot because it is SO close), we have been trying to shift some of our purchases over to local businesses. I’m a big fan of Epco Paint, Ace Hardware, Lee Lumber, even some local electric and plumbing supply stores. However, because these stores only supply 2-3 items at a time to us, the big boxes have a slight edge because we tend to purchase more “little things” there. I’m with you, though, I love the local hardware stores that I grew up with. I appreciate big boxes for one thing…helping to extend hours from beyond the 9 am - 4 pm schedule the lumberyard close to our childhood home used to keep!
Nick·May 8, 2005
I’m with you there, jm. We have a local hardware store (McClendons) that I LOVE, but it’s further away and isn’t as inexpensive or convenient - often a factor in the middle of a project. But, I go there whenever I need somthing out of the ordinary, and they always seem to have it.
Jocelyn·May 8, 2005
On the same page too. By us, as I said before it’s Clark Devon. No one bests their expertise, customer service, and they have alot of things that we need in a pinch. As we can walk there from our house, that is where we always go during projects and we always rent tools there, but when we buy BIG, it’s usually a day trip to Home Depot. But maybe it’s a tie money-wise when you add up all the little stuff bought at CD over a year. Next year when we add everything up tax time, I am going to check that out. I love the weekly polls too.
Grex·May 8, 2005
I never been in a Home Depot or Lowes, so I really don’t know what I’m missing. I’ve never been in a Wal-Mart either. We don’t have any of those around here. There is a Wal-Mart about 2 hours north. Maybe if I were more of a consumer I’d make the trek to find out what all the hub-bub is about. I do have a problem with selection from time to time. The small places around here don’t carry everything in the world but I can find what I need on-line. I went to every hardware store in the area once looking for plaster washers and was met with nothing but blank stares. I ordered them on-line and had them with-in the week.
Das Kooner (casey)·May 8, 2005
Hardwicks is the coolest hardware store in the city. (42nd NE and Roosevelt)
The web-cam is cool dude! You guys are making great progress.
Nick·May 8, 2005
Way to go, Grex. You can skip WalMart; I’m so NOT impressed with them. We actually stopped into a walmart the other night on a search for a space heater (apparently no one stocks space heaters when its not winter…) and it was INSANE. Friday night, and walmart was PACKED. No thanks.
Derek·May 9, 2005
One of the reasons I got to Home Despot, is that I can pick through the lumber, and since I’m tying it on to the roof of my car, I can take my time. At the lumberyard, they just throw it in quickly, and don’t let you check to see if the lumber is any good. There’s more selection at the lumber yard, if you’re buying a lot it’s worth it, they carry a larger variety of grades, so you can get cheaper lumber for building forms etc. Plaster washers are hard to find, I found them at Lee Valley.