# Home Depot Vs. Lowes



## realelectrician (Jul 13, 2011)

Warren said:


> Since we have been doing a lot of remodel work, I find myself at HD or Lowes several times per week. I just refuse to park in the "Pro parking lot" Not sure why I just don't respect what that represents.


The pro parking spots right by the front door are a benefit to the contractors. Most of the time contractors have large orders to pick up and are on the clock picking them up. Hauling all that stuff out way into the parking lot to load up eats up a lot of time believe or not.

They have a pro desk so what's so bad about a pro parking spot?


----------



## Warren (Feb 19, 2005)

realelectrician said:


> The pro parking spots right by the front door are a benefit to the contractors. Most of the time contractors have large orders to pick up and are on the clock picking them up. Hauling all that stuff out way into the parking lot to load up eats up a lot of time believe or not.
> 
> They have a pro desk so what's so bad about a pro parking spot?


I don't use the pro desk either. Why would I need to?
I never get a ton of stuff there. I call the lumber yard and have it delivered. I understand if someone has a large order to pick up, but that is not what I usually see there. Most folks park walk out with a small bag of stuff and use up the spots there.


----------



## realelectrician (Jul 13, 2011)

Warren said:


> I don't use the pro desk either. Why would I need to?
> I never get a ton of stuff there. I call the lumber yard and have it delivered. I understand if someone has a large order to pick up, but that is not what I usually see there. Most folks park walk out with a small bag of stuff and use up the spots there.


I don't use the pro desk either but it is there for special orders and dedicated service to professionals. 

I don't know what happens all the time in the pro parking spots because i'm not there 8+ hours of the day but the reasoning for them is for what i described.


----------



## Framer53 (Feb 23, 2008)

I use the pro desk because I get discounts from my pro guy.

I find that I call and the pro guy has what I need pulled if I let him know if i am in a hurry.

They also have a program that by entering your pro number, phone number, they send me an email so I don't have to worry about the receipts.
If I have returns the pro guy handles it for me.
They sold out the Hitachi line of air tools and he told me to go buy, got framer and 18 gauge finish mailer for 59.
The dept head waits on me if my guy is busy.
I get bid room pricing on everything anywhere from 5-40% off.
At Lowes I get poor service, the local pro guys are rotated or fired every other month.
last time I had a woman wait on me, nice lady, but didn't have a clue.

Basically my local HD treats me like they are a local yard, which went out years ago.


----------



## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

Framer53 said:


> I use the pro desk because I get discounts from my pro guy.
> 
> I find that I call and the pro guy has what I need pulled if I let him know if i am in a hurry.
> 
> ...


Yep I get to have all my receipts stored digitally. I never need to save paper receipts anymore. My lumberyard also keeps everything digitally. As long as I always use a credit card that I've registered with the account. HD stores it. If I ever get audited I can just print anything I need. The cashier also asks me for a job number so each receipt is job specific.


----------



## AGullion (Apr 19, 2015)

My experience has been about like framers...they ve really been great .. And yep, I ll park in pro parking in a heartbeat .


----------



## avenge (Sep 25, 2008)

Warren said:


> Since we have been doing a lot of remodel work, I find myself at HD or Lowes several times per week. I just refuse to park in the "Pro parking lot" Not sure why I just don't respect what that represents.


I'm the same, I don't run to the supplier out of my way and take longer to pick up a couple sticks of trim and an electrical box. I never park in the Pro area either. I'll park away from the "Pro" with the beat up truck, magnetic signs and 6' ft. of lumber sticking out the back without a flag.

The closest Lowes made the loading area under the canopy "no parking" because morons would park where you can't get out or load your truck.

The Menards by me can be a hassle because I can never find a loading cart and you have go around the back of the store, go through a checkpoint both in and out. And you might have to search and wait for an employee.

In my area and for me I'd put HD 1st, Menards 2nd and wish someone would buyout Blowes.


----------



## pcplumber (Oct 12, 2008)

EricBrancard said:


> One can only assume you are of movie star grade appearance to talk about ugly people in such a way? :whistling


I did not make the website 'The Ugly People Who Shop At Walmart'. I said I don't like to do business at several businesses because of the class of people, their mannerisms, ettiquette and the ugly faces they have (make) when they use their EBT cards.

There are many beautiful people with ugly features and there are many nice-looking people who are ugly as a result of their mannerisms and the way they dress. Everyone, except the people with no class, has preferences where they do business in regards to the general class of clientelle that frequents the business. There are many restaurants, movie theaters and parks people won't go to only because of the class of people they have to be around.

I said I don't like going to Walmart because I don't want to be around nor do I want to see the ugly faces on several people in the cashier line pulling out their EBT cards to pay for two shopping carts full of food while they have 2 to 5 brats with no manner running around the store pulling things off the shelves and racks and throwing the items on the floor. I don't like seeing the soliva in the mouths of five family members chewing and snapping gum at the same time with their mouth open and their is a very specific ethnic group that is notorious for chewing gum with their mouths open. I don't like to go to plumbing supply houses where multiple plumbers are slirping their coffee, hawking goobers, clearing their throats and talking like trailer trash.

There is no comparison between shopping at a chain food store and Walmart. At the chain food markets you do not see the masses of people with EBT cards, you virtually never see people with more than one shopping cart and they are usually less than half full and you seldom see a massive number of obese people who are dressed like slobs who look like they don't take baths nor wash their clothing. Yes! Even if god gave me an ugly face and ugly body I know that I am better-looking than the average person who shops at Walmart.

I have a difficult time patronizing most restaurants as a result of people's manners and ettiquette. There can be the most beautiful woman in the world in a restaurant, but if she is dressed like a slob, chewing food with her mouth open, holding a bowl to her mouth as she shovels the food in, talking with a mouthful of food that is visible and has food all over her face then that makes an ugly scene (person) that can be hard to ignore and it ruins my entire purpose for taking the time and spending the money to eat at a decent restaurant. Almost every time I go to a packed restaurant I have to move my seat to avoid having to see the bad table manners that people have. Rather than restaurants giving children cartoon pictures and crayons to play with I would like to see restaurants find a way to give people some sort of game that teaches table manners.

As for Home Depot, Lowes and HD Supply I really do think there is a slight difference in the type of contractor (not everyone) who patronize eash one with the exception of the convenience of the store's location. When I shop at Home Depot I get the impression that the contractors shopping there are hustling and the cost for the items are not a great concern. When I go to Lowes I think the contractors are moving about a little slower and they are shopping for better prices and lower-quality materials. When I go to HD Supply I get the feeling that the contractors are moving at a snail's pace as they slowly keep pulling items, look at them for a longer period of time and ponder whether or not they want to purchase the item. I also find that the people who shop at Home Depot and Lowes are proportionally from every ethnic group while the people who shop at HD Supply are mostly mostly Hispanics.


----------



## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

Framer53 said:


> *I use the pro desk because I get discounts from my pro guy.*
> 
> I find that I call and the pro guy has what I need pulled if I let him know if i am in a hurry.
> 
> ...


Damn straight!


----------



## SamM (Dec 13, 2009)

Framer53 said:


> Basically my local HD treats me like they are a local yard, which went out years ago.


That's what it's all about though. Not one person here is taking price, we're talking service.

I'm fortunate enough to have a local yard. I've never seen a Lowes. 
Other than the local yard (which is actually a 5 store group covering most of the area) we have Kents (garbage), Home Hardware (always have good luck with them. If my yard closed that's where I'd go), and Rona (garbage again)

I shop at HD sometimes when I work out of area, if they are closer than a home hardware. It would drive me nuts to have to shop there full time though.


----------



## CO762 (Feb 22, 2010)

Golden view said:


> I only need to learn the layout of one store.


That's the thing that trips me up at HD--IIRC they have three different layouts in their chain and some market areas have all three. Lowes has different layouts too, but they're not as saturated in market areas.

I find each big box seems to have their niche for me so I hit lowes (fixtures/appliances), HD, and menards (denshield and sds max bits).
They all have basic stuff so there's not a lot of difference there, but if one is looking for off brands, menards will have them.

Smaller places around me are ignorant, indifferent and overpriced.


----------



## CO762 (Feb 22, 2010)

Framer53 said:


> I use the pro desk because I get discounts from my pro guy.
> At Lowes I get poor service, the local pro guys are rotated or fired every other month. last time I had a woman wait on me, nice lady, but didn't have a clue.
> Basically my local HD treats me like they are a local yard, which went out years ago.


I've had good experience with the HD's I went to, just like you. Every job over $4k they'll bid on and delivery is never a problem.

Not been to as many lowes, but only one I had a professional relationship with their pro desk and she had a contracting background. She was a lesbian that took great care for and was attentive to her contractors. They seem more retail oriented and have more of an upscale feeling. They do seem to go through people at their pro desk though, so they might want to check into why.

As you found, if you have a good relationship with or know the people at the pro desk, both places will work with you. I've worked with manufacturers through their desk also.

Menards has a lower end feeling to it and somebody needs to make a movie of them..... (Rob's gonna get me on that one....)
Their outside sales guy ignored me a few times when I went to see him as he was standing there entering an order. His customer and friend are in my market area, so I expect that he's doing that to protect his friend. Outside sales people--yet another reason why menards is not on my place to shop. They can be the outside salesperson for my competition, so why should I support them as they help my competition?

I hate having to say "Hello" to HD people every ten feet........


----------



## pcplumber (Oct 12, 2008)

SamM said:


> That's what it's all about though. Not one person here is taking price, we're talking service.
> 
> I'm fortunate enough to have a local yard. I've never seen a Lowes.
> Other than the local yard (which is actually a 5 store group covering most of the area) we have Kents (garbage), Home Hardware (always have good luck with them. If my yard closed that's where I'd go), and Rona (garbage again)
> ...


I mentioned the price several times, but I don't think people do business with places because of only price, service, material availability and location. I think there is a certain amount of ego that drives people to choose where they want to do business. 

We have a huge lumber yard where trainloads of lumber are delivered every day. I know this because the train tracks leading to the business are in front of my shop. The lumber is always soaking wet and a low quality compared to Home Depot. Their service is terrible and there prices are 10% to 20% higher than Home Depot. You have to wait in a line to give your order to people who act like zombies and then you have to wait 15 or more minutes to finds someone outside to pull your order. When they pull your order their employee tells you to drive around their lot to several locations. He always leaves on a forklift in front of me and I always have a hard time finding him. When you want to add doors, nails, bolts or hardware to your order you have to go to another building and order and pay for those items separately. Nobody likes the owner and the owner is one of the rudest business people you will ever meet. I go to this lumber yard only when I want a long piece of lumber that Home Depot does not stock. I believe that people choose this lumber yard because their ego tells them that they can't do business with a place like Home Depot, or they don't know any better, or they are complacent and don't want to rock the boat.

If you told me about a new place that opened where I could save 10% to 20% I would still go to Home Depot for a long time because I am satisfied and someday when I have nothing to do and happen to be in the area of the new place I would probably go inside and do some window shopping.

I think Home Depot is terrific, but there are thousands of items in the store where you will pay 1000% more than the item's wholesale price. Home Depot sells 10-foot PVC rain gutters for $3.49 and the tiny little couplings for the downspouts that have the appearance of a 39 cent item are $3.79. That is about 1000% higher that what they should be. Most of the plumbing products are 100% to 400% higher than wholesale houses. I find that the electrical wiring, switches, junction boxes, etc. are always less expensive than electrical wholesale houses.
I find that lumber is less expensive and a better quality than lumber yards.


----------



## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

pcplumber said:


> I mentioned the price several times, but I don't think people do business with places because of only price, service, material availability and location. I think there is a certain amount of ego that drives people to choose where they want to do business.
> 
> We have a huge lumber yard where trainloads of lumber are delivered every day. I know this because the train tracks leading to the business are in front of my shop. The lumber is always soaking wet and a low quality compared to Home Depot. Their service is terrible and there prices are 10% to 20% higher than Home Depot. You have to wait in a line to give your order to people who act like zombies and then you have to wait 15 or more minutes to finds someone outside to pull your order. When they pull your order their employee tells you to drive around their lot to several locations. He always leaves on a forklift in front of me and I always have a hard time finding him. When you want to add doors, nails, bolts or hardware to your order you have to go to another building and order and pay for those items separately. Nobody likes the owner and the owner is one of the rudest business people you will ever meet. I go to this lumber yard only when I want a long piece of lumber that Home Depot does not stock. I believe that people choose this lumber yard because their ego tells them that they can't do business with a place like Home Depot, or they don't know any better, or they are complacent and don't want to rock the boat.
> 
> ...


I've got news for you. It's extremely rare for retail lumberyards to get their lumber from trains. It used to be that way but not usually these days. Those trains deliver to wholesale vendors and those vendors deliver to the lumber yards and big box stores. They all pretty much get the lumber from the same place. So the 2x I get from Depot could very easily be from the same train that I get my lumber from my lumberyard. There really isn't a whole lot of places that sell lumber wholesale, not even in LA.


----------



## AGullion (Apr 19, 2015)

Years ago, it was bought directly off the trucks coming down from Oregon into California, old growth lumber . that was cool. Home depot and Lowes, in my opinion , a kind of twins , they both approach the market the same way ...and have been massively successful here in the states . I like having them around , especially all hours sometimes , if a waterline breaks or something . I also like our specialty vendors , millwork , tile and trim ...they do a good job and help me make more money


----------



## pcplumber (Oct 12, 2008)

Californiadecks said:


> I've got news for you. It's extremely rare for retail lumberyards to get their lumber from trains. It used to be that way but not usually these days. Those trains deliver to wholesale vendors and those vendors deliver to the lumber yards and big box stores. They all pretty much get the lumber from the same place. So the 2x I get from Depot could very easily be from the same train that I get my lumber from my lumberyard. There really isn't a whole lot of places that sell lumber wholesale, not even in LA.


Crenshaw Lumber is on 166th Street in Gardena California. There are currently 4 trainloads of lumber on the property and the train tracks go east to Vermont Avenue and then go north directly in front of my shop and the yard is about 1-1/4 miles from my shop. As far as I know, Crenshaw lumber sells lumber only to the general public, contractors and a person can purchase one piece of lumber or several truckloads. I have never seen Crenshaw lumber deliver to another lumber company and the company has very unique trucks that are easy to idendify. Their trucks are more than 50 years old, look brand new and every truck has run several million miles.

As I said in my previous post, Crenshaw lumber sells wet lumber and agreed to pay $13 million for a mold lawsuit as shown in the link below.

http://www.lawyersandsettlements.co.../RS=EUNQJjzUjXs7JHF6na5f8CBxrTE-#.Ve0U-Zdgg8I

You can see in even this recent picture that Crenshaw Lumber still does not protect their lumber from the weather.


----------



## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

pcplumber said:


> Crenshaw Lumber is on 166th Street in Gardena California. The train tracks go east to Vermont Avenue and then go north directly in front of my shop and the yard is about 1-1/4 miles from my shop.
> 
> As I said in my previous post, Crenshaw lumber sells wet lumber and agreed to pay $13 million for a mold lawsuit as shown in the link below.
> 
> ...


I never said anything about your lumberyard now did I?


----------



## pcplumber (Oct 12, 2008)

Californiadecks said:


> I never said anything about your lumberyard now did I?


Maybe, you need to explain what your post states or implies.

This is what you wrote:

"I've got news for you. It's extremely rare for retail lumberyards to get their lumber from trains. It used to be that way but not usually these days. Those trains deliver to wholesale vendors and those vendors deliver to the lumber yards and big box stores. They all pretty much get the lumber from the same place. So the 2x I get from Depot could very easily be from the same train that I get my lumber from my lumberyard. There really isn't a whole lot of places that sell lumber wholesale, not even in LA."

I deciphered your entire paragraph to imply that my post is not correct, trains do not deliver to retailers, deliver only to wholesalers wholesalers and the lumber company near my office does not sell directly to the public.


----------



## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

pcplumber said:


> Maybe, you need to explain what your post states or implies.
> 
> This is what you wrote:
> 
> ...


He said extremely rare. You need to learn how to read and comprehend English. 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


----------



## pcplumber (Oct 12, 2008)

TNTSERVICES said:


> He said extremely rare. You need to learn how to read and comprehend English.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


The words, "I've got news for you" are not friendly and imply that the information I wrote is not correct and is being corrected in the following sentences he wrote in that paragraph.

My answer to that post politely backed up my original post proving that that multiple trainloads of lumber are delivered to a local retail lumber yard that sells to contractors and the general public.


----------

