I’m starting phase two of home improvement projects on the house I bought last summer. Couple of new windows, front door, covered front porch and deck.
Last summer I shopped at both HD and Lowes, comparing prices for big-ticket items first. This spring, a third big box store has opened in my area - Menards. Never been there; I’m about to head over to look around. If they have a better price/selection on steel entry doors, I’ll be coming home with one this afternoon.
In my experience, Lowes is better for “decorator” type items such as window coverings, lighting, storage units, etc. Lowes donated lumber for a bridge and elevated path at a park I’ve done some volunteer work in, so I have a soft spot for them on that score.
Home Depot - at least the one I go to - seems to have more readily-available staff to help find things and answer questions. My local HD also has the edge on landscaping supplies and their website is easier to search and navigate.
Price-wise, they’re about the same and I believe both offer to match any competitor price, so that’s sort of a wash.
I also made liberal use of craigslist and Habitat ReStore last year, and try to shop smaller/locally-owned businesses asw much as possible. However, for lumber and so on, I’ve yet to find better prices than the big box places and I don’t have a ton of money to play with.
I agree with you on Lowes and HD. I’ve only been in Menards once. The store I was in was the worst laid out store I have ever been in. They don’t have as wide a selection of things as Lowes and HD have, but they carry a bunch of weird type products that don’t really fit into a home improvement store. Like a few aisles of groceries, cheap t-shirts and pants. I even saw actual Member’s Only brand jackets in this place. You could probably find a good price on a basic product, but you won’t have much selection.
Yeah, Menard’s has some strange stuff. Not just the usual “Case of Gatorade” by the registers but an actual (short) aisle of snacks and party-sized bags of chips and stuff.
The real similarity is that none of them carried the “three panel” style tomato cages I wanted today and I finally found them at Sears hardware.
For general hardware items I might need (box of nails, hose adapters, step ladder) I’d go wherever is closest. I do agree that Lowes seems to strive for a more “decorator’s” appeal in their store style and selection.
Mennards has a better plumbing section hands down. Better prices too. I would rank Home Depot the worst for stock of just about anything useful. I would drive past a nearby HD to go to Mennards or Lowes.
Just back from Menards - Omar Little, you’re correct, they have aisles and end caps of odd things. Books, clothes, food, pet food, oddball home decor stuff. Oh also automotive supplies.
I sort of liked Menards although the store appeared to be very understaffed and it took a while to get out of there.
However, they had the door I wanted (stainless steel with a little half-moon window) for $129.00. HD and Lowes both wanted $169.00. So I am happy with the savings! And I already got the lockset brand new for $5.00 at Habitat ReStore. So phhhttt to the Evil Empires.
I’m in SE Michigan, itinerant day laborers are a rare breed around here. Actually, an invisible breed. I’ve never seen them here.
I have a buttload of lumber and fasteners and hangers to buy for the porch…that’s going to be the big expense. I’ll probably call the lumber yard section of each store and comparison shop, since I am a cheap beeyotch.
My son is a store manager for Menard’s in Minnesota, so I’ve been to the store a couple of times. It seemed pretty much like a HD or Lowes clone, but more regional.
Aaaand…Menards just called me back with the price for the replacement windows I need. They are MUCH cheaper per window than both HD and Lowes. $210 per window, compared to $268 at Lowes and $330 at HD. Same window, basically - white vinyl slider, low-E glass, argon gas/double paned, builder grade.
IMO, Menards tends to have a lot of off-brand stuff. So if you want a cheap screw driver or a power tool by a brand no one’s ever heard of, that’s the place to go. It’s like a big box version of Harbor Freight.
As for Home Depot and Lowes, my big problem with Home Depot is that the staff at all the Home Depots I regularly go to (at least three) are terrible. I see them actively walk out of aisles that customers walk into, walk right past people that clearly need help, stand around talking to each other instead of spread out in the store helping customers…just terrible. I like to think their slogan should be Home Depot. You Can Do It. By Yourself.
A few weeks ago, I stood around for about 5 minutes waiting for help before finally going over to a manger and asking him to help me find something. He told me to ask for help in that section. I explained to him that there’s no one over there. He walked me over there pointed to someone and very accusingly/condescendingly said “Look, there’s someone right there” as if to imply I never attempted to find him to begin with (I had, he wasn’t in that area). I replied “Well, I don’t know what to tell you, he hasn’t been there for the last five minutes, but this is why I normally shop at Lowes”
Lowes on the other hand, in addition to what others have said, has great service. You can hardly make it from the door to where you’re going without being asked if you need help at least once or twice.
We don’t have Menard’s here but as to the other two this is exactly my experience. The quality of service/employees at Lowe’s is vastly superior to Home Depot in every possible way. The people at Lowe’s are happy to help, enthusiastic even, while at Home Depot they couldn’t possibly care less. Even when I do find someone to ask a question of, they never have the answer and simply direct me to a different employee across the store who is equally clueless. I go to Lowe’s whenever possible. Fuck Home Depot.
I used all three when I fixed up the basement. This included electrical, plumbing, insulation, hardware, etc. Generally speaking, I found Menard’s to have the largest selection, so most of my stuff came from there. Lowe’s was O.K., but the place was always too crowded. Home Depot had the poorest selection and most annoying employees, but the quality of the products was high.
One of the other cool things about Menard’s is the food isles. Good prices. I get the feeling they sell the food items at cost.
Since we’re venting, I distinctly remember going into HD a few weeks ago for some simple copper fittings. They had the individual ones jammed into boxes that I couldn’t see and had difficulty physically getting them out of. The bulk versions were in lock boxes on the floor. I was so frustrated with the process of buying the most common items that I drove 5 miles down the road to buy the stuff. They lost an easy $200 worth of sales.
I use to get frustrated because I knew one of the 2 big box stores sucked and I could never remember which one. I’ve since figured it out.
That’s the case around here too. I think Lowe’s makes a special effort to be cleaner and more “pretty” in terms of the product packaging and placement.
Lowe’s seems to be aiming at the homeowner, while Home Depot really seems to be aiming at the small contractor, despite whatever their commercials say.
This is my experience as well, however there are far more Home Depots that are convenient to me compared to Lowes. I don’t have to leave DC to go to Home Depot. However, I wouldn’t go to either unless I knew exactly what I was looking for. If I need help deciding what to get, I go a smaller hardware store near me that tends to have good service and carries items more appropriate for old houses.
I just googled but couldn’t find it…I recall an article about a year ago detailing how both Lowes and Home Depot were making a concerted effort to attract both home owners and female buyers. Realising belatedly that women make a lot of the important decisions about home improvement products, and as the economy and building slumped, people were doing more DIY projects themselves.
One handy thing for me is that the closest Lowes and HD are right directly across the street from each other. So, for instance, when I found that HD had cheaper fence panels but Lowes was a bit less on 4x4s and cement, I was able to do my fence supply shopping in one fell swoop.
I’ve noticed an enormous difference in nearby Home Depot stores. 3 miles west of me there are fewer visible employees, the ones you do find aren’t very knowledgeable or interested in helping and the store is just dirtier and disorganized. 7 miles east it’s cleaner, better stocked with far better service.
I still go to my local little old-guy staffed hardware store for most small things, sure it’s more expensive but they know everything. Bigger stuff is usually HD unless I remember to check Lowe’s website for pricing stuff. No Menards close by us.
I haven’t been to HD in years, because their customer service is the absolute worst. “Sales associates” tend to actively avoid you, if you can find one in the first place. I try to find what I need at our neighborhood True Value, even though it’s more expensive. They have people there that know where everything is located, are knowledgeable about products, and will order something if they don’t have it.
