I’m not sure why, but I’ve always had the impression Lowes carries a bit higher end product than Home Depot.
There is some overlap in brands. But Lowes lumbers is better. I built a 12x16ft deck using their pressure treated lumber. I spent an hour hand picking the straightest and clearest boards. My local HD just had crooked junk in their bin.
Imho Lowes just seems cleaner and better organized too I prefer shopping there.
Which store do you think has better quality stock?
I like Lowes better as a place to shop, but Home Depot seems to have what I’m looking for more often. Go figger.
My local hardware store often has hard to find items. I needed a stainless steel kick plate for a 32" door. No luck at the big box. My local Tru Value had them in stock.
This is my experience. I’ve got either store about the same distance from my house in opposite directions. I much prefer to shop at Lowe’s, but when researching stuff online Home Depot tends to carry the specific item I’m looking for more often than Lowe’s, but I fucking hate Home Depot. It’s a terrible shopping experience, without exception.
My local independent lumber yard has much better lumber. I suspect that’s how they are competing. Yes it’s more expensive, but it ain’t crap.
I feel as tho Lowe’s - or Menard’s - is somewhat better than HD. But I’ve got at least 2 HDs closer to me than either of the others, so I usu go there first.
Not sure what you specifically don’t like about Home Depot but I have a hard time getting the right help when I need it, and the stores I’ve been in have junk scattered all over–manufacturer’s displays set up in the middle of aisles blocking shelves, ladder carts every which-where, inventory boxes that are halfway unpacked. It can be hard to find things, signage is not too good.
However, there has never been a time when I couldn’t find something at Home Depot and could find it at Lowe’s.
IIRC both have web sites that will show you a product and the exact spot they are shelved in your particular store.
It’s currently Home Depot, they’re making a come back while Lowes is beginning to fade. I assume in a few years they’ll switch places again unless one or both of them goes under.
Home Depot declined some years back, trying to save money they narrowed their product line and didn’t restock so often. Their customer service was often derided. As Bill Maher once said, “Like true love, help at the Home Depot may only come around once in a lifetime”. Now Lowes seems to be in that model, cutting back on products, not restocking, and maybe cutting back on personnel too. But I was surprised by that they had helpful knowledgeable people in the plumbing and electrical supplies last weekend.
See? You know. 
My most recent Home Depot experience: I ordered an item from amazon, but UPS fucked me on that one so I ordered the same item from HD, store pickup (not an in-stock item). A week after I ordered the date comes when the item is supposed to be at the store. They’re supposed to send you an email to let you know to come pick up your stuff. Tracking info from their site says the item was delivered to the store. I got no email. I call the store. After looking around for 20 minutes, girl comes back to the phone with, “Yeah that came in the day you ordered it, last week.” Then I immediately get the email. :smack: I’ve yet to meet a Home Depot employee that gives half a fuck about their job.
Lowes carries Craftsman tools now. That’s a big plus.
.But that’s very recent.
About the same to me. I still prefer Mom&Pop hardwares and the only “box store” in that line I found superior isn’t around – Hechinger’s. Those seemed to have much better reliable quality goods than the others.
We have a local hardware chain which is the place to go. There are Lowes and HD both closer to me, but I will go to the other place because they are far superior. I just do not go to the big chains because they have nothing to offer.
The competition between these two companies is intense.
I’ve rarely seen a town that didn’t have both stores.
Most of our locally owned hardware stores were driven out of business by the Home Depot - Lowes combination. One or two of the locally owned lumber yards went under but the rest survived on better quality wood.
If I need something from a box store, I prefer Lowes. It’s cleaner, better staffed and the aisles are wider. But it’s a few miles further than HD. So for a low cost item that I can run in and grab quickly, I’ll do HD.
One is Blue. The other, Orange.
The local lumber yards always have the best lumber and offer the best service to professional contractors and builders. That’s their niche market that big box stores can’t overcome.
You have to hand pick every board at HD or Lowes. Otherwise the stuff the staff grabs is pretty bad.
If you’re a contractor with a big remodel job, there isn’t time to waste hand picking lumber. They order a truck load from lumber yards they trust. Any split or warped lumber gets returned and there better not be any questions asked.
Do you think it’s a coincidence those are complementary colors?
Entirely depends on the trip. Most of my purchases are from either the local Best Lumber or Ace Lumber. If there is a Smart & Final run being planned, then Lowe’s. Target/Barnes & Nobel? Then Home Depot. Fickle, I am.
Historically I have preferred HD for building supplies, but Lowes for finish-level supplies. Rarely have I had a project that didn’t require multiple trips to both stores.
Now I am in a situation where the closest HD is really bad - apparently it used to be another chain that was taken over by HD a few years ago. Nothing is where it makes sense to be, they have terrible control over inventory - if online says they have 1 or 2 available, you can be pretty sure they nave none. Fortunately there is a better HD a few miles further. Unfortunately the nearest Lowes is 2x as far as the nearest HD.
We have a local hardware chain (Ace-branded) which is great for certain things (especially obscure hardware - they have a massive number of the Hillman Hardware drawers). They are a bit pricey though, a lot of things I buy there because they are <5 minutes from home and the closest HD is >15 minutes. They also have excellent free popcorn.
For power tools, I prefer the ones that Lowes sells. I have been disappointed in some of the things I have purchased from HD.
For other things (light fixtures, doors, whatever), neither one seems to have superior products. They generally seem to be about equal.
Lowes, at least the one by me, has appliances in stock. HD always has to order them. When my washing machine or dryer has broken and we have a literal mountain of laundry that needs done, I can’t wait 2 weeks to order one in.
Craftsman isn’t what it used to be, IMHO. It seems to me that they’ve been coasting along on their name for quite some time. They aren’t bad tools, but they definitely aren’t what they once were.
Lowes lumber is better at the store near me, but it’s still crap compared to what I used to be able to buy when I was younger. The lumber yards I used to go to would have been ashamed of themselves to sell the crappy warped and knotted boards that Lowes and HD sell. I can usually find decent boards for whatever I need, but I hate having to sort through board after board to find a decent one.