Home Depot & Lowe's- A classic example of bad buying!
- Updated Dec 10, 2004
Why is it I go into Home Depot or Lowe's needing five items
and feeling lucky if I come out with one of them? My sarcastic guess is that
Lowe's and Home Depot share the same buyer and he works only two days out
of the year. The rest of the year he spends on vacation in Tahiti, as far
away from the customer as possible. He or she appears out of touch with the
customer's needs and desires.
It is Christmas time and the store is full of zillions of
items, like 200 poinsettia plants. Meanwhile, its out of all the things I
am looking for. (We could blame it on America's Port backlog where ships
sit in LA harbor waiting to unload their goods because of U.S. security delays,
Union troubles and Railroad or trucking fiascos, but this has been going
on at the Home Depot and Lowe's for years.
Here are some examples of why I have been frustrated.
- I need a special ladder so I can lean it on my home and
the legs compensate for the hillside. They have a hundred straight ladders
that will sit there for months and not one hillside compensating ladder
or even a set of ladder levelers in either store. (The stores are right
next to each other, thank goodness.) The ladder and levelers are manufactured
and easily obtainable on the Internet.
- Electrical cords should come in short sizes like 3 feet,
so people don't have to bunch them up. They should even have the 9 inch
type to compensate for the fat transformers
on much of our electronic gear we use at home. There were no 3 footers
or 9 inch compensating cords at either store. All sizes should come in
an assortment of colors to coordinate with carpets or warn of danger. These
colors include tan (some decks, wood floors and carpets), white, brown
and black and orange or yellow for temporary use cords that span the walkways.
You
can
even
add green for Christmas trees and yards. Both stores fell far, far short
in all categories.
- Electrical outlets should come in the same variety of colors
and should at least offer safety options such as coverable outlets when
not in use. Instead, I got all of these at WalMart at lower prices than
the 100 white only outlets at Home Depot.
- The same holds true for cord coverings that hide them in
the home. Where are the colors? The stores lack choices or even the stock
while other items are represented in the thousands at no particular discount
and will sit for months.
- For years, both stores have carried slim under shelf lights
in brass, white and black. I love them. The new ones come with screw in
options to make up for the eventual deterioration of the stick on aspects
of the old lights. However, the new ones cover the bulbs better with an
eighth of clear plastic. Now the light looks funny as the plastic reflects
the bulbs where before, the bulbs were hidden, the whole purpose of that
type of light. Did the buyer notice this? I think not. Regardless, The
stores never have inventory and both stores, for some hidden reason, have
moved the lights out of the lighting departments all together. That cost
me five minutes to round up an "associate" to find them for me. Home Depot
employees didn't even have them and didn't even know what I was talking
about. I'm sure that high staff turn over has something to do with that.
- Lastly, Home Depot was out of outdoor furniture covers.
They explained that that was seasonal. Au Contraire my little buyer. These
covers are needed all year long to protect furniture. Sometimes, storms
blow them away or they get worn out. This often happens during Winter.
Lowe's bailed me out on this one. I bought $80 worth from them.
I'm sure the buyer has a lot of EXCUSES as to why this happens
and why I spent most of my money at other companies that day. I'll give him
his excuses and simply say too bad to Home Depot and Lowe's stock holders.
In one day, I spend my $150 bucks elsewhere.
I remember a relative of mine who went to work for Home Depot
in hopes of entering management. He watched them settle for bad management
in order to fill racial and sexual quotas. He watched the stores deteriorate
in customer service. Finally, he got fed up, left the stores and went into
Real Estate and he was at the number one grossing store in the country!
Because, in my area, you can't find reliable contractors for
anything, I have grown accustomed to doing things myself, even though I would
have preferred a professional. Millions of other folks are stuck in this
boat. The "do it yourself" industry should be making billions more
than it already is. If your stock in this industry is doing well, it is still
not
doing anywhere near what it should be. The reason is bad management. These
stores have killed off the high service little guys and are sitting on the
corporate rear ends. Boards of uninformed and overpaid executives have mucked
up the profits unforgivably. Customers and stockholders have been seriously
betrayed. I for one, would never buy Home Depot or Lowe's stock. The market
place is ripe for a new player to beat these two "old" competitors
that started out right and ended up so wrong. This is the modern equivalent
to the old
Lumberjack stores. Even if Home Depot and Lowe's were to go the way of Lumberjack
and Montgomery Ward, the executives would probably still walk into the sunset
far richer than they should be. Such is the dilemma of so many modern corporations.
Too hell with customers and stock holders as long as I get rich–a lose, lose,
win situation.
Press the close box to close this window
and go back to the page last viewed.