Any good “old fashioned” retailers by U
I have 2 big box stores, 2 lumber yards, and 2 hardware stores within close driving distance from me. Obviously the big boxes don’t have that personal service, but neither does my local hardware or lumber yards.
I spent 4 years working at a lumber yard in college. Moved up from loading schlep to sales. We got to know our customers fairly well. The owner was really personable too. He would useually give people a small break on prices, and allowed the sales people to do the same as we felt fitting. No huge discounts mostly a little off the printed price tags. More of a gesture than a big savings. But was a friendly environment. We knew just about everyone with an account by name. They knew us, we knew them.
But the hardware closest to me run around with these headsets on and can talk to whomever is on the other end. They will come up to you and help you find something. Then walk away. Thats it, no is there anything else, what are you trying to do, etc… Wham bam thank you maam. I am not that old, but maybe getting old. But it turns me off they are not even trying to get to know their customers. I have even watched them with other people. Of the times I have been in there, I don’t think I have ever heard them call anyone by name. It’s not a new store either.
Replies
Ben,
It may seem strange but I live where it's just the opposite, i.e. the nearest borg is nearly 50 miles away. I kinda like it that way too.
There are 2 local hardware stores in town and they bend over backwards to help you find stuff. Both are a step back in time, one even has a woodstove in the middle of the floor near the cash register.
But, living in the boonies has its own set of negatives too but that's just a matter of perspective I guess.
Grand Cherokee owner and proud of it,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Sounds like lack of training to me.
Actually these are older long term employees. Matter of fact, I don't think I have ever seen a younger stockboy type person in there. I am not in there everyday, so I could be off on my assessment of the place. But it just doesn't have that feel to it, thats its a nice friendly store. More of a big box feel to it.
One of the mistakes that indys make is to try and mimic the boxes. Then is when they really lose it because they'll never touch them on price.
Don't live there anymore but General Hardware in Brookhaven, Atlanta, Georgia. Even has boxes of leetle tiny watch screws, and real bolt on meat/fruit grinders, "Bag Balm" and a few animal traps. A few nooks, a few crannies. Right in the home headquarters of the orange borg.
Out here on the O coast, a few little Aces and the closest borg is in the valley 58 miles away. The peelwood is cheaper there. $37/sheet for mediocre cab birch. Here, same stuff, $74/sheet.
John
Old man on the sea
I have two hardware stores within walking distance, each across Main Street from each other. They have slightly different emphasis. One is a True Value, and the other is a Do-It-Best. They used to have stuff I couldn't get anywhere else, but they're gradually getting rid of it. One was recently bought by a guy from China, and he doesn't alway know what I'm asking for such as paraffin, borax, or lye. The other is owned by a guy who's always trying to tell tradesmen their trade, so some of them don't go there. I know to ignore him, and ask an old-time employee.
ne sutor ultra crepidam
Edited 2/12/2008 5:23 pm ET by Disputantum
There's a chance, small but still a chance, that your "old fashioned" mom and pop lumber yard has been actually been bought out by a large corporation and the employees now feel like they work for a big box store. An example would be like walking into a Stock Lumber. Their stores are relatively small compared to Home Depot or Lowes and feel like they would be run like a family owned business, but once you get to know them, you realize they're owned by a multi national conglomerate Wolseley Plc. Sometimes things just aren't what they seem.
Actually 1 of the 2 yards near me is a family owned yard, but 1 of 19 I think. Basically a mini-big box. They advertise the the family type come here we will take care of you. But I have not seen that. Maybe the big contractors get it. But my 5 sheet or 30 board order doesn't get it. Still better than the big box though. Their prices are a bit high too. Could be all the advertising saying they are the best, and a good family business to come too. They advertise quite a bit, almost annoying sometimes.
And the other yard is basically like, you want 5 boards of what? I don't sell that, go bother someone else. I had to quiz them on what they sold instead of them telling me what they sell in its place. For this place I asked for rough sawn cedar. They don't sell it. It seriously took me 2 - 3 minutes to find out they sell rough sawn Spruce! To me it seems like they would put 2 and 2 together and say, hey I have this instead. I don't know if my order was too small for him to deal with me, or he was having a bad day. Or he didn't know building materials. In either case he was the wrong person to be working the lumber counter.
It's amazing they give you an arrogant attitude. With the housing industry the way it is, you'd think they would be happy for your business. I sell to small independent lumber yards and hardware stores all day at my job and a lot of the dealers I call are down in the dumps. They tell me the economy is dead and there is no building going on in their area. Some of the dealers can't even make pay roll anymore. In the state of Florida one of my old dealers sales is down 70% from last year. I can't understand how he survives. He's a one man operation and the only thing keeping his doors open is his tool repair but he's barely making it by. I call on my dealers and offer them promos on my products but they tell me "I don't need promos, I need customers". Maybe things are better in Maine but I doubt it.
I live on an island near Seattle, small community, but we do have an Ace Hardware and a Lumbermen's. Ace carries the widest variety of stuff, the people are friendly (though often not all that knowledgeable) and I've struck up a pretty good relationship with one of the upper-level guys, we talk alot, they all know my dogs and offer treats when the three of us come in together. BTW, they use the radios/headsets, which seems to save time and avoid the aggravation of those overhead, blaring announcements.
That being said, the true small-town hardware store is long, long gone. They tried affiliating with one of the chains (Coast-to-Coast maybe?) but that didn't work, so they folded the hardware store, kept the paint department, expanded it in a different building and that's all they do now, for construction guys, designers, homeowners, etc.
The small-town hardware store in the next town over, about 20 miles away, has also had to associate itself with Coast-to-Coast to stay alive. I don't shop there often, but when I do, they are friendly, and the store feels like the old-fashioned kind. They have lots of stuff Ace does not.
The dogs, especially my big (BIG) collie, gets recognized even at Home Depot, LOL. If I take him in with me, I'm everbody's friend.
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Strange,I live on the central Oregon Coast. Our Ace people down here also wear radios/headsets and talk in strange tongues. They do it at our Lumberman's also. The also like my dogs. They are also nice and friendly. Curious.
Is it possible they all come from the same place?
Pods?
Maybe none of us can go much further west.John
Too funny! Your Lumbermen's must be a pretty big place? Ours really started falling off inventory-wise after Ace opened across the street and got rolling. Much less selection in the hardware area, somewhat better in framing materials (the brackets and such) and finishing. Main focus is contractors, methinks.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Our Lumberman's could be called a boutique if it wasn't for the huge quantities of reject contractor lumber they have. They will deliver though. They select and cut, then you reject and they re-cut.It's a process.I'm learning.
They do have some fine finishes there, he said tung in cheek.John
Watching the seals
"...he said tung in cheek." Oh, ow! ROFL.
Yeah, the lumber at Lumbermen's ain't much to look at. Other than framing lumber and cedar, they carry some hemlock, VGDF, oak, but what a price!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Love that Hemlock at Lumberman's. With their prices, you would think it was coming from the Kimberley Hemlock Mines. The prices Made Socrates sick too and you know what he did with Hemlock...John
"With their prices, you would think...." Ahhhhh, but nothin' compared to the gold-plated poplar they sell at Home Depot! I bought some once, when I was young(er) and stupid -- then called the hardwood place over in Seattle. Paid for my ferry trip, the savings did!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
To be honest, we had a real dearth of good places to go before the orange and blue boxes got into town. One failed after another, items mis-placed and mis-marked, piles of boxes on the floor, the sole person in the department had a 5-deep waiting line to cut this or that to size. Shelves bare because they weren't current with their suppliers, dark all the time, hot in the summer, cold in the winter. Rude to women (my wife refused to ever go to one particular store). At least at Lowe's, I can be fairly sure of finding what I need is in stock, have an ample selection, and handy "need help?" buttons that actually draw some response (like response time was part of their employee objective).
I have a few specialty stores that I frequent as often as I can and when they carry what I need. They know me by name and face. But for building supplies or the odd tool, big box.
We're fortunate to have a chain of about half a dozen lumber yards around the state. On the old fashion lumberyard model with a desk to place orders, they also have displays and a good hardware section (with a specialist to help with locks and knobs) plus kitchen design. Even as a DIY I can go in, ask about a product, and if the info isn't immediately available, I get a phone call, usually within and hour or two. Lumber quality is an order of magnitude above HD.
In Alameda CA where I am fortunate to live I have a nice hardware store within walking distance that has cookies for my dog. A HD in Oakland about 1/2 mile away, a nice professional lumber yard about 3/4 miles away and Plywood and Lumber sales in Oakland and McBeths Hardwoods in the peoples republic of Berkeley. The biggest "problem" I have is that the Japan Woodworker store is also about 3/4 mile from my house and they always encorage me to drop it. Anyway for spending money I have plenty of choices now I just need a large source of cash:)
Troy
I've got a lumber dealer about 20 minutes away who has always provided good service and good product (not as cheap as big box, but then I don't have to throw away much of the lumber - and sample molding is free at this place). So they get all my business.
Unfortunately, there isn't a hardware store, or tool store worth a darn any where near (less than 50 miles), but at least I have a lumber store worth using.
Bob
Hardware Sales in Bellingham, WA.
Better life through Zoodles and poutine...
The nearest Lowers, and Home Desperate are two plus hours away, over the continental divide. Not fun in the winter.
We do have a great hardware store, been in business over a hundred years, and they have really broad selection,and some really strange NOS stuff down in the basement. They will sell you the old stuff for the price on the box. (Hmm, maybe I need to talk to Greg about what old tools he may have. Never know till you look.)
And, a lumber yard that has been in business for almost as long. They have pretty broad selection of stuff, but not much depth in anything other than the builder supplies. That said, they are affiliated with some other stores in a town about three to four hours away, and can get you pretty much anything you need in a few days time. They do keep a decent selection of oak, soft maple, and walnut in stock. And, now that thy know me, and that I'm picky about such things, they will let me know when they are getting a new shipment in, and let me pick through it if I am willing to take off an afternoon, and help get it into the bins. It helped a lot that I made a point of always leaving the bins better stacked than I found them, when I first moved to town, and started buying from them.
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