Mom & Pop Hardware Store or Big Box Store?

[displacedtexan]

I love hardware stores!

The older the better!

I've learned that the little ones keep their prices within 10% of the Big Box stores, like Home Depot, so I try to support the little stores whenever possible.

Big Box stores have just about killed all of the small stores.

Now I hear that Home Depot is opening 6 Mom & Pop size test stores across the nation because their research tells them that the public prefers the customer service at small stores.

The assault on small biz just never ends, does it?

[China_cat]

1. We have NO small hardware stores left.

You have your choice of Home Depot, Lowe's or Ace (which doesn't have what you need 95% of the time). The small ones have all been driven out of business.

[displacedtexan]

2. That's a shame!

Ironic, isn't it, that big box stores are now recreating the original stores they drove out of business?

What's next?

Mom & Pop Wal-Marts?

[China_cat]

3. Mom & Pop Wal-Marts?

Oh please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We already have 8 within a 15 mile radius, 5 of them supercenters. And a Sam's.

I don't like to shop at WalMart but it's getting to the point where I may have no choice as more and more local stores disappear.

[Nicole]

7. Mom & Pop Wal-Marts are already here

They are called Neighborhood Market stores. They are smaller than the old Wal-marts & a LOT smaller than a Supercenter.

Coming soon to a town near you!

[NMDemDist2]

8. one just opened a mile away

open 24 hours

:puke:

[jmowreader]

9. Ace IS a "small one"

Ace is a franchise system. Every Ace store is individually-owned.

True Value, Do It Best, and Golden Rule are all buying associations.

[NMDemDist2]

10. we have switched almost exclusively to Ace and if the store doesn't

have what you need, you can order it online and have it delivered to your local store (usually)

[Warpy]

12. It's the same here in central NM

When I moved here in the early 90s, there was ONE left. I gave them my business. Now it's gone as well as half a dozen lumber yards with small hardware stores attached.

I hate Home Depot. It's too damned big and I have bad knees. Everything is sprawled all over the place, and I miss the stooped old guys who would let me pick their brains on any project I had to do. They're all brash young guys bucking for manager who don't know their thumbs from their bums.

Screw overcentralized, mega anythings. That includes stores, churches, schools, and other institutions. They just plain damned don't work.

[Pathwalker]

4. We have an old Hardware Store here that is like stepping

deep into the past, with old wood floors, old wood bins for all the nuts and bolts.They even have a peanut barrel! It is run by an old Marine Couple who served and met each other in WW2 - he inherited it from his father.
They call it VETS Hardware, and I love, Love, LOVE this store. So do many people, because they do a brisk business - their son just bought out the Porn store next door and is turning it into a GARDEN CENTER!
:bounce: :-)

[AlCzervik]

5. My uncles own a Mom and Pop hardware store in massachusetts

i love the smell in there.

[displacedtexan]

6. I'm always sure that there are treasures hidden by the nuts & bolts.

You know, like antiques brass door knockers or iron skillets in their original packaging. Things like that.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. The Mom and Pop store is closer to us than the two nearby Big Boxes

To be sure, the Big Boxes have wider and deeper selections, but the Mom and Pop (3rd generation) is the go-to place when you need to get something done. Over the years I can't begin to tell the times I've gone there with a problem or a wish, and between me and the guy in the store, we came up with a solution. And some of them were quite improvisational.

Also, if you need any house part for any house in our county, they're the go-to people for that, too. Need a new valve stem for the original hose bibb on your 1930s house? I'll bet a week's pay they have two. At least.

They became part of the ACE franchise a few years ago, but the essence of the store is completely unchanged. They still have GE light bulbs next to the ACE brand. Lowes and Home Depot are always my back-up, never my prime.

[Lugnut]

13. There's a True Value near here

But it's a hardware store that has been around for as far back as I can remember. I've actually found a lot of things that are priced lower than Lowe's. The people who work there always ask if they can help me which is the complete opposite of Lowe's.