OT: Lowes versus Home Depot

[titaniumspur]

Now that there are some games to watch, the Home Depot ads are back, I assume Lowes as well. It’s ridiculous how often they use the exact same suppliers. How can one claim to be better than the other if the suppliers are the same, the prices are the same, and both are self-checkout? I know they don’t openly make that claim, but I’m wondering if there is any discernible difference between the two stores.

 

[BobbyBReloaded1975]

Honestly years ago I thought Home Depot had better service . The employees were way more knowledgeable and polite and you were lucky to find a person in Lowe’s . Recently I’ve noticed that has flipped at least in my experience. I just recently dropped $30,000 at Home Depot for some renovations and honestly the service was terrible . I returned half the stuff and went to Lowe’s and they bent over backwards for me . That’s just my experience lately .

 

[Carolina4]

Home Depot is geared more towards contractors and Lowe’s is geared more toward the home owner. I go with Lowe’s. Usually cleaner and not orange.

 

[section907]

Just left Lowe’s. I think they are both hit or miss on service. I feel like Hone depot has more “misc home repair “ items. The hard to find stuff. Lowe’s has more options and colors for new project work.

I waited a crazy long time to get one gallon of paint mixed. I’m pretty sure the clerk went on break and came back , then filled my order. To their credit. I did have 3-4 Lowe’s members asked if they could help me. ( they all passed by 3-4 times while I was waiting). But when I said I’m waiting on paint- they all moved on. Lol. Guess paint mixing is a union job . and others cannot help.

 

[BattleshipTexas]

Honestly years ago I thought Home Depot had better service . The employees were way more knowledgeable and polite and you were lucky to find a person in Lowe’s . Recently I’ve noticed that has flipped at least in my experience. I just recently dropped $30,000 at Home Depot for some renovations and honestly the service was terrible . I returned half the stuff and went to Lowe’s and they bent over backwards for me . That’s just my experience lately .

That's true nationwide. 40 years ago, when you went into Home Depot, it was likely the person helping you was a licensed plumber or electrican. But $$$ allowed the accountants to replace full-time staff with part-timers with no benefits and lower hourly rates. Also with no knowledge of the store or what is in it. The cost saving helped short term for a few qtrs, until the PO-ed customers started going elsewhere. You see this over and over in American business, short-term thinking to get this year's bonus made large, with no care to the business long-term future.

There is a hilarious King of the Hill episode where Hank tries to buy an L-shaped pipe from what is obviously HD, though called Megla-Mart. The kid tells him all pipes are straight.

 

[cocknjax]

Tell them to use conduit if they want to bend it.
When they really learn how to make concentric bends they can go into the Electrical field.

 

[fowl_mood]

Whichever one has what I need when I need it at the price I need it. Service is hit or miss at both.

 

[Flameout12]

They are a lot more similar than once upon a time. For years, Lowes was in Charleston long before HD came around. For a short time there was a business called Home Quarters.
Originally, Lowes was better for a more classic hardware store, while HD was more for home renovations/do it yourself.
With online sales, the playing field has leveled.

 

[SCexpat38]

Loyal to Lowe's because they give all veterans with honorable discharge 10 percent discounts all the time. That and they're 3 miles down road makes them unbeatable. But I do appreciate the discount. It's not something they have to do.

 

[bucketdad]

I like lowes but HD has a larger selection of various dimensional lumber than lowes. Good luck finding a 1x8 treated board from lowes. HD has them all day long. I do a lot of shopping at lowes because they are closer to me... but it does disappoint more than HD does.

 

[BobbyBReloaded1975]

That's true nationwide. 40 years ago, when you went into Home Depot, it was likely the person helping you was a licensed plumber or electrican. But $$$ allowed the accountants to replace full-time staff with part-timers with no benefits and lower hourly rates. Also with no knowledge of the store or what is in it. The cost saving helped short term for a few qtrs, until the PO-ed customers started going elsewhere. You see this over and over in American business, short-term thinking to get this year's bonus made large, with no care to the business long-term future.

There is a hilarious King of the Hill episode where Hank tries to buy an L-shaped pipe from what is obviously HD, though called Megla-Mart. The kid tells him all pipes are straight.

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Wow you are absolutely correct about that . Guitar Center is another perfect example . I bought all my gear from there because all the employees were either other gigging musicians or sound engineers. They always knew what I was looking for and where to get it if they didn’t have it . Same thing happened . They stopped paying the pros so they could hire high school kids at minimum wage . Now I won’t buy a pack of batteries there . So basically the lost a customer who probably spent 4 to 5 grand a year in their business and countless other that felt the same way . Now they are teetering on bankruptcy and blaming it on everything else but that . Great observation my friend .

 

[jerryusc]

We bought about $15,000 worth of cabinets from HD years ago. When it was delivered it was distressed which we could not tell from the small store sample. We told HD to come pick it up. They had a meeting about 5 of them with my wife and me in a small room trying to intimidate us. Did not work. I quoted their store motto-guaranteed satisfaction. Told them to come pick up cabinets which were on side porch. Took them about two weeks to pick up.
We went with a local cabinet maker who did a fantastic job for about $17,000 and he didn't use fillers which HD wanted to do.

 

[Gradstudent]

In Florence, Lowes is way better, imho

 

[king ward]

The absolute worst location of a national Big Box home store I've ever done business with was the original Lowe's in Rock Hill, S.C. It was as if they worked at ignoring customers. Overall, I think Home Depot is a far better run organization.

 

[ClemDent]

 

[Bear_Rooster]

I buy from both, but I’ve been using Home Depot in Hartwell, Ga recently, because it’s close to my work. Bought a spool of wire online a couple weeks ago and it shipped to the store. I wore my Gamecock mask when I went in to pick it up,lol. Got some strange looks, but wound up having a good football conversation with a bullfrog fan while I was in the store. They do seem to do better there in regards to custom service than the Lowe’s near me.

 

[uscg1984]

I've had great and not-so-great moments with both stores over the years, but what I know about Lowe's and Home Depot is this: if you have either one in your town, your weekend projects are a lot easier and cheaper to do than mine are. I have cursed them both many times over the years, but the fact is, it's a lot better having one nearby than not (the same is true for Walmart, by the way).

 

[Cybercock]

Home Depot is geared more towards contractors and Lowe’s is geared more toward the home owner. I go with Lowe’s. Usually cleaner and not orange.

No true contractor buys anything of consequence from either. They use true lunber yards not box stores.
I was partial to lowes but i am rethinking it lately as they decided to take a political stand on their allocation of credit during the pandemic. Seems the minority contractors survival is more important than the others.

 

[BobbyFoosball]

I prefer Home Depot.

 

[BattleshipTexas]

Wow you are absolutely correct about that . Guitar Center is another perfect example . I bought all my gear from there because all the employees were either other gigging musicians or sound engineers. They always knew what I was looking for and where to get it if they didn’t have it . Same thing happened . They stopped paying the pros so they could hire high school kids at minimum wage . Now I won’t buy a pack of batteries there . So basically the lost a customer who probably spent 4 to 5 grand a year in their business and countless other that felt the same way . Now they are teetering on bankruptcy and blaming it on everything else but that . Great observation my friend .

Good example. I could name many others. One reason the Japanese beat us for so long. They thought long term and didn't reward management for short term profit gains.

 

[BattleshipTexas]

No true contractor buys anything of consequence from either. They use true lumber yards not box stores.

You are talking about big time contractors. I think he meant small time handymen, one or two man kitchen restorers, and the like. The smaller contractors still deal with HD or Lowes.

 

[jedi_mike]

I usually compare what I want from both and choose the cheapest.but for big ticket items I go get a coupon off of eBay to save from Lowe’s.

 

[jerryusc]

I usually compare what I want from both and choose the cheapest.but for big ticket items I go get a coupon off of eBay to save from Lowe’s.

I had to order front and rear bumpers from Ebay for my aging Escort(95)and was perfectly satisfied with the results. Was not because of accidents but weakness of fiberglass material in them. One went one year and a year later the other one. Was kinda pricey but did not have to pay for one as the Ford place mechanic broke one. I guess just by resting a knee as he was working on tail lights. The front one was broken as car was being painted. I guess from same way by car painter. It was only cracked and paint shop would not own up to it so I had to pay for it.

 

[JGH 35]

There is a huge difference between the two. Lowe's is a lot closer to me than Home Depot. Plus I hate ORANGE.

 

[Rhizzlebop]

I shop at both way way too much. For sure more employees at lowes know me than depot. I usually buy at lowes but that’s mainly because I can use coupons. Though the last few months they have really clamped down on coupons.

It really depends on the specific lowes. I’ve been do8ng a ton of curbside pickup the last 6 months. Irmo lowes is fairly good but they’ve missed on a couple items and then I got one whole order free after they brought it and 3 weeks later they refunded me for order saying I never picked it up.

Lexington lowes is ok but their curbside guy is kind of a prick.

West col7mbia lowes almost had me ready to fight. Spent an hour trying to do a curbside. After 50 minutes I went in the store and found the idiot “searching” for my order, sitting behind the counter helping someone else. I was furious and LOUD.

Home Depot blunders as well but their curbside has been smooth and consistent. Orders pulled within 30 minutes.

Home Depot was also fast to update their curbside to a link click in your order email that triggers the store you’ve arrived. Works great.

I was at lowes for a curbside in mid July. I looked in my app for my order n7mber saw a link that said something like. Tell us you’ve arrived. I thought great they have a notification way to bring orders out now. I clicked it enter m6 car details and wait about 20 minutes. In that time another lady pulled it curbside got her order and was leaving so I called in there to check status.
I explained I’d notified via app. She had NO IDEA what I was talking about.

That told me a Lot.
HD spent money fast to smooth out curbside. Lowes dinked around for 3 1/2 months and pushed crap to their app that didn’t work with no notice or training. Garbage approach. Par for lowes. A front of quality covered in shit.

If only HD wasn’t so Oran.....I mean tater colored

 

[irmococky]

Now that there are some games to watch, the Home Depot ads are back, I assume Lowes as well. It’s ridiculous how often they use the exact same suppliers. How can one claim to be better than the other if the suppliers are the same, the prices are the same, and both are self-checkout? I know they don’t openly make that claim, but I’m wondering if there is any discernible difference between the two stores.

HD pays the better dividend $

 

[atl-cock]

In Beaufort, there's only Lowes. Nearest Home Depot is a 35 minute drive away in Bluffton.

In Atlanta, it depends on inventory and whatever other errands I'm running at the time.

 

[rockingamecock]

Lowes is definitely more for the homeowner. For example, we tried to find lampshades at Home Depot. Their selection was a joke. Lowes had a bunch of them.

 

[Rhizzlebop]

I always thought HD for some reason had a better selection of ceiling fans and light fixtures. Bought two big 70 inch DC motor fans from HD for my huge screen porch I finished building in i. Love em and they move a ton of air. Lowes had nothing comparable Light fixtures though are LED Edison bulbs in a vintage glass pendant that I routed through side braces so they look like a sconce. Those came from amazon.

Porch 1
Porch 2
Porch 3
Porch 4

 

[mcbear30]

After I had to explain what plaster walls are to the assigned employee in the screws/fastener aisle at Lowe's, I became a happy Home Depot customer.

 

[Cybercock]

After I had to explain what plaster walls are to the assigned employee in the screws/fastener aisle at Lowe's, I became a happy Home Depot customer.

Don't fret, he will be in the garden center next week.

 

[Blackland]

Lowes is basically stealing our HD playbook. We are way ahead of Lowes with online interconnected retail and they are trying to catch up. At HD we have a stronger Pro sales program and it is very profitable. With the purchase of Interline Brands we are very strong with professional services and this is an area with strong growth potential. We are also investing heavily to compete in equipment rental against United, Sunbelt, etc...

If you look at Lowes leadership their CEO Marvin Ellison was once our EVP of Stores, he did not make CEO so he left for JC Penny. The other executive who did not make CEO now runs UPS, these people were very sharp and know how to run a company. Marvin took Joe McFarland with him to JC Penny where he was their EVP of Stores, he had been our West Coast Division President under Marvin. Aaron Flowe is Lowes' SVP of Merchandise, under Marvin he was our Northern Division President. So Lowes CEO, EVP of Stores and SVP of Store Merchandise are all former HD executives implementing the HD playbook at Lowes.

At HD we have invested alot in Pro sales and it has paid off. We have also invested alot in putting the customer first and I think our service has gotten better. With the MET teams we now have dedicated associates restocking the stores so we have a high in-stock rate and this frees up more associates on the floor to help customers. In the past Lowes had better speciality merchandise like cabinet pulls and other hardware. The last time I was in a Lowes their stuff did not seem that good quality wise and they did not carry as much inventory in the store.

The bottom line is that the former HD executives now running Lowes intend to compete vigorously with HD by doing the things the did for us at Lowes. Lowes is also making a push into more Pro sales and copying our interconnected playbook.

We see our biggest competition as Amazon, not Lowes. We are investing heavily in new types of distribution centers to deliver anything from a hammer to a truckload of mulch to the customer as quickly as possible where they want it and when they want it. And always at the best price!

 

[Forever Fowl]

Most stuff I buy at Lowes for the 10% veterans discount and reserved parking spaces. But I also go to HD as they are better about cutting wood with their wall saw.

 

[USCBatgirl21]

Home Depot is geared more towards contractors and Lowe’s is geared more toward the home owner. I go with Lowe’s. Usually cleaner and not orange.

That's why I don't shop at HD. Too much orange.

 

[jerryusc]

That's why I don't shop at HD. Too much orange.

Don't have a choice here in Lancaster. Lowe's is about 20 M away.

 

[Gamecockben1979]

Most stuff I buy at Lowes for the 10% veterans discount and reserved parking spaces. But I also go to HD as they are better about cutting wood with their wall saw.

Nice gesture that other companies should do but don’t

 

[Gamecockben1979]

I shop at them both. They’re both a stones throw away from me. If it’s a super busy time to be out, I tend to shop at Home Depot just because it seems to be less busy. If I’m going at a time when not many people are out I’ll go to Lowe’s. Time is money.

 

[bucketdad]

Lowes is basically stealing our HD playbook. We are way ahead of Lowes with online interconnected retail and they are trying to catch up. At HD we have a stronger Pro sales program and it is very profitable. With the purchase of Interline Brands we are very strong with professional services and this is an area with strong growth potential. We are also investing heavily to compete in equipment rental against United, Sunbelt, etc...

If you look at Lowes leadership their CEO Marvin Ellison was once our EVP of Stores, he did not make CEO so he left for JC Penny. The other executive who did not make CEO now runs UPS, these people were very sharp and know how to run a company. Marvin took Joe McFarland with him to JC Penny where he was their EVP of Stores, he had been our West Coast Division President under Marvin. Aaron Flowe is Lowes' SVP of Merchandise, under Marvin he was our Northern Division President. So Lowes CEO, EVP of Stores and SVP of Store Merchandise are all former HD executives implementing the HD playbook at Lowes.

At HD we have invested alot in Pro sales and it has paid off. We have also invested alot in putting the customer first and I think our service has gotten better. With the MET teams we now have dedicated associates restocking the stores so we have a high in-stock rate and this frees up more associates on the floor to help customers. In the past Lowes had better speciality merchandise like cabinet pulls and other hardware. The last time I was in a Lowes their stuff did not seem that good quality wise and they did not carry as much inventory in the store.

The bottom line is that the former HD executives now running Lowes intend to compete vigorously with HD by doing the things the did for us at Lowes. Lowes is also making a push into more Pro sales and copying our interconnected playbook.

We see our biggest competition as Amazon, not Lowes. We are investing heavily in new types of distribution centers to deliver anything from a hammer to a truckload of mulch to the customer as quickly as possible where they want it and when they want it. And always at the best price!

Made two large purchases online recently using HD... a generator and a pressure washer. Didnt even consider Lowes even tho I shop a lot at the local one. Maybe it's just me, but any time I try to order online from Lowes, i get an error with my credit card. Consistantly telling me to try a different card. Finally quit trying. That's how HD got my online business. Love my generator and pressure washer btw.

 

[adversary2]

Now that there are some games to watch, the Home Depot ads are back, I assume Lowes as well. It’s ridiculous how often they use the exact same suppliers. How can one claim to be better than the other if the suppliers are the same, the prices are the same, and both are self-checkout? I know they don’t openly make that claim, but I’m wondering if there is any discernible difference between the two stores.

Used to shop both, but had to quit HD. Bought a kitchen appliance set from HD. Through a weird never happens sort of thing, oven heating element blew, apparently instead of going to ground, it went to neutral & took out a bunch of other electronics. Brought in multiple electricians & they all said the same thing. So went to HD, and they said, you have faulty wiring, it's on you.

Haven't been back in years. Won't go back. So, it's Lowes if I'm going to a big box.

 

[december2209]

Lowes