As for myself, Menard's is THE place to go for home repair materials. I don't have one locally, but I've been recently stopping by a store 1/2 way between the two houses I live in. (selling the old house in the city soon, needs lots of repairs).

I've shopped all three, but # 3 Menard's seems to have the best deals of the three places. I'm hoping they open one a little closer to my permanant residence though. Driving 50 miles one way is a real deal killer with gas prices at what they are.

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Mr. Lahey: A lot of people, don’t know how to drink. They drink against the grain of the liquor. And when you drink against the grain of the liquor? You lose.

Randy: What the @#$%& are you talking about?

I don't have Menard's here but I like the people at Home Depot. Some retired professionals there who love teaching.

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Da Good Life

No Menard's here either, but I like the people at both Lowe's and Home Depot. Lowe's tends to win because (a) it's closer, (b) it has better stock, and (c) the layout is better (and more store-like, where Home Depot is more like a warehouse).

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We don't have a Menard's either but I prefer Lowe's all of our HD's are dirty, unorganized
and you can't get anyone to help you.

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Grateful11

Menards is always my first choice, but Home Depot is fine too. Never been in a Lowe's (only two of them in this market).

Was curious, so I found them on the web: [www.menards.com]

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I am renovating my 107 year-old kitchen and will be for months to come, so I've been spending plenty of time at home improvement stores.

I never heard of Menard's. There are none by me.

Lowe's has clean, well-lighted stores, plenty of helpful employees and they seem to carry more high-end stuff, or at least stuff that appears to be of better quality than Home Depot. I've gone there for door hardware, light switches and fixtures, and other stuff that will be plainly visible. The only downside is that it is rather far from my house. I've also won two $10 gift cards there last month as part of some NCAA March Madness promotion.

Home Depot is right down the street from my house. I only go there as a last resort. I can never, ever find an employee from the right department and the store is often out of stock of what I am looking for. But when you're short a few yards of Romex or need a 5 lb box of sheetrock screws on a Sunday night, they're open and close by.

My local ACE Hardware is fairly near to my house, has very helpful staff and has a rewards program, netting me at least $50 in coupons this year. Prices are surprisingly comparable to Lowes and HD, but their selection is small and limited. I but a lot of paint and brushes there.

My favorite place is a local lumber yard, mainly because they deliver ($7.50 per order and they leave the stuff on my side porch). I've ordered all of my sheetrock, lumber, insulation and two interior doors from the place. The staff is enthusiastic, helpful and knows me by name.

I've also been pleased with return policies at all of these places.

Preferred Menard's when I lived in their market...could always get "free after rebate" stuff, discounts with their credit card, etc.

I don't have much of a preference between Home Depot and Lowe's...at least near me, for most projects I have to go to both because neither of them has all the parts I need (especially PVC conduit/fittings and various electrical parts).

Lowes for quality, Menards for price.

HomeDepot is closer, but they are like OfficeMax. They DON'T stand behind their prices, DON'T honor the prices on the web. I DON'T trust them at all. They will do anything they can get away with. I DON'T like Home Depot at all. Jerks.

Now you know how I really feel...

No contest for me - Menards hands down because they have the best prices and a great selection.
Their power tool selection isn't as extensive and I'm kind of picky about what I want
so I will shop around at all of them or online

I would place Lowes second and HD third - but that's a toss up depending on what I'm shopping for.
They have pretty displays and lots of fancy stuff but when it comes to lumber and materials
Menards has better quality and prices.

In term of hardware (not building materials) I would throw Ace Hardware in there too
I'm about halfway between Menards and Ace and the Ace is great for all those things I need quick
and also for all the odd ball parts - need an odd bolt or fastener - they have it

My average purchase there is probably under a couple bucks and it's a little plastic bag
marked in pen - 6@12¢ .... 8@15¢ ....1@35¢.... 4@10¢.... I can spend an hour in the fastener aisle

Another measure is all the contractors trucks - at Menards the end of the lot by the building materials
is full of contractors all the time , Lowes has a hand full.
The HD just opened here last year - brand new store and you can pull in the lot and park
next to the door anytime - finding stuff is a pain and the staff doesn't know either

I'm also lucky that I have an great independent just down the road too which is great when
you need so really good material or someone to do custom mill work for you.
No big fancy displays and not much on the floor (lot's of great pro tools) but about
eight guys behind a big counter - grab a cup of coffee and pull up a stool .. now what ya need today ?

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2007 09:45AM by lafinfil.

Menards! Lots of rebates all the time, usually stuff can be had for free or dirt cheap after rebates, and the rebates always (knock on wood) come through.

There are a couple of Menards around me, in the Chicago suburbs. Maybe they're a midwest thing, I don't know for sure. We always get the flyer in the mail, and see the commercials on the TV.

For the longest time, you could never search menards.com for product. I mean, if I wanted to find out what kinds of wheel barrows they had, I was out of luck. That seems to have changed, looking at the link above.

I have had the same experience with both HD and Menards stores - not easy to find help if you need it. We also have a Lowes close, but I've only been in 3 or 4 times in the last year. It's a relatively new store, and it's not in a good location to get at from home - complete opposite direction.

Jeff

Strictly a store by store comparison here, as I have one of each only minutes from my house. Also, I'm sure each store location will vary, but this is my experience.

Lowes: Best laid out, most helpful staff, sometimes more expensive, best shopping experience

Menards: Terribly illogical layout, disorganized, stacks of merchandise that look like they could topple over on you at any second, understaffed, more often the best prices

Home Depot: Some layout cues taken from Lowes, but sh*tcrammed together like Menards, similar prices to Lowes but without the good shopping experience.

In other words, Lowes for best experience, Menards for best prices (usually). For a small project, I go to Lowes because I can get in and out with no fuss, and there is usually someone there who can answer questions I might have. For more expensive purchases, I usually price compare both and go with whoever is cheaper. I avoid Home Depot because it seems to be the worst of both worlds.

Quote
lafinfil
In term of hardware (not building materials) I would throw Ace Hardware in there too
I'm about halfway between Menards and Ace and the Ace is great for all those things I need quick
and also for all the odd ball parts - need an odd bolt or fastener - they have it

My average purchase there is probably under a couple bucks and it's a little plastic bag
marked in pen - 6@12¢ .... 8@15¢ ....1@35¢.... 4@10¢....

Yeah, I forgot about that stuff. We have a small local chain called Bomgaars (which I think are actually Ace stores). Also forgot about the local farm store too...TSC, I think. Both good for smaller oddball stuff.

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the_poochies
I am renovating my 107 year-old kitchen and will be for months to come, so I've been spending plenty of time at home improvement stores.

I never heard of Menard's. There are none by me.

Lowe's has clean, well-lighted stores, plenty of helpful employees and they seem to carry more high-end stuff, or at least stuff that appears to be of better quality than Home Depot. I've gone there for door hardware, light switches and fixtures, and other stuff that will be plainly visible. The only downside is that it is rather far from my house. I've also won two $10 gift cards there last month as part of some NCAA March Madness promotion.

Home Depot is right down the street from my house. I only go there as a last resort. I can never, ever find an employee from the right department and the store is often out of stock of what I am looking for. But when you're short a few yards of Romex or need a 5 lb box of sheetrock screws on a Sunday night, they're open and close by.

My local ACE Hardware is fairly near to my house, has very helpful staff and has a rewards program, netting me at least $50 in coupons this year. Prices are surprisingly comparable to Lowes and HD, but their selection is small and limited. I but a lot of paint and brushes there.

My favorite place is a local lumber yard, mainly because they deliver ($7.50 per order and they leave the stuff on my side porch). I've ordered all of my sheetrock, lumber, insulation and two interior doors from the place. The staff is enthusiastic, helpful and knows me by name.

I've also been pleased with return policies at all of these places.

This about sums up my experience also. No Menards, Home Depot down the st from me, but Lowe's has given me the best service.

That Menards has some good prices, I checked out their ad. Couldn't get their Store Locator to work.

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Grateful11




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2007 09:54AM by Grateful11.

>
> Also forgot about the local farm store too...TSC, I think. Both good for smaller oddball stuff.
>

I'll hit TSC on occasion but my fav is Rural King. I use them for some hardware stuff
and it's great because I can grab some hardware stuff, get a pair of Carharts, grab a bag of Nutro for Dazey
grab an air filter for the garden tractor and have them trow a few bags of water softener salt
in the back of the truck all in one trip

It's Dazey's fav too because the let dogs come in the store and have treats at the checkout.
They actually know her by name there and she gets lots of petting and treats

Reminds me - we need to go grab some Frontline for her this week - great prices on that too.

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No Menards here.

Lowes is clean. Anally clean. They must restack the piles of lumber using squares and levels. Picture perfect. Shelf stock is the same way.

Home Depot. Pig pen. Filthy. It's not just the customers, the help doesn't even put stuff on the shelves right. Once asked a re-stocker if it wouldn't make more sense to put the toilets he was stacking with the labels facing out so people could read what was in the boxes. He said "yup" and went back to stacking them with the labels facing in.
There's another Home Depot about 20 miles away. Decent store.

Neither HD nor Lowes is my first resource for lumber. They get some nasty crap, sometimes. Too many lumber yards around.

True Value and Ace stores , I'll often go to first.

I think the nearest Menards to me is 400 miles away. I can't be sure because the store locator is done broke: HTTP Status 500 - No action instance for path /storeLocator could be created.

Lowes is pretty new in Northern California. Never been to a store yet. They offered some pretty tempting coupons before Christmas but I never made it to that part of town.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map

Here in Chicagoland we have all three.

I used to love Home Depot. There is one less than 1/2 mile from my house. They used to employ ex or retired trades people who know what they were talking about. Used to have a great nuts & bolts section where I could usually find the oddball stuff I need - no longer the case. Their products were good quality. Now they hire from the Wal-Mart pool and the quality of the products has slipped dramatically. The HD seems to be getting to me more of a garden center than a home improvement center. Did just purchase a new Honda Mower (leftover from last year at a good price). I currently rank it 3 (although it is the closest).

Menards is the low price guy. I always assumed, when going to Menards that the grade of stuff may be one notch lower. Usually with a price to match though. The Menards by me is HUGE. Complete lumber yard and just about everything you could need. I think you can buy complete home kits from them that include everything! Currently ranked 2 in my book.

Lowe's is new to the area. The stores are new and they are well stocked and organized. Like a new girlfriend, everything thing is fresh and new. Lowes and I are currently enjoying this newness phase and we are exploring eachother trying to find our comfort level. Seems like the caliber of employees is better than average.

JPK

It looks like the Menards web site has been remodeled since the last time I looked (about a month ago)
It appears that some parts are still under construction : -)

Started out in Wisconsin and spread south but yes mainly a midwest chain with some
more recent expansion into the south

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Quote
JPK
I used to love Home Depot. There is one less than 1/2 mile from my house. They used to employ ex or retired trades people who know what they were talking about. Used to have a great nuts & bolts section where I could usually find the oddball stuff I need - no longer the case. Their products were good quality. Now they hire from the Wal-Mart pool and the quality of the products has slipped dramatically. The HD seems to be getting to me more of a garden center than a home improvement center. Did just purchase a new Honda Mower (leftover from last year at a good price). I currently rank it 3 (although it is the closest).

JPK

Home Depot has a new CEO who is aggressively bringing the company back to the way things were. Their new internal slogan is "old school".

This new CEO knows people went to Home Depot because of their knowledgeable staff, and the previous regime seems to have forgotten that. Home Depot is now hiring professionals in the electrical and plumbing fields and paying them top dollar and giving them terrific fixed schedules. All in an effort to improve customer satisfaction.

My wife has been with Home Depot for a long time, through the good years and the bad. She's very excited about the new changes and focus on the customer.

No Menards here either.

I think there are a few Lowe's but I have only ever been to Home Depot. Mixed results there, depending on what day you go. Weekends are a madhouse. All the wives drag their husbands out to buy flowers and get mixed in with the small-time contractors buying lumber and cement mix for a deck. Lines are long and staff are hard to find. If you know what you're looking for (and where it is) they usually have it.

If you go during the week it is much better, some people are even nice. Once I was able to get a free piece of drywall for a patch job in lieu of having to buy a full 4x8 sheet.

Dixieline Lumber Company - not competitive in price because they carry higher quality merchandise. But, there's lots of help and rarely a line to check-out or park - sometimes that's worth an extra 3-5%.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2007 10:57AM by bfd.

I've never been to a Menard's , but as far as the other two go, I think Lowe's is *slightly* more expensive, but I think their merchandise is of higher quality.

Home Depot used to be more convenient for me. That was the only reason I went there. I haven't been to Home Deport since they built a new Lowe's within 1/4 mile of the Home Depot that I USED TO go to.

LOWE's

Quote
karsen

Quote
JPK
I used to love Home Depot. There is one less than 1/2 mile from my house. They used to employ ex or retired trades people who know what they were talking about. Used to have a great nuts & bolts section where I could usually find the oddball stuff I need - no longer the case. Their products were good quality. Now they hire from the Wal-Mart pool and the quality of the products has slipped dramatically. The HD seems to be getting to me more of a garden center than a home improvement center. Did just purchase a new Honda Mower (leftover from last year at a good price). I currently rank it 3 (although it is the closest).

JPK

Home Depot has a new CEO who is aggressively bringing the company back to the way things were. Their new internal slogan is "old school".

This new CEO knows people went to Home Depot because of their knowledgeable staff, and the previous regime seems to have forgotten that. Home Depot is now hiring professionals in the electrical and plumbing fields and paying them top dollar and giving them terrific fixed schedules. All in an effort to improve customer satisfaction.

My wife has been with Home Depot for a long time, through the good years and the bad. She's very excited about the new changes and focus on the customer.

that is good to hear. I had always heard that their move to cheap labor was a higher management error. I also remember in HD that, when you walked the isles, they would come up to you and ask if you needed help, etc. hasn't been like that for years. Friends and I used to joke about how you would go to HD and count how many employees would come up and ask if you needed help....it was cool..

I prefer lowes to HD due to HD's political donation pattern, but, frankly, shop at whichever is best at the time.

kiva

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2007 11:38AM by Kiva.

There are no Menards near me, either, but I have shopped at them when in their turf. Do you suppose they'll ever creep out to Washington?! I did like the stores.

Lowe's is the closest, so that's where I buy most things. Home Depot carries some different brands, though, so that's where I wound up going for a specific Toro blower I wanted, and that's also where bought the set of power tools for my son's Christmas gift, because Lowe's didn't carry it. For my regular shopping, Home Depot is just too far away.

I love the local Ace Hardware; that's where you go when you're looking for something weird that nobody else seems to carry. Their prices are higher on everyday items.

Never heard of Menards. Where I live (Orlando), there are 6 Home Depots and 4 Lowes that are within a 30 minute drive of my house. All 4 Lowes are almost right next to a Home Depot. Since they are so close together, we usually shop both and pick the one with the lower price.

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guod
Home Depot used to be more convenient for me. That was the only reason I went there. I haven't been to Home Deport since they built a new Lowe's within 1/4 mile of the Home Depot that I USED TO go to.

A few years ago I had dinner with some folks from Lowe's who were in charge of finding locations for future stores. They told me that they actually try and site a store as close as possible to existing Home Depots so as to siphon business off from them.

In response, Home Depot has actually purchased old, shuttered shopping centers as a defensive measure so as to prevent Lowe's from building there.

In defense of HD, I had a positive experience there yesterday. I lost these tiny metal clips for a recessed light that I was installing. When I went to HD, I explained my situation to an employee behind the customer service desk, and she just led me to the aisle (of course, the employee who actually worked in electrical was nowhere to be found), grabbed an extra set of clips and handed them to me with a wink and said "now don't lose these again."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2007 12:46PM by the_poochies.

Hope you're right about the re-tooling of HD, Karsen. They need it.
And since they seemed to have put most of the local olde time hardware stores out of biz around here, I'd say they *owe* it the area to run a better operation.

Quote
the_poochies
grabbed an extra set of clips and handed them to me with a wink and said "now don't lose these again."

Ahh, so did you pay for those or what?

We have a Lowes and a HD within 1/2 mile of each other and I pick Lowes every time unless I absolutely can't get what I need at Lowes.

I actually went to HD this afternoon for the first time in about 3 months. They had 6 bags of
Cypress Mulch for $10, picked up 24 bags. I also went to the plumbing dept. to pick up the
pipe and fittings to finish the drain line on my furnace coil so I could turn on the AC today.
There was a guy stocking right beside me, he never once asked if I needed help and he
could tell I was having trouble finding the 3/4" PVC fittings I needed. I looked in the 3/4" 90
elbow box, it was empty, I had pull it out to get to the full box behind it, first fitting I pull out
the box, a 45. The guy walked off after about 1 minute, I guess he didn't want to get
involved. The place had stuff in the front aisle jammed in there so close that 2 people with
buggies couldn't pass.

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Grateful11