I enjoyed full retirement from age 53 to 56 1/2, so I hope nobody pity's me in anyway. I got to do some bucket list stuff like numerous fly fishing trips to Alaska etc. Now I need to stay out of my true retirement funds so I can be a bazilionaiire at age 59. 
Anyway I work because I want to and that is enough of the personal stuff. I'll just be your personal HD spy lol. I am going to ask my boss to get me regional sales figures right after earnings. He'll do that. Going forward I would like to know what if my experience is a reasonable barometer of US sales. I suspect it is when hurricanes and ridiculous winters don't occur in any particular quarter.
I am going to share some anectodal stuff that I believe makes HD a better retailer. Honestly, I am there now because I read they have a strong corporate culture that has two main goals. Take care of customers and the employees that serve them. You can decide for yourself if this is a recipe for longterm success. I believe it might matter if your employees aren't looking for a better deal a month after you finish training them.
Most everybody else in my area pays entry level retailers $9-$11 an hour depending on how much intelligence or skill the position requires. Out cost of living is low in semi-rural Iowa. WMT, Dicks, Autozone, Kohls and the other department stores etc. have a turnover rate that boggles the mind. HD takes a different approach. You start at $11 here because they know that is above market average, and you will pass a drug test before you clock in day one. The wage makes them able to demand decent employees. The rest hire the cheapest help they can find and you are replaceable when you no show next week. I don't see that happening where I work with only one exception in about 5 months. My store has 130 employees so that's a good stat IMO.
The orange HD carpenters apron is the uniform. Notice the gold stars and patches they wear. The place is a never ending incentive program and some of those awards they wear come with a small cash bonus. It isn't much, but if you do your job the store manager will find an excuse to put an extra $50 in your check now and then. You will be noticed if they have to make up the most trivial good deed to reward you for. I could be wrong, but to my knowledge, not many other retailers doing that. There are quite a few guys and gals in my store with 10+ yrs experience. Most are not college graduates of course, but they stayed for a reason IMO.
On another subject HD logistics are VERY solid. This winter has been an unending snow and ice storm in Iowa. Customers want driveway salt and everyone else is out of stock for weeks. Lowe's Menards, and the usual big box stores. Customers are not pleased. Not HD, our freight manager Jacob scours the other HD stores continuously and we are never out more than a day or so. He pulled a thousand bags out of Pittsburgh area (100 miles away) just last week. Until a few weeks ago I was on a cash register because the manager told me to please take the position that was open and give him a chance to find me a better spot more appropriate for my resume. (he made good on that promise in about 90 days BTW). Anyway I worked a 5 hr shift on a register when the salt arrived and 24 of my first 25 customers bought salt, and threw other stuff in the cart while they were there. A horrible night when there was no sane reason to shop but the store did OK. BTW Jake and his wife life in a below average mobile home park. I bet Jake is an assistant store manager this year and he deserves it. The customers just love him and bother to say so on those silly little surveys you are invited to respond to on the bottom of your receipt. Manager reads every one of them daily and tracks who is getting positive responses so he can make it worth their effort.
I often wonder if Wal-Mart Lowe's and Menards are doing this too? I highly suspect they are not because practically none of our staff is dropping applications at those places. Check out Lowe's same store sales and sales per square foot. It isn't even close and I think I know why.
HD commercial over for now lol. All that said, I will be very pleased if they pulled off the quarter and especially the next one. I'll buy the dip if they don't. I am waiting for the real housing slowdown before I get deeper in HD. It's not the right time for that IMO. I only have 100 shares currently, but that's a fairly sizable play for my port at $190 a share. It's been an epic winter locally. Nobody is sneaking in a winter vinyl siding, window replacement or roofing job around here. That usually happens in a normal winter but not this year. It's rock salt and repainting the home interior for now. If they blow away earnings you can all have a good laugh after this HD rant.
Anyway I work because I want to and that is enough of the personal stuff. I'll just be your personal HD spy lol. I am going to ask my boss to get me regional sales figures right after earnings. He'll do that. Going forward I would like to know what if my experience is a reasonable barometer of US sales. I suspect it is when hurricanes and ridiculous winters don't occur in any particular quarter. I am going to share some anectodal stuff that I believe makes HD a better retailer. Honestly, I am there now because I read they have a strong corporate culture that has two main goals. Take care of customers and the employees that serve them. You can decide for yourself if this is a recipe for longterm success. I believe it might matter if your employees aren't looking for a better deal a month after you finish training them.
Most everybody else in my area pays entry level retailers $9-$11 an hour depending on how much intelligence or skill the position requires. Out cost of living is low in semi-rural Iowa. WMT, Dicks, Autozone, Kohls and the other department stores etc. have a turnover rate that boggles the mind. HD takes a different approach. You start at $11 here because they know that is above market average, and you will pass a drug test before you clock in day one. The wage makes them able to demand decent employees. The rest hire the cheapest help they can find and you are replaceable when you no show next week. I don't see that happening where I work with only one exception in about 5 months. My store has 130 employees so that's a good stat IMO.
The orange HD carpenters apron is the uniform. Notice the gold stars and patches they wear. The place is a never ending incentive program and some of those awards they wear come with a small cash bonus. It isn't much, but if you do your job the store manager will find an excuse to put an extra $50 in your check now and then. You will be noticed if they have to make up the most trivial good deed to reward you for. I could be wrong, but to my knowledge, not many other retailers doing that. There are quite a few guys and gals in my store with 10+ yrs experience. Most are not college graduates of course, but they stayed for a reason IMO.
On another subject HD logistics are VERY solid. This winter has been an unending snow and ice storm in Iowa. Customers want driveway salt and everyone else is out of stock for weeks. Lowe's Menards, and the usual big box stores. Customers are not pleased. Not HD, our freight manager Jacob scours the other HD stores continuously and we are never out more than a day or so. He pulled a thousand bags out of Pittsburgh area (100 miles away) just last week. Until a few weeks ago I was on a cash register because the manager told me to please take the position that was open and give him a chance to find me a better spot more appropriate for my resume. (he made good on that promise in about 90 days BTW). Anyway I worked a 5 hr shift on a register when the salt arrived and 24 of my first 25 customers bought salt, and threw other stuff in the cart while they were there. A horrible night when there was no sane reason to shop but the store did OK. BTW Jake and his wife life in a below average mobile home park. I bet Jake is an assistant store manager this year and he deserves it. The customers just love him and bother to say so on those silly little surveys you are invited to respond to on the bottom of your receipt. Manager reads every one of them daily and tracks who is getting positive responses so he can make it worth their effort.
I often wonder if Wal-Mart Lowe's and Menards are doing this too? I highly suspect they are not because practically none of our staff is dropping applications at those places. Check out Lowe's same store sales and sales per square foot. It isn't even close and I think I know why.
HD commercial over for now lol. All that said, I will be very pleased if they pulled off the quarter and especially the next one. I'll buy the dip if they don't. I am waiting for the real housing slowdown before I get deeper in HD. It's not the right time for that IMO. I only have 100 shares currently, but that's a fairly sizable play for my port at $190 a share. It's been an epic winter locally. Nobody is sneaking in a winter vinyl siding, window replacement or roofing job around here. That usually happens in a normal winter but not this year. It's rock salt and repainting the home interior for now. If they blow away earnings you can all have a good laugh after this HD rant.