Menards is ABSOLUTELY a direct competitor where they co-exist. Keep in mind what I share here is regionally anecdotal and my opinion. I am not a corporate insider and it would be inappropriate to share info if I was. That said, there are things I know to be true here, and suspect to be true nationally. I have a couple local HD stores, the one I work at is small for an HD. The two local Lowes would be slightly larger. The two Menards are HUGE superstores.
-In my small store that only does about $30M annual sales, it's very typical to have 3-4 live cashiers plus ASSISTED checkout. Don't ever say SELF Checkout Mike. We fixed our lighted sign lol. Usually two more employees at the customer service desk and they will check out small carts if asked. Usually one cashier in outdoor garden unless it "mulch give-away days". I even check a few people out through the day at my Millwork Design desk but I can't take cash. All Dept Supervisors and above are reguired to perform about 25 check outs a month, so we are never without a cashier if several cashiers were to call in sick. You have to be formally cashier trained to log on a register. That's a few days of training.
More observations.................
HD Associate training is best in the industry. Computer based and peer assisted OJT for less complex jobs. My millwork training is pretty substantial. I have taken about 50 computer based courses since March. Six- two hour distance learning sessions conducted live from Atlanta HQ by true experts. I am only Intermediate level certified and on the naughty list with a half dozen overdue computer classes. Advance Millworker Cert is next if I hang in there. It would be VERY easy to make big dollar mistakes the store has to eat if I didn't know what I was doing. I am the only full-time millworker. It's not good when the desk is not manned. When somebody tries to "wing it", the errors are expensive.
Point is HD attempts to man the floor with employees that have a clue what they are doing. That is NOT the case at my local Menard's. Their custom millwork customers come to me and tell me they were just told "something" couldn't be done, then I design it and order it in 20 minutes. I am curious how Lowes handles their training. I am going to drop by and ask their millworkers sometime just out of curiousity.
Menard's is the "Wal-Mart Supercenter" of home improvement. They are much cheaper on a lot of cheap product lines. They are not cheaper on quality brands. A smart shopper shows up with their current ad, or a custom quote and they won't leave disappointed. They generally leave with a better brand at about the same price.
Back to the point, I hope they don't continue to under staff my store like the past month. It is NOT a subtle difference. Intentionally not manning building materials dept is profoundly stupid. Too many customers are getting angry on a daily basis. Maybe just my store is experimenting with this? I can't help but think this is an attempt to make sure we beat quarterly sales/earnings. It's not hard to understand it's getting tougher every quarter.
Earnings report on Tuesday I think. I'll definitely listen to the CC with great interest. It will be on Youtube. If I have a prediction, it will be there is much discussion of tariff effects going forward. Our longtime CFO is retiring soon. Carol is a rockstar and won't be easily replaced.
-In my small store that only does about $30M annual sales, it's very typical to have 3-4 live cashiers plus ASSISTED checkout. Don't ever say SELF Checkout Mike. We fixed our lighted sign lol. Usually two more employees at the customer service desk and they will check out small carts if asked. Usually one cashier in outdoor garden unless it "mulch give-away days". I even check a few people out through the day at my Millwork Design desk but I can't take cash. All Dept Supervisors and above are reguired to perform about 25 check outs a month, so we are never without a cashier if several cashiers were to call in sick. You have to be formally cashier trained to log on a register. That's a few days of training.
More observations.................
HD Associate training is best in the industry. Computer based and peer assisted OJT for less complex jobs. My millwork training is pretty substantial. I have taken about 50 computer based courses since March. Six- two hour distance learning sessions conducted live from Atlanta HQ by true experts. I am only Intermediate level certified and on the naughty list with a half dozen overdue computer classes. Advance Millworker Cert is next if I hang in there. It would be VERY easy to make big dollar mistakes the store has to eat if I didn't know what I was doing. I am the only full-time millworker. It's not good when the desk is not manned. When somebody tries to "wing it", the errors are expensive.
Point is HD attempts to man the floor with employees that have a clue what they are doing. That is NOT the case at my local Menard's. Their custom millwork customers come to me and tell me they were just told "something" couldn't be done, then I design it and order it in 20 minutes. I am curious how Lowes handles their training. I am going to drop by and ask their millworkers sometime just out of curiousity.
Menard's is the "Wal-Mart Supercenter" of home improvement. They are much cheaper on a lot of cheap product lines. They are not cheaper on quality brands. A smart shopper shows up with their current ad, or a custom quote and they won't leave disappointed. They generally leave with a better brand at about the same price.
Back to the point, I hope they don't continue to under staff my store like the past month. It is NOT a subtle difference. Intentionally not manning building materials dept is profoundly stupid. Too many customers are getting angry on a daily basis. Maybe just my store is experimenting with this? I can't help but think this is an attempt to make sure we beat quarterly sales/earnings. It's not hard to understand it's getting tougher every quarter.
Earnings report on Tuesday I think. I'll definitely listen to the CC with great interest. It will be on Youtube. If I have a prediction, it will be there is much discussion of tariff effects going forward. Our longtime CFO is retiring soon. Carol is a rockstar and won't be easily replaced.