The dual combo of Home Depot and Lowes. They like to be across the street from each other. Lowes was " Set Up" with women in mind( think clean, bright, well thought out), Home depot for Contractors. I worked in small hometown hardware stores for over a decade, learned a lot. The owners wife of my place was afraid of lowes, for the above reason.
yea, Lowes came from Grocery Store folks, where HD came from Lumberyard folks. Hard to argue with the breadth of selections either one have....no Ma & Pa has that selection, nor do they have the kind of support from the manufacturer's that the BB's have. They also dont have the funds (stocks). Got to hand it to the folks who created them...they recognized a change in the pulse of the consumer and certainly capitalized on it (as did Walmart). Now we see the result when they are the only game left in an area. Frankly, I do find it somewhat hypocritical when folks talk about how great the Ma& Pa is, but still communicate their preference in another way- the most important way- with their money.
Craftsman was sold to Stanley Black and Decker... Which also now has Lenox and Irwin... Good lock on all facets of the tool spectrum. Dan
I worked as a PT service advisor for Sears in the late 80's. We would install a "Muzzler" muffler for $19.99 even if we had to pay $75.00 for it from a parts store. Then replace it for free when it went bad years later... not a good business model.
I leaned away from Craftsman's tools some time ago. Esp. the power tools. Now a fan of Milwaukee power tools. But would use others with the right price point and quality for my needs. Stanly and Irwin are names I am very familiar with. I've had my share of Black and Decker which I think are OK if only getting light duty use. I think there is a Stanley museum in Connecticut (The Davistown Museum). Amazing how you can come across some good old tools at yard sales.
