I suspect this is also an impact of the current housing market and general economy.  People just aren't undertaking either as many home improvement projects or projects that aren't as large.

 

 

Home Depot to close 15 stores, 2 in Ohio

Thursday,  May 1, 2008 10:36 AM

 

ATLANTA (AP) -- The Home Depot is closing 15 of its namesake stores, affecting 1,300 employees. It is the first time the home improvement retailer has ever closed a flagship store for performance reasons.

 

The Atlanta-based company said Thursday that the underperforming U.S. stores being closed represent less than 1 percent of its existing stores. They will be shuttered within the next two months.

 

The stores to be closed consist of three in Wisconsin, two in Ohio, two in New Jersey, two in Indiana and one each in Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, New York and Vermont. The Ohio stores are in  Findlay and  Lima.

 

A company spokesman said some of the employees will be relocated, while others could lose their jobs.

 

Full story at:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/05/01/homedepot.html?sid=101

I'm surprised they did not close the store in Lebanon.   It's a very small Home Depot and doesn't stock a lot of the merchandice that a regular HD store has.  It doesn't even stock vinyl flooring.  I had to drive a few miles down the road to Mason to buy some.

 

There was talk of Home Depot opening a store in the Monroe area.  I wonder how this change in direction will affect those plans?  If I were HD, I would put a super center in Monroe, and close the Lebanon store. 

 

But if I had my preference, HD would not build any store in Monroe or anywhere within 50 miles of me  :-D

HD is such a poorly managed company.  over built and over marketed.

And just waaaaaaaay too much stuff laid out in a way that is visually overwhelming.  I'll take Lowe's or a local hardware store / lumber yard over HD any day.

I'm always amazed that they can be the size of three football fields put together, yet not have any of the things I need.  I went to them to get a single open ended wrench.  They didn't have that. All they had was one full set, that wasn't the type that I wanted (it had those adjustable angle heads).  I wanted a copper wire "toothbrush".  Didn't have it.  I needed a piece to hold the false fronts on my sink on.  Didn't have it.  I needed a specific type of bolt.  Didn't have it.  WTF?!

That's why I always try to trade with a local hardware store. They don't buy stuff in big lots and have all that inventory to move.  I'm lucky to have two good ones... Schreiner's and Beechwold Hardware.... close to where I live in Columbus.

One item to note is that both findlay and lima have a menards store which i'm sure takes alot of home depots buisness. I know in findlay lowes,home depot, and menards are all located with in 2 miles of each other. Thats not including sears,walmart,meijer, etc.. Thats a large amount of saturation for a town of 40,000.

One item to note is that both findlay and lima have a menards store which i'm sure takes alot of home depots buisness. I know in findlay lowes,home depot, and menards are all located with in 2 miles of each other. Thats not including sears,walmart,meijer, etc.. Thats a large amount of saturation for a town of 40,000.

 

Exactly the same scenario in Lima.  Lowe's and Menards across the street from each other and Home Depot just down the street, in addition to all those other big box stores you mention in between.  Also the Home Depot in Lima was built next to where a new Wal-Mart Supercenter was supposed to be built, but that deal fell through and the Wal-Mart is being built a couple of miles away.  So they may have also been counting on that traffic when they built there.  I don't know how many people drive between the different stores to comparison shop, but always thought it would have been better for one of the big box home improvement stores to locate near the retail mess on the east side of Lima, instead of all locating by the mall on the west side.  (Or better yet, recognize oversaturation before you end up leaving a huge empty building in the community)

I haven't been to lima in quite some time but the area around the american mall could definately have used one of those big boxes to spur traffic if my memory is correct.

I haven't been to lima in quite some time but the area around the american mall could definately have used one of those big boxes to spur traffic if my memory is correct.

 

Yeah, but the American Mall is dead beyond revival. Other than The Andersons, BW3, and the new movie theater built on an outlet, the American Mall is completely empty now that Value City is closing/has closed. Most of interior of the mall itself has been walled off and is inaccessible. The owners have been blowing smoke for awhile now about redeveloping the mall, but with the current economic conditions, their already overly ambitious plans are even more unrealistic. Add to the mix a rumored new retail development (Target being the most mentioned tenant and a relocated BW3's) between the American Mall and Lima Mall at the corner of Eastown and Allentown Roads, and it doesn't have a chance. Another rumor is that The Andersons will relocate to the Wal-Mart location on Cable Road once they relocate to their new store, so it looks like things could get even worse for the American Mall.  Even Kroger bailed on their plans to reenter the Lima market and build a new store across the street from the Amcerican Mall.

 

Another thing that I don't get about the big box home improvement stores is now that they have saturated the larger and mid sized cities, they are turning to smaller towns. You mentioned the oversaturation in Findlay and now Menards is opening in Celina, Sidney, etc. and Lowe's opening in Sidney, Wapakoneta, etc. It just doesn't seem like it makes economic sense for every small town to have a big box home improvement store (I mean, does Sidney really need--or can even remotely support--both a Menards and Lowe's?).

I imagine that those areas serve the rural areas nearby and those people probably use that kind of stuff more than city-folk.

That's why I always try to trade with a local hardware store. They don't buy stuff in big lots and have all that inventory to move.  I'm lucky to have two good ones... Schreiner's and Beechwold Hardware.... close to where I live in Columbus.

 

Agreed.  I get most of what I need at Sutton's Hardware.

I'm always amazed that they can be the size of three football fields put together, yet not have any of the things I need.  I went to them to get a single open ended wrench.  They didn't have that. All they had was one full set, that wasn't the type that I wanted (it had those adjustable angle heads).  I wanted a copper wire "toothbrush".  Didn't have it.  I needed a piece to hold the false fronts on my sink on.  Didn't have it.  I needed a specific type of bolt.  Didn't have it.  WTF?!

 

You're not the first person to say that.  Lowes has better customer service and the folks at HD seem to alwasy try an "upsell".

I imagine that those areas serve the rural areas nearby and those people probably use that kind of stuff more than city-folk.

 

That might be a valid point.  It still makes me wonder though.  Home Depot said that the Lima and Findlay stores averaged about $11 million dollars in sales each year, compared to $36 million dollars for the average store.  I realize that Menards and Lowe's may have different strategies and expectations for the stores in smaller towns and the land is much cheaper, but seems hard to believe they'll be able to produce numbers like that. 

 

Using the 234,000 sq. ft. Menards under construction in Celina as an example, IF Menards hopes to get $11 million dollars in sales (what Lima and Findlay Home Depots were averaging and considered underperforming), every single household in all of Mercer County would have to spend $745 each year at the store.  And IF they hope to get close to Home Depot's store average of $36 million (which I doubt they expect to achieve, but nonetheless), every household in Mercer County would have to spend over $2,400 per year at the store.  Again, I understand that it is probably cheaper to build and operate stores in smaller communities but I wonder what sort of sales expectations they have for those stores.  Also, it would be interested to know what percentage is for agricultural buildings vs. residential.

 

Lowes has better customer service

I completely agree (although, as others said, local hardware stores have by far the best customer service...and I can be there and back in less time than it would even take me to get to the closest HD or Lowes.)  About a year or two ago when I ripped the carpet out of my living room and dining room and need to patch some areas of the hardwood floors before I refinished them, neither my local lumber yard nor Home Depot were able to get me the right type of wood with the right grain (rift and quartered). In fact, the guy at Home Depot didn't even have a clue what I was asking for.  Walked into Lowe's and once they sent me to the right guy, he broke out some books and made some phone calls and in no time I had the exact type of hardwood flooring ordered that I needed.   No where even close to that level of service at HD.