Monday, September 10, 2007

What Happened to Home Depot?

When I wasn't looking, what happened to the darling of the big box set--The Home Depot? OK, granted, I live in a condo, not a single family home, and I am not a do-it-yourselfer, so I am not a big bet to hang out at HD. My forays at HD have mainly centered around buying paint (probaby 5 years ago) and an occasional trip to get an air filter.

My last trip there to get an air filter was within the last year, and I have to admit, I did notice the lack of employees on the floor. But I didn't know it had hit epidemic levels. Also, on occasion when I bought a larger item, like a new toilet, I did comparison shopping between HD and Lowe's and chose the latter, based on price for the item and installation costs. Again, I did not realize this was part of a bigger trend.

A few years back, all I seemed to hear was positive news about the big box retailer--how people loved The Home Depot, how they had so many Olympic athletes working for them, and how it just seemed to be mecca in general.

Today the news is so different--and seems especially focused on the poor customer service. How the retailer hires mainly part time people and caps their wages, how the employees seem disgruntled and that of course tends to affect their work attitudes.

If you google HD, you will see comment after comment about how poor the store is these days. I guess I hadn't kept up with the news. But if I had gone to the store more often, I am sure my brief impression would have been confirmed long before now.

No comments: