Home Depot on STX??

When Home Depot,and theother one with the green color scheme that when out of business and Lowes all came to the seacoat of NH it had the effect of stabilizing prices at all the lumber and hardware outlets. I contiued to use my local Lumber Yard for most things and the reward was excellent service and good terms. There was the occaision were there was some disparity in pricing so some things I would have to "shop" for or ask my local guy to match the price.

Very few stores went out of business and they actually became better by finding a nitch and having good customer service. I continued to go to downtown Portsmouth to an old hardware store in the middle of the city with no place to park to buy Baldwin door hardware. They would take you down in the dark, dusty cellar and in the chaos would find exactly what I needed plus there was a good bar across the street.

I'll still use GBH and STX Trading when HD comes

When I look around at all the homes that need improving (mine included) I wonder if the reason there is so much improvement to be done is partialy because prices are high due to the lack the lack of big box stores. If at the end of the day the HD makes it more afforadable for us to maintain and improve our homes the economic benefit to the masses will outweigh the pain to the established businesses that go under.

Sean

If I go into Gallows Bay Hardware, and need help with a project they will take the time and make suggestions and alternatives that have helped me time and time again. I can buy one nail not a box. I have gone into the Big Box Stores asked a question and was told that would be isle 3.:S

I agree about the service at Gallows Bay. They are the BEST! But, I don't always need service, so I see myself shopping at both places, on a regular basis. Plus, the HD will be on the west side of C'sted, so that will be convenient for me.

So Juanita you just proved what I said, the future business that you will give HD would be business that you normally would give HD.

Once again I am nuetral on this but I've seen to many small businesses lose out to the big giant box stores.

I will definitely continue to go to GBH for most things as they are close by and will likely to continue to have superior service. It's the major items that GBH isn't price competitive on that I look forward to having HD to go to here. BUT the thing is, I don't go to GBH for these anyway, I go off island and ship so no loss to them (at least from me). Hopefully this forces GBH to be price competitive so I can continue to shop there too.

Lower prices can spur demand which means that in the end everyone makes money. If a project costs $1000 and there are 2 people who want to do that project but only have $700 each then nothing gets sold or done. But if the cost comes down to $700 due to the arrival of a second business reducing the price and person 1 goes to the old store with person 2 going to the new store even the old store now has $700 of revenue they wouldn't have had. Now if they can't figure out how to make money at $700 there is still a problem, but I'm not sure this is always the case in the VI.

I guess what I'm hoping for is that on items where are local vendors are known to "gouge" us a bit they are forced to stop that practice due to the arrival of a new, albeit large, competitor.

Sean

When Home Depot came to Long island everyone thought the same thing about the smaller lumber stores going out of business. Pergament didn't make it, they chose not to adjust to the new environment but True Value did survive and is doing well. Some people do not want to look at 200 different size bolts to find the one they want. But they will walk into True Value and speak with the guy that lives down the block and walk out with the one they need. The same situation developed between Caldor and Kmart. Caldor did not adjust and they are not here today. Stand by for the great Kmart/Walmart struggle.
I think competition is always good. I think it can only make the business environment stronger on STX and more stable.

Yup, GBH is great in STX!
Of course, when I`m shoppijng there it`s with someone elses $$, so I`m not really looking at that.
Just trying to get `er done & fly back to STT!

Bring Walmart!!

Walmart Walmart Walmart Walmart Walmart !
And, be a super center w/ FOOD!
Make it 10% above stateside (like Radio Shack did to cover expenses here).

And those that sell food here, & who steal from WAPA & US will need to COMPETE!
No more colluding by the Arab markets!

Just imagine, COMPETITIVE prices for food & stuff we use everyday!!
like plants @ Home Depot prices (when they opened, now they sux).

Walmart Walmart Walmart Walmart Walmart !

You can reach a level of saturation in customer to store ratio where not only does the new store opening hurt the existing businesses but will have trouble itself being successful. I don't think that is even close to an issue here. I have seen the big store come in to other towns and not really hurt the lumber stores and hardware stores in the area unless those stores were taking advantage of there being no competition and were overpriced with poor service. Most contractors like to have a relationship with the suppliers they use and are not going to switch to a store that doesn't offer them that. Most people in general like customer service and will revisit a shop that takes good care of them. That said HD will probably still do well due to the fact that often we need to visit every available option in order to get a project done around here. So who in the long run will probably get the business? Often, whoever has the item.

I agree about the service at Gallows Bay. They are the BEST! But, I don't always need service, so I see myself shopping at both places, on a regular basis. Plus, the HD will be on the west side of C'sted, so that will be convenient for me.

Frankly, I think we are going to need HD with GBH under new managment. That WAS the best hardware store in the VI including the HD in St. Thomas. Some things were pricey, but it was the ONLY place in St Croix that HAD what you needed plus all kinds of cool stuff.

Unfortuantely, I only see the store going down hill and probably closing. It certainly won't be what it used to be, but only time will tell.

Very, very said for all of us that had grown to enjoy a really "full service" store with great managment and great emplyees!! GBH will be missed!

GBH wil be missed?? I don't think it's going anywhere. I was in last week and I saw the same worker bees plus the place was 200% cleaner than in the past. Maybe it was time for a change.

Linda I completely agree. GBH has been great in a lot of ways and will likely be greater.

Oh yes, for goodness sake, lets get things all uncluttered and CLEAN. You crack me up!

To be honest, I was getting kinda tired of the (very nice) fat dude's breakfast/coffee/lunch/snack/napkins/wrappers sitting on the power tools shelf.

I find it FASCINATING, the things you consider important in a good hardware store. I don't think you have a clue what made that such a great place to shop for HARDWARE!!!! Lets see what it looks like in a year. And I mean PRODUCT not NEAT AND TIDY!!!

PS: You MUST have a lot of time on your hands if those are the things that occupy your mind when you go to the HARDWARE store. And maybe the place looks so neat and clean because it's EMPTY right now?????

And to be HONEST, I could care less if the "fat dude" leaves his sandwich wrapper on the tools as long as I can find the part I need. And funny, I don't ever recall seeing the "fat dude" and his wrapper. But then again, that must must be more important to your mental health than it is to mine.

Hey rks was that the same shelf that had items charging 2 1/2 times retail, or is that your troll version of the location of the garbage?:-o

Smuggler, if they still have that MintCrap (their own description, not mine) on the shelves in a year's time, I'll buy you lunch.

Well, I can't argue that point with you , ha! But I don't think you can judge things based on Mintcraft. Did it occur to you that similar tools made in the USA are just out of reach at this point? If ACE only sells the tool in Mintcraft because it is what is available at that price what are you gonna do? It ain't that simple!

And do I think there will be Mintcraft on the shelves in a year? IF the shelves are full, I would bet there will be MORE mincraft junk on the shelves and it will be MORE expensive than it is now.

I wonder if you remember the days when you had to drive around ALL day trying to find one part for a job you were doing? I do. And some things are way to expensive AND I would bet they will be MORE expensive. Like I said, let's wait and see. But I suspect I will be spending a lot more time ordering stuff on my PC.

I got nothing more to say on GBH.

By, by

So smuggler,
You registered today, post 4 posts about Gallows Bay Hardware, and now you are signing off? :S

I have to wonder smuggler, if you are one of the people who used to run the store. The timing & tenor of your post makes me think you are. Either way, cleanliness of a store is VERY important to many shoppers. If you can't manage the very simple task of picking up garbage how can you manage more complicated matters like inventory control.
I, for one, can't wait for Home Depot to open, if only to provide some competition and level out the outrageous pricing issues.

On the lighter side, I will always have a warm spot for GBH. We got our cat there. No, she wasn't on the shelf, for sale:@)...she was born in the pallets out back. We tell people all the time, we went to the hardware stores for nuts and bolts, and came home with a cat!

I have to wonder smuggler, if you are one of the people who used to run the store. The timing & tenor of your post makes me think you are. Either way, cleanliness of a store is VERY important to many shoppers. If you can't manage the very simple task of picking up garbage how can you manage more complicated matters like inventory control.
I, for one, can't wait for Home Depot to open, if only to provide some competition and level out the outrageous pricing issues.

I wasn't going to post again on the subject of GBH since there isn't much else to say. However, I find the comments so funny I just have to respond.

As to divingirl's conspiracy theory, I have never worked for GBH but I have been buying stuff there from when it was Gannet.

As to this bizarre obsession with cleanliness in the store, I don't think there IS a cleanliness issue. But then again, I come in there looking for items I need, I don't do inspections for dirt, employee eating habits and CLUTTER. For me hardware stores ARE clutter. And clutter means they are buying the stuff I need

I would also note that that store is SMALL. And they move a LOT of product. They move so much in fact that they don't have a neat and tidy place to put everything. And that is fine by me cause I would rather get what I need for my work than be told they don't have it because they would have had to put it on the floor and cause CLUTTER.

Finally, YEP some things in that store are priced outrageously. AND, I don't buy the stuff that is unless I REALLY need it. I buy most of my power tools in the states on line. Pluming products are priced very competitively. As in most places you have to shop and compare. For me the most important thing is that most of the time I can GET everything I need without driving from store to store and wasting a lot of time. And providing that sort of supply CONSISTENTLY is no easy task. Something, I think goes right over your heads and your petty comments

Finally, as far as I am concerned you are all a bunch of whiners that don't know a good thing when you have it. I hope it gets bigger and better and and the prices come down but I wouldn't count on that, ha! I hope the change WILL be good because I NEED a complete hardware store and I would bet that Home Depot is NOT going to build that store out west with the worst economy since the great depression.

And THAT IS all I have to say on GBH. I am gone from this topic and gone from this board. What a waste of time, ha!

PS: Maybe divinggirl can get a job there doing inventory control once they make it easier with everyhting in it's place, ha!

LOL the Mars/Venus thing raises its head! Smuggler is right insofar as guys want to get the part they need with no fuss. Increasingly however women are the real spenders, and for them a clean store is imperative. Guys buy $.35 ss screws and $.99 left-handed fine thread bolts but women buy $499 mixers or $999. dishwashers. Clean doesn't hurt and in many cases it helps a lot.

I too have been shopping there since the Gannett days.

GBH was always a mixed bag - always had stuff in stock with helpful service....however, they gouged on price. Favorite example was how certain items were marked up significantly after Hurricane Omar...... Didn't seem like a good neighbor policy to gouge the people who depend on you after a disaster.....

I would think that neater might mean better inventory control, which COULD mean better prices. If the front end of the store is so messy, I wonder what the stock room looks like? I think this is the first time I've ever heard anyone speak against tidiness. LOL.