homedepot

I heard that rumor too. Rumor has it they're supposed to occupy the space vacated by the old Cost-U-Less and the old Sunshine Supermarket.

Rumor also has it that a certain hardware store in Christiansted is trying to block the arrival of Home Depot.

screw that we need the depot

The home depot website has had postings lately asking for applications from employees wanting to relocate to the new store in STX in the managerial slots.

Alexandra do you remeber how to navigate to the page on Home Depots Site that says they are looking for management for a possible store on STX? To introduce myself to this forum and its members I lived on St Croix for a year or so and managed Cruzan Princesse Condos just before Hugo hit. I also worked for the Depot for eight years and might be just the ticket I might need to return. Some parts of me never left.

I was just looking on Monster.com and there are job listings for sales associates and managers in STX.

Go to:

http://jobsearch.monster.com/getjob.asp?JobID=38422135&WT.mc_n=jobscomview

Hope this helps!

Although I'm sure a Home Depot would be convenient, I am hoping that the local nurseries, specialized industries and other hardware stores can block their coming.

If someone is coming here with lots of managerial experience, they will do well in the trade here without a Home Depot. I have watched town after town in both the North and Southeeast loose all of thier small businesses as they could not compete with someplace that is buying for hundreds of stores at a time.

To lose the small business on the island would, from what I have seen, begin the urban rot. Paint stores, plant stores, hardware and concrete stores and businesses would primarily fold.

In meeting with the SBDC, it seems that the need is already to take vacated buildings, to refurbish them, and to keep the business community healthy, thereby bringing more employment and to support having such a large and diverse middle class. That is all but gone in so many areas. Opportunities become more limited.

If there is some sort of a hearing, I certainly would testify to the root causes of urban blight. How many of us moved here for convenience, and how many because there was a higher quality of life? I did it for the quality of the people and of the island life. If I had wanted WalMarts, Home Depots and lots of chain restaurants, I would have stayed stateside.

Perhaps I'm alone in this feeling about small business, the middle class and living 'smaller but better', but these feelings do run deep.

Hmmm. I do not want to diminish what anyone else has posted, but as compared to a home depot, at my hardware store I actually know the people and they know their store. So I pay 40 cents more for a can of paint. It is almost always mixed correctly as for many, this is a career rather than a job.

Just a few thoughts,

Warm regards,

Dan

Danieljude said:

"Although I'm sure a Home Depot would be convenient, I am hoping that the local nurseries, specialized industries and other hardware stores can block their coming..."

I totally agree with your post, Daniel. Just look at what WalMart is doing to communities all over the country.

The demise of Christiansted and Frederiksted can be linked directly to the arrival of Sunny Isle Shopping Center. Ever wonder why there are so many dilapidated buildings in both towns? We old timers can remember when those towns were bustling centers of activity, non-dependent on tourism. The arrival of the shopping malls changed all that. How many of us remember the great times we had at places like Alexander Theatre ( now vacant and crumbling ), Golden Cow ( best ice-cream and burgers ever ), currently a police station. And so on...

Home Depot will kill off Gallows Bay Hardware, Paint Locker, Caribe Home Center, UDL Lumber, White Cliffs, Pan american Distributors, and other similar businesses.

Will we really be better off?

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root," wrote Henry David Thoreau.

Strike at the root.

If anyone has noticed, they've put traffic lights up in front of Sunshine Mall, the alleged home of the new Home Depot...that and the ads lends credence to the "rumors" of it's imminent arrival...I surely do hate to see it in a lot of ways. As you pointed out, Native Son, other than giving someone a "fix", KFC and McDonald's haven't exactly been a big boon for the island unless you're hooked on fast food.

It sounds like this one is almost a done deal - if anyone has your local politician's ear, give him this website and tell him/her to read what's here. Just say NO to big business....and don't EVEN get me started on Wal Mart....

While I think that a Home Depot will affect the business of Gallows Bay Hardware and others, I don't think it will run all of them out of business.
Here in the states with a Home Depot three miles from me, I still do a lot of business with the Ace Hardware two blocks away.
There are also another larger Ace Hardware 6 blocks away, and another hardware store inbetween me and the H.D.. The smaller stores are convient and less crowded.
I'm sure that when it first opens everyone will go there, but after talking to a lot of people on the island, who think that the other end of the island is "too far to drive, or like the new K Mart but it"s so far" they will still do a lot of their business with the existing stores. Look at small little stores that K Mart has not put out of business, because people don't want to drive that far, or like the owners , or less crowded.
The one thing that a Home Depot should be good for is more availibilty of products.
I do agree that it would be nice to keep Wallmart out. But maybe a nice Target would be nice.

My wife and I were discussing this just this past weekend.

You can go to almost any city these days, and they all look the same. McDonalds on one corner, Chili's across the street, and Home Depot on the other corner. You could be in Dallas or Atlanta and not know where you are.

One of the things I enjoy most about traveling is visiting unique stores. The small shops may not have the most variety, but they do carry some things you may never find in a large store like Home Depot.

I understand the fact that change does happen, but I would hate to see such a beautiful place become "just another city."

AJ suggested I go to jobsearch.monster.com...

The page I arrive at is a generic spring push for new employees overall. I saw the same thing on America's Jobsite. It is even listed for ST John's which I believe is not even a possibility at this point in time, if at all.

Danieljude; I didn't mean to stir up emotions on the subject. I do appreciate the notion that someone with management skills would do well there anyway. Diane, my wife, and I have sent resumes to every qualified job posting I can find there; so I still have alternatives.

I left Home Depot after eight years, for the opportunity to own my own business again. I understand what happens to "the local competion" when the Depot comes to town. It is more a weeding out process than total capitulation. I shopped the neigborhood Ace hardware store myself when it came to where can I get something small quick, but when I decided to build a guesthouse I got estimates from the local guy Scotty's,(a lumberyard - they are gone now) Lowe's and Home Depot. I went with the best quality for the money.

For everyone else who weighed in on the thread: I appreciate the feedback, and I do believe that there are two sides to every story. I agree something would be lost if Home Depot arrives, but there are benefits also. I remember all to well, looking for something as simple as a pvc half inch plumbing fitting and not finding it anywhere on the island. I could go on about this, but I think everyone who lives there knows what I mean.
It seems Home Depot is working out on STT okay. I first heard of Home Depot going to STT from friends who visited Tortola some time ago. Their taxi driver on Tortola was all excited about having a Home Depot that close. Maybe there is something to the idea of them being around, but not in my backyard.

Again, I thank everyone for their respected opinions. I am impressed by the honesty and intergrity of this forum and its contributors. Not your usual mix of too many flamers, hotheads and trolls(thats a new one on me). I hope to add my views from time to time. Most of all, I look forward IMHO, to returning to the best combination of lifestyle, climate and natural beauty, with or without Home Depot, STX. Cheers everyone, Bob C

Thanks for reply AJ. I answered with what I found in my first post this date. I have not mastered the navigation around here yet.

Thanks again for the response, Bob C.

My feelings on having a HD on STX are mixed. We have always tried to support local businesses, but not when we found their prices to be outrageous (and they are sometimes), or when we felt their product selection was so lacking that we could not locate the items we needed. A reasonable price markup is to be expected (even Kmart charges more than stateside for identical items) but double??No way does it cost them that much.

when you order a smaller quantity the price of the items is indeed higher...if you can order more then the price is less...smaller businesses tend to order less so their prices are higher overall.

Bob - I saw the ads a couple months ago and they no longer appear on the website in their job postings section. They either filled them or closed the application period or have suspended them for now. I still see one opening on St. Thomas.

Terry said:

"The one thing that a Home Depot should be good for is more availibilty of products.
I do agree that it would be nice to keep Wallmart out. But maybe a nice Target would be nice."

...but where do you draw the line, Terry? Pretty soon the same things that we try to escape from by living here are all around us, and there is NO escape. Then we start hearing complaints about the "lack of local culture."

Take the situation with cars for example. Sure, it's convenient to drive...but at the expense of our used-to-be unpolluted environment. I predict that within five years there will be one continuous traffic jam from Christiansted to Frederiksted and back. Is that progress?

When they were building the entrance to the new KMart, eight mahogany trees were destroyed. I guess it was worth it to be able to buy cheap goods made in China using slave labor.

...end of rant 🙂

We have Home Depot on STT but they seem to stock like a mainland store so we end up at the smaller hardware stores for most of our island specific needs. When we needed fiberglass screen and dark, thin spline, Home Depot only had aluminum screen and thick silver spline. Also, many friends have complained about the quality of Home Depot paint, claiming the fungicide is weak and paint coverage poor necessitating several coats, whereas paint from the small Sherwin Williams store in Bovoni comes highly recommended. I don't think Home Depot is competitive and, in my opinion, it fails to improve our quality of life on STT.

Native Sun

i was thinking about what you said about the traffic jam. Wouldnt STX be a perfect place for a descent public trans system. I mean it is small. I know there is one right now, but from what i heard it isnt very good. I know in a "perfect world" this is a good idea. Couldnt it really work there though? If there was a descent functioning public trans system I dont think I would mind giving up the freedom of having my own car. Just something that came to mind. This would play in to the tourism economy nicely as well. Many tourist economy areas have great public trans. If anyone has been to Bar Harbor Maine. That is an example of a great public trans system for a small area.

sand86 said:

"Wouldnt STX be a perfect place for a descent public trans system"

It would be perfect, IMHO. The problem is, people are very attached to their cars, and, for many people, ownership of an automobile is seen as some sort of validation of their worth as humans. How many times have you seen a huge SUV with just ONE person in it, and God forbid it should get any dirt on it! You see how much time people spend on weekends cleaning their cars. It becomes an idol.

You would have to change an entire mindset, and that's nigh impossible.

I live within 4 miles of my job, and I try to walk or ride my bike as much as I can. The problem is, some people in cars don't like to see people walking or riding bikes. I have been deliberately run off the road on several occasions, and most times it's just plain scary. You always have to wait an extra few seconds at the traffic lights because invariably some idiot comes barrelling through the red light.

I agree, it would be a great way to say "look, we are doing something different." But it has to come from the grassroots, and from leadership. Our leaders have already demonstrated their allegiance to the personal SUV LOL 🙂

Thank you so much for taking note of my "stirred emotions". I do not want in any way to impede business or certainly jobs. I think I came across as being a bit crass. I apologize.

I just like the island atmosphere. I have moved to several lovely towns in the states, and within years, they all looked alike. As the Cruise Ship industry is just taking off again, I would hope that this island looks and feels like a relfection of the people.

I have absolutely no politial clout, so I guess I just expressed an opinion. The powers that be will be the last vote in this, but I do hope they, as Becky mentioned, take into consideration the small island, the unique stores and the culture.

I do wish you absolutely the best, so please don't get me wrong. I hope that when you move here, I will meet you someday, and know that you have absorbed some of the culture, regardless of what you do or where you work.

Best wishes in your move and all that you do,

Dan

Alexandra - Thanks for looking again. I'm not convinced Home Depot is going to happen there yet. I spoke with the director of store operations in Atlanta about this (turns out he was an assistant store mgr at the store I worked at in Naples Fl. who would have thought...) He said the plan was to put two stores on STT. I told him that given the population of @ 50,000 it wouldn't support two stores. But who knows, maybe he was just not up to speed on it the day I called. Thanks again for the effort though. I really appreciate the input from you and the host of others who post regularily to help those who ask for help.