Home Depot vs Lowes?

[sugardumpling]

We seem to gravitate to Home Depot a lot more than our area Lowes. Our Lowes does seem to have a better selection of decorative items for hte home but HD is tops for building materials etc. We did stop into Lowes to look at ceiling fans.again.for.the.2,476th.time. While there we signed up for MyLowes. Oh how I wish Home Depot had something similar. Gosh that would make my life soooo much simpler.

Given the option of both, do you prefer Lowes or Home Depot?

[emoflamingo]

I usually prefer Lowes, but we check both when shopping for something. We went through HD for carpet -- they had a better selection on carpet and the price was a little cheaper overall -- but a lot of the rest of our updating supplies came from Lowes.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Up until a few years ago, I'd have never said this, but I strongly prefer Home Depot. I'm not sure if it's just our Lowe's, but their prices are ridiculous compared to HD, at least in certain areas. And they charge for samples (flooring, specifically) which kinda ticks me off. Also, the Lowe's employees just aren't very helpful.

[NitaX]

I shop both especially when it comes to plants. Like right now, my local Lowe's doesn't have small packs of zinnias, but Home Depot does.

[heartmama]

We don't have HD, we have Menards. I love Valspar from Lowes, and their flowers are usually nicer, but other than that, we usually find better prices at Menards hands down for everything.

[simpsongal]

We don't have a Lowe's nearby. I wish we did b/c I would comparison shop. Lowe's seems more geared toward decorating and finishing.

Whatever happened to Home Depot's Expo design center? I think it opened when the housing market crashed - did it fizzle out? ETA: Quick google search says they closed the stores in 2009.

[thewop]

Depends on what I'm shopping for. Lowes in my area usually has a better selection of things, but is more expensive. HD is cheaper, and closer to us, but doesn't always have what I'm looking for. Generally speaking though, we shop more often at HD.

[emoflamingo]

Someone mentioned it but I'm kind of excited they're opening a Menard's. Right by Lowes lol. I can't wait until it's done, but I was totally irritated it was under construction while we were fixing up our house lol.

[kaylie]

This is tough for me. I swore off Lowe's after they pulled their advertising from a show about Muslims in America on TLC. I was turned off that they caved to pressure from an extremist religious group (this same group flies homophobic banners over Disney World in Florida).

That said, I find their customer service to be better than HD's.

[minniebee]

I usually go to HD or Menards, mostly because of location. The closest Lowe's is about 10 miles away, which isn't that far, but HD and Menards are less than 5 miles away so Lowe's seems like a trek. Plus, the Menard's and HD are right across the street from each other, so it's easy to compare prices.

Menards usually has cheaper prices, but I like Behr paint, so I go to HD for that. And plants/garden supplies mostly come from HD. Our closest Menards doesn't have a garden center. It's one of the few stores that doesn't have it, which is a bummer.

Lowe's offers military vets a 10% discount everyday, while HD only does on special holidays like Memorial Day and Veterans Day. It's a nice perk, and if we're buying a more expensive item, sometimes we'll go to Lowe's just because of the military discount.

[steamboat185]

Recently Home Depot the store by us has done a great job of empowering their employees and shopping has become way more pleasant. A few weeks ago I was buying a piece of PVC pipe for a sink drain when I tried to checkout the bar code wouldn't read as opposed to having me go get a new one they let me take it for free. It was a small thing, but left a great impression another guy gave us a discount because they didn't have the peice we needed. It's just more customer centric.

[gnomesweetgnome]

We usually go to Lowe's, but there's no rhyme or reason as to why. After reading this post, I'll check out HD next time we need something!

[magdala9]

Either. Both have crappy service, don't have sale items in stock and are equally inconvenient.

[cotner]

Both. I agree that Lowes tends to be better for finishes and HD better for building materials. So it depends on what we are going for. The crappy service is on the weekend. Try to go during the week, from opening till 3, contractors hours. Then tend to schedule their more knowledgable employees when the contractors are there.

[kyliek29]

We usually go to Lowes, because its a 2 minute drive from our house. Home Depot is about 15 minutes away. There are certain things that DH will go to Home Depot for though. DH isn't a fan of Menards, we've only been there once.

[aweilba]

It honestly depends what I'm buying. I really like Valspar paint, so I tend to go to Lowes for that. But I like the variety of materials I can find at HD. I also like their spray paint selection. HD also tends to be cheaper. I get better customer service there, too; our Lowe's has really crappy customer service.

[adhdfashion]

Where I live, the Lowes is cheaper than the HD because which county its in. I have to drive an extra 15 mins to the Lowes. So I usually end up at the HD instead. Honestly I kinda hate them both. But I still shop there.

[frlcb]

My dh works for one, at their headquarters, and doesn't get a discount, so we usually end up at the other, because it is closer. If we got a discount we would probably shop at the one he works for

[sierramist03]

We have been going to menards a lot lately but we got to home depot more than lowes but generally it depends on what we need

[heartmama]

Jun 11, 2012 10:29:17 GMT -5 emoflamingo said:

Someone mentioned it but I'm kind of excited they're opening a Menard's. Right by Lowes lol. I can't wait until it's done, but I was totally irritated it was under construction while we were fixing up our house lol.

You will love it! Our menards is right by Lowes as well, which is nice when you are comparing products.

[TBM]

We shop at Lowes more than HD, but it depends on what we are looking for. Lowes is cleaner and easier to find stuff, and our Lowes has nice, if not particularly knowledgeable employees. HD is hit or miss customer service-wise, but for quite a long time they were the only store around and it was really bad. They are cheaper on some items, but I feel like their quality is lesser on many items.

We actually live in an area with really nice people...it just seems like no one who works at either store actually knows much about what they sell or diy, so they aren't helpful, even if they try to help.

[winofairy]

We are a Lowes family. DH hates HD and Menards.

[ninjasinmypants]

IMO, HD is terrible on customer service.

Lowe's has a better layout, better selection, and the people there at least TRY to seem like they want to help you.