Background: Menards is a big box store out of Wisconsin that is expanding throughout the midwest and a competitor of Home Depot and Lowe's.  They are known  for running 11% rebates on every purchase for a lot of the time.   Most of the construction wood and sheet goods are kept out back "in the barn" where you can drive thru and load or get help loading.  So you don't need to load a cart and pedal to the checkout.  Useful when we get $2000 of material at a time.   I think their lumber is a little better than the other places and they even have a few aisles of food (think convenience store).  The theater group and I buy there frequently,

 

Anyway, I was there last week for something else and went back to see if my ship-to-store order was there.  The sole clerk at the counter was on the phone so I stood there waiting.  She hangs up and dials another number, then hangs that call up and dials someone else, then another employee comes by and drops a bag of hardware and she pulls out an order form and starts discussing the order with him.   By this time, I'm getting pretty upset that she has not attended to someone (me) waiting.  So I turn to leave, expecting she might call out to me.  Nope.   I wrote to corporate to complain and they apologized, let the store manage know and he did the same and said he used it as employee training.   In the meantime, corporate is UPSing the item (all of $7) to me directly so I don't need to go to the store.    Nice recovery.

Sorry to hear you had that kind of experience Keith. I've got to say in all the years I've dealt with Menards, I've never had that kind of in-store treatment. Good to hear the recovery was prompt and accomodating. Menards is my main go to store. We have 3 within 40 minutes; 2 smaller footprint and one large footprint.

 

While we have a HD in our county seat, I seldom go there unless I need something immediately although have used their "Ship Direct to Home" several times. It is extremely rare that I shop Lowes. We also have an independent lumber yard/Do-it-Best in our county seat. I haven't yet made enough money in my lifetime to buy material from them nor do I belong to the proper societal class to be on their patron list.

 

I do miss the old 84 Lumber, Furrow & Carter Lumber centers we had through the 90's when it comes to construction grade material. All carried top quality framing, sheeting and trusses back in the day with top notch CS.

Menards is still my first choice (the other being Lowes since HD pulled out of our area) for most stuff. But it's mostly because of the much larger selection of everything they have, and like you said the lumber is generally a little nicer...and usually less expensive. The few times I've had CS at the stores around me it's always been good, but there is always the employee(s) that go against the grain.

Man-o-man, I wish Menards would expand out this way. Give the Big Box stores some competition.  

My daughter likes Home Depot and I Like Menards. I spent 15 minutes on the phone talking to the counter guy about the 4x4 pvc at Menards. As helpful as could be expected. I believe good/bad treatment could be daily as I’ve had good and bad results at every store. Good one day ignored the next…

Edited September 21, 20223 yr by BillyJack

My favorite hardware store is a friendly little mom and pop place. They always greet me with "Hi, Gene". I always reply, " yep, I showered this morning." 

Edited September 21, 20223 yr by Gene Howe

They love it when I walk through the store singing,

"I spent all my money, spent all my money, spent all my money at Menards". 

 

18 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

I've never had that kind of in-store treatment.

Sooner or later, EVERY business will have an employee that fails in their respect for customers.  We had a site foreman who was thrown off the site by (our client) the general contractor.  Our foreman then backed his truck up and spun gravel all over the super's truck and trailer, doing a lot of glass damage and metal dings.  The question I put to our Exec Committee:  how was it we didn't fire this guy years before?  His behavior was consistently bad for years!  This was not HIS failure, but OURS.  Every business has this challenge.

21 hours ago, PeteM said:

The question I put to our Exec Committee:  how was it we didn't fire this guy years before?  His behavior was consistently bad for years!  This was not HIS failure, but OURS.  Every business has this challenge.

 

Well said Pete.

On 9/20/2022 at 4:04 PM, Grandpadave52 said:

I do miss the old 84 Lumber, Furrow & Carter Lumber centers we had through the 90's when it comes to construction grade material. All carried top quality framing, sheeting and trusses back in the day with top notch CS.

For about the first 20 years here. we had no big box stores.  Well, we had some, a few locals and minor chains, but they only lasted a few years each.  Eventually, Lowe's expanded from the small stores to big boxes here, then HD, and a few years ago, Menards.  The big boxes were welcomed for construction stuff.  But I have several local mills that I use for hardwoods and plywood.  When I lived 2 miles from a Do-it-best, I frequented them for hardware issues and other things.  I still go there when I get back and have started going to the local Ace for incidental stuff.   I do like Tractor Supply and Rural King for their by-the-pound hardware and CSH or wwhardware.com for screws and hinges.  Also he occasional Wurth Baer and Richeleu.