After I did the tedious gardening chores yesterday -- i.e. digging out all the oxalis in the front yard -- I rewarded myself with the fun chores like starting the new spring spinach. As you all know, I also have a boatload of seeds to get started and some old potting soil to refresh. So I figured ... why not head out and grab my gardening supplies?
There's a great nursery on the island, Encinal Nursery, but I was still a little miffed that I had paid $8 for a bag of microbark mulch there when I could get it for $5 at Home Depot. So I figured, "How hard can it be to pick up this spring's supplies at Home Depot?"
That was my first mistake. My second was in going to Home Depot. I will spare you all the details of my 45-minute trip and merely make a long story short by letting y'all know that when I hit Encinal Nursery, not only did I manage to find everything I wanted in 10 minutes, the guy who rang me up also carried it out to my car.
Anecdotes like mine have begun to worry the top brass at Home Depot, the WSJ reports today. In "Home Depot Tries to Make Nice to Customers," we learn:
Home Depot grew to become the world's largest home-improvement chain largely on the strength of its skilled workers, many of whom were former plumbers, electricians and carpenters who were eager to impart their knowledge to do-it-yourselfers. They took pride in helping customers find just the right shade of latex paint or an elusive-size screw.
But service began to slip over the past six years. In order to cut costs, the company started hiring more part-timers and added a salary cap that drove off the more seasoned workers. The retailer also moved about 40% of workers to overnight stocking positions, ostensibly to clear the aisles of clutter. But it left customers searching in vain for someone in an orange apron to ask about picking out the proper power tool.
While I was being rung up at Encinal, we chatted about my planned planting and I learned that I should hold off on starting my basil until the first weekend in March, but I could get the alyssum and nasturtiums sown this weekend. While I was being rung up at Home Depot, the cashier wouldn't even meet my eye. Perhaps she was angry that I had actually found her hiding in the glazed pots grotto.
I can't help but think that Home Depot shot itself in the foot (with a nailgun) when it traded well-compensated, experienced workers for the type of workforce that only investors could love.
Why does business consistently fail to "get it" these days? Cutting labor cost looks good on paper and in the short term, but it always costs more than it saves in the long run.
I read another article on a similar topic this weekend at Joel on Software.
Posted by: Roger | 2007.02.20 at 11:54
I was in Home Depot during the Superbowl this year (so empty!) As I was walking around, a few employees greeted me and asked if I needed any help, and I actually breezed by the first two because I had no idea they were talking to me because no Home Depot employees EVER greet me or even appear to SEE ME and believe me, with our nightmare house, I am in there ALL the time.
Posted by: Anne | 2007.02.20 at 12:39
Going to any of the big-box retailers is just my own personal hell.
Posted by: Julia | 2007.02.20 at 13:34
It's why their new "That's how Home Depot helped me do it" comes off as such crock to my eyes. Not only can I not find stuff at HD, I can't get them to give me reliable information, nor can I even find someone to talk to. Whereas, I go to the local hardware chain, they explain things.
Posted by: Kerry | 2007.02.20 at 13:47
We had a horrible experience with a special order. They sent us a postcard to let us know our fiber-cement siding was in. There was a nice little note that said "Call us an hour before you come, and your order will be waiting for you at the services desk." So I called, and we went in. An hour and a half later, they tell us that we need to come back the next morning, because they unloaded a truck in front of the siding and couldn't get to it. The next morning, we come in and wait for two more hours before they get our siding out, with five broken pieces.
We complained enough that they gave us a $50 gift card, which they promptly sent to the wrong address.
Posted by: Ellen | 2007.02.21 at 06:55
I thought Home Depot fired all their sales associates. The only people I ever see in orange aprons are at the registers...except now they also have the automated registers so I think soon Home Depot may only have a manager on site who works in the office.
Posted by: molly | 2007.02.21 at 07:30