Counter Culture

Today we report on Home Depot’s decision to abandon the opening of 50 new stores and close 15 stores. That might not seem like much considering that the chain has more than 2,200 stores, but we would image that few people would have predicted this a couple years ago.

It seems like every chain is pulling back from their ambitious expansion plans, from Starbucks to Kohl’s. We’re in an environment where store closures and bankruptcies are expected.
Continue reading ‘Is This Just the Beginning For Home Depot?’

A New York Times article from earlier this week kind of freaks us out. Apparently you can go into a big-box store like Best Buy, Circuit City or Home Depot and haggle down prices.

We would expect this kind of behavior to take place at a crafts fair or in an antique shop, but at big chain stores? Certainly, we have never tried this tactic when shopping and wouldn’t expect a very good response from a salesperson. “Hey, can you knock a few bucks off of the price of the DVD?” It just doesn’t seem feasible.
Continue reading ‘Don’t Like the Price? Just Haggle’

Both Home Depot and Lowe’s this week have posted declining sales and earnings, and the two home-improvement leaders are also cutting back plans this year for new stores. Home Depot is cutting its new stores from earlier expectations of 100 to 35, while Lowe’s cut its units by 20, with 120 new locations in the works.
Continue reading ‘Can Home Improvement Catch a Break?’