Colorado Contractors - Home Depot Supply 50% Off

Mike Finley

The Home Depot Contractor Supply store in Highlands Ranch is going out of business. I happened to stop in today and bought about $1200 worth of stuff. Everything is marked down from a minimum of 20% for tools up to 50% for other things such as nails and screws. They still had lots of power tools in stock plus everything thing from electrical and plumbing supplies, tile, deck building supplies, lumber... everything... If you want to stock up on some stuff or need some tools you might want to check them out. It was a mad house today, like a feeding frenzy. I saw one guy put about 50 interior doors on a couple of carts with his helpers.

jmic

Hey Mike,
Think they'll take a phone order and let me pick up at my local orange crate.
Joe

Tom R

A Home Depot goin' out of business?? Never heard of that one. How come??

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http://www.tr-built.com

Mike Finley

It's not a regular Home Depot, it's an expirement they tried called Home Depot Contractor Supply, it was geared more to contracting. They carried more professional tools, more professional supplies that homeowners wouldn't necessarily know how to use or install. For instead instead of just carrying cement board they also carried Ditra. Their plumbing and electrical aisles looked more like a plumbing & electrical parts warehouse than the Home Depot consumer friendly idiot proof stuff you see.

They never figured out what they wanted to do with it, in the beginning it was trade only, then they opened it up to Harry homeowner, then it was trade only, then it was everybody again...

Regardless, I'm sorry to see it go, it was a great source for tons of more options in moldings, lumber, steel studs ect...

Bob Kovacs

They actually bought the old WhiteCap Supply chain, and converted them to Home Depot Contractors Supply stores. Like the EXPO's that they're closing now, I think they're beginning to realize that they should just focus on the big orange boxes. I've got a contact who works in their construction division, and he says there a number of failed HD offshoots that are set up in such a way that you don't even realize that HD was behind them. If they hit it big, they change the name to be a HD subsidiary, but if the concept flops, HD doesn't get the bad press.

Bob

hauoli63

They are closing Expo's?!! All or just some?

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~~ Lisa ~~

www.chantillyplumbing.com

Grumpy

I have a home depot express near my home which is exactly the opposite of what you mentioned. it is specifically geared towards home owners and they carry very little in the way of contractor supplies. The store only sells the "hot" items.

RobertCDF

Sweet, thanks for the heads up Mike. I will be heading up there in the morning to check it out. I had been in that store one time a while ago when me and my wife were up there for something else. I liked that store a lot I wish they had one down here. I can understand why they are closing it when I was in there I saw 1 other customer. That was why I wanted one down here but only if it was trade only.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

Mike Finley

Robert- good hunting, hope you find some stuff you can use and make or save some money on.

Mike Finley

Yeah, Expo Design centers all closed here late this summer. Too bad, I got a few jobs fixing stuff they F-up selling installations to consumer. One guy just walked out of the customers house before the work even began. I maked the job way the hell up and made a bunch of money off it.

Expo was also a nice place for easy access to mid and high end bathroom fixtures for me.

hauoli63

We did some sub work for one of their contractors (Expo) ... and he ended up sticking us for over $6,000.00. Got a judgement against his company and him personally. He's gone bankrupt ... don't think we will ever see that money! That's the only loss we've ever taken ...

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~~ Lisa ~~

www.chantillyplumbing.com

Bob Kovacs

The funny part about EXPO was that they were paying the contractors pretty good around here- they were just using the "wrong" contractors. They would also pay the contractors to go back and fix their own mistakes. I know a tile sub who got paid to cut out and reinstall three cracked tiles, which shouldn't have been installed in the first place- they were broken out of the box.

Most amusing was the guys they were hiring as "project managers". I was building a shopping center that HD was building an EXPO in, and the manager asked me if I'd be interested in running work for them. We scheduled several interviews, which he kept cancelling, and finally he called and decided to have an interview over the phone. When he asked what kind of money I was looking for, I told him, and the phone went silent for a moment. When he finally came around, his response was "hmmmm.....well, there's not much point in talking much further then- the position only pays $18-20/hour". They wer selling cabinet packages in excess of $100,000 and projects over $200k in million dollar houses, and having a monkey "running" the job who was making $18/hour.

Might explain why they aren't doing so well.....

Bob

Mike Finley

I think their reputation started catching up with them too. If they were basing a large portion of their model for profit on installations then I can see why. There are whole websites filled with people pissed at Expo for screwed up jobs by them.

http://consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/expo_bathrms.html

RobertCDF

I am convinced that people are just dumb. Contracting with a box store to do work? They would be 1000 times better off by talking to 3-4 contractors in the parking lot of the box store. Or maybe talking to thier neighbors. You have to know that their install stuff is crap when you have had a home depot employee ask you about doing work for him like I had the other day. Its too bad that they have to recomend their install service instead of a qualified contractor.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

Grumpy

Lien the customer's house. Legally you can. I know it's not their fault you didn't get paid, but you can make the customer pay you.

Grumpy

Oh man you haven't heard their sales pitch! They totally rationalize in the customers mind how they'd be fools to hire anyone else. Not to mention the financing really really helps alot!

Mike Finley

If you are talking about Home Depot there is certainly some validity to your statement. If you are talking about Expo Design Center, well they were selling themselves on par with your local kitchen/bath design business which does exactly what they do. The difference between the two that most likely leads to the break down is that the local kitchen/bath design company has a one on one, working relationship with its prefered contractors, usually involving the owner of the kitchen/bath center and the owner of the contracting company, where as Expo's relationship was between an hourly employee of Expo and the owner of the contracting company. I think the hourly employee being the highest link up the ladder was the problem.

RobertCDF

Well I went up to the HD supply and I got a cordless glue/caulk gun, new 4' level, some sawzall blades, another blade for my table saw, construction master calculator. I was looking at the little one man auger they had I wanted it. For only $175 it seemed to be a good deal. I should go back and buy it... maybe when they drop the price some more I might go back.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

Tom R

Sounds good, - - as long as you're talkin' new, and not a rental, - - I think they go for about $300 -$325 (without bits).

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http://www.tr-built.com

Grumpy

Mike I think that when it comes to something like a kitchen or bathroom there needs to be a personal relationship between customer and contractor because it's a big project that involves alot of details. I think that's paraphrasing what you said above and I agree that's why expo's contractoing dept. failed.

If they were to only slightly change their business model, they would be tremendously powerful. I said the same thing about their roofing siding division, where nobody seems to know which way is up and down. They need to hire a point person who completely manages the job. Someone like you who doesn't want to be involved with the book keeping aspect of running a business. Someone who meets witht he customer, sells the job and manages the employees/subs. If they did that, they'd be unstoppable.

I can not speak for the expo centers, but the reason the home depot "at home services" is soooo incredibly in-effecient IMO is because they under pay all their employees, treat their sales team like trash, and nobody really knows what they are doing. There are too many people involved with each project and the old saying applies "Too many cooks ruined the stew".

I can talk for hours and hours on this subject and I know it's off subject from the original thread so I'lls top here.