Jun

Don’t Forget to Bring Your Own Saw to Home Depot

Many chain stores are beginning to tailor their products to the local marketplace. It’s called “localization.” Macy’s calls its program “My Macy’s.” Best Buy calls its program “customer centricity.” An excellent report on localization by the consulting firm Kurt Salmon & Associates demonstrates that catering to local tastes and needs really pays off.

Home Depot could use a saw

So why is this important to me? I live in Manhattan (the one in New York) and, as everyone keeps telling us, we’re different from other folks. People outside the city can’t grasp that most of us don’t have cars, for example, and that we rely on public transportation. We also rely on our supers and handymen who we value much more than, say, our doctors. You can always get a new doctor but you’re stuck with the staff you have. (I’m not complaining – I have a great super).

That’s why my trip to Home Depot this afternoon was so dissatisfying. I went in to purchase a 2-inch wide piece of baseboard and several tubes of white painters caulking. They had both, but the baseboard comes in 10-foot lengths. When I asked the salesman if he could saw it in half so that I could get it home, he replied, “We only do that in stores outside of Manhattan.” Really? People outside of Manhattan have cars and big SUVs to throw their things in the back. Ever try getting on a bus at rush hour with a baseboard almost twice as tall as you are, or in a taxi, if you can find one? Not easy.

So I walked home, whacking awnings and signs and barely avoiding paddling some pedestrians’ behinds. I know my local hardware store will saw something for you, because I’ve bought shelving from them that that needed to be sized.

So, next time you go to Home Depot, don’t forget to bring your own saw. And the next time I need something, I’ll just practice “localization” and go to my local hardware store.

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