Posted on 07/16/2009 5:08:32 PM PDT by Justaham
CHICAGO — Does hardware have a softer side? Home Depot thinks so. It is testing a warm-and-fuzzy approach to selling hammers, lighting and garage doors that is targeted at female shoppers.
Responding to long-time criticism that its warehouse environment was simply too rough for many women, the nation's largest do-it-yourself retailer is set to open the two test stores, called Home Depot Design Centers, later this month in Charlotte, N.C., and Concord, Calif.
They're fashioned as a hybrid of the typical Home Depot (HD) store and its Expo stores, the retailer's upscale design-studio concept.
Jason Feldman, the company's senior director of merchandising, described the stores as a test — "to romance and wow the customer."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
okay, where’s the National Organization for Women on this one? Isn’t it condescending and stereotyping women, to think that women need a “female” friendly shopping environment? Aren’t women as rough and tough as men? Can a strong woman go into Home Depot and get what she needs? Did Home Depot check with N.O.W. before green lighting this idea?????
“Responding to long-time criticism that its warehouse environment was simply too rough for many women”
Gotta be kiddin’ me.
*Somehow*, I recently managed to survive that brutal, harsh environment long enough to buy myself a new belt sander and some tile drilling bits.
I don’t know how I made it out alive.
Well, this woman, for one, is insulted. I bought my Porter-Cable circular saw and reciprocating saw as well as my deWalt chop saw and table saw at a real Home Depot, not some pussified pink version of same. My hand tools are Craftsman. I buy my lumber at a lumber yard, not a boutique, and get my millwork from a place filled with sawdust.
ha ha ha. Another match.com...
There's also a bigger section concentrating on home organization. The new products, for example, will give color to the home's interior design, as will other home-improvement items for products such as doors and windows.
I'd hit that.
(hey, if the phrase works....)
You have apparently not seen the “women’s tool kits” yet.
They’re packed into adorable little cases and feature either pink or blinding, colorfully patterned “down sized” handles and grips.
They’re so darn cute I could just barf.
Not worth my time. I have a Lowe’s five minutes away, into which I stroll, in my long dress and picture hat, pushing a baby, on a regular basis.
She’s seen the “women’s tool kits”...and spat upon them....:))
Our Lowes has waaay more stuff than our HD but we shop HD first because of their support for the troops.
That’s reasonable. I have a long drive into a high-traffic area to get to a Home Depot, though.
They don’t need to entice me with romance. If they just got rid of all the illegals that they encourage to hang around their stores and had signs and announcements in english only, I’d shop there.
It’s just the opposite, here.
Our Lowes is across from the big mall and our HD is in the more isolated Wally World strip mall.
[and I *despise* going anywhere near the big mall]...:))
He has certain specialty bolts and helicoils he can only get at Lowes so we do have to go there, sometimes.
Their outdoor plant department is nice.
Lowes used consultants to poll women on what they'd want in a hardware megastore before designing their well lit, wide aisles with clear markings.
Once again, the aesthetics are owed to the ladies. Heck, it's been said that if guys were perpetually single, they'd live in a shed. Hey...more money for other stuff!
Huh? Home Depot always did have that with their Expo Design Centers. Most of them have gone out of business now, I believe.
Just what I always wanted...a hammer with a pink handle....”The better to NAIL YOU, my dear”.
Oh cr*p, I’d better get the checkbook and credit card away from Mrs. S before she finds out about this.................
personally i go to lowes. its closer and has a better selection and i can find things easier. soft lighting be damned. give me a home improvement store where i can find what i want, get what i need and get the heck back to the project.
women’s tool kits? do they really look like your description? if so that is just revolting.
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