Posted on 09/10/2004 8:19:38 PM PDT by mhking
New York -- You won't find 8-by-10s or heavy-duty lawn tools, but if you want a closet organizer or the perfect plant for a rooftop terrace, you're in the right place.
Atlanta-based Home Depot rolled out the orange carpet to Manhattan on Friday with a distinctly citified version of its superstores.
It's a three-story home improvement emporium without SUVs or pickups lined up in a parking lot -- because there is no parking lot. Instead, a doorman out front will help hail a cab, and a courier service will deliver anything customers can't carry.
This $20 million store, at West 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue in the Big Apple's Flatiron district, blends elements of Home Depot's high-end Expo concept with more mundane items tailored to the urban dweller's needs.
The store opened at 7 a.m., and about 15 curious and enthusiastic shoppers lined up outside the columned building where it is housed.
"We couldn't resist getting up early," said Barbara Raab, who arrived a bit later with neighbor Ann Northrop. "This might be a totally run-of-the-mill store for Atlanta, but not for here."
Northrop was also impressed, although she found the early morning grand opening a bit lacking.
"Where's the coffee?" she said. She also wondered if the high clerk-to-customer ratio of Friday morning would survive when she made return trips. Home Depot wants to build a loyal customer base in Manhattan, but it also is using the store as a test bed for various products and concepts.
Some of those products include rugs ranging from $200 to $8,000; furniture and closet organization systems, including Tvilum-Scanbirk modular systems; and an array of small household appliances, including Maytag blenders in antique copper with a pitcher attachment for $349.
The store also sports a how-to clinic area with flat-screen televisions piping in ongoing live or recorded demonstrations.
"This store is proof positive of the entrepreneurial spirit and the innovation across all of Home Depot," said Bob Nardelli, the retail giant's chairman and chief executive.
Home Depot has 14 stores in the five-borough New York City area. But the new store and another slated to open later this year, at 59th Street and Third Avenue, are the chain's first in Manhattan. The store that opened Friday is in an 1890s building that once housed toy manufacturer Hasbro.
"Before, we had to schlep to Queens to get to a Home Depot," said Alice Rieg, who lives a few blocks from the new store. "My apartment is crowded, but I'll look around."
The 105,000-square-foot store is similar in size to Home Depots found in the suburbs. But you won't find may of the typical suburban staples, not even its concrete warehouse floors. Home Depot says the floors here are made of sand from California beaches, which is lacquered with a clear polymer.
You also won't find cement, lumber or drywall, which can be special-ordered.
But Manhattanites can browse George Kovacs designer lamps, rows of kitchen cabinetry in dozens of colors, and a wall of kitchen countertops.
There are more vignettes of galley kitchens than seen in a typical Home Depot. The bathroom aisle has every sink known to man. The appliances are also made for the urban dweller -- small and sleek.
On the lower level, the hardware section has an old-timey hardware store feel, and customers can rent cordless power drills. There's also a gallery of plants and decorative planters. Home Depot workers will pot customers' plant purchases for free.
"We really built the store around customer aspirations and needs," said John Costello, Home Depot's executive vice president of merchandising and marketing. "It combines the best of many specialty stores in a single home-improvement warehouse."
There are aisles of organizers, including a gym in a box -- a treadmill and weight bench with dumbbells that folds up into an armoire that sells for $2,299. The store also stocks more cleaning products than any other store.
Mesh tote bags for shopping are strategically placed around the store, and the orange shopping carts are smaller than the wide-load suburban variety. Delivery fees start at $21.
"I'm excited beyond belief," said Deborah Schiffman, who toted along her kitchen color scheme and expected to walk out with new kitchen countertops.
"I've been wanting to do my kitchen, but to do it in Manhattan is difficult until now."
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
Home Depot is a man's store. What would all those Metrosexuals do with a drill?
You mean guys like these?
The Home Depots in Miami were major cruising centers for homosexuals. I kid you not.
Do people in Manhattan actually do home repairs themselves?
Are you serious? I have never noticed anything of the sort. Then again, I've only had to go to Home Depot a handful of times in the past couple of years.
I prefer Lowe's. But both the Home Depot in Hollywood and the Lowe's have full lumberyards. And the Home Depot is open 21 hours a day.
Want to know what I find really FUNNY about all this?
The people who are looking around POSH Home Depot, and don't own cars (because they either can't drive, or couldn't in NYC), are looking down their noses at the people who shop in ORDINARY Home Depot, who own houses with a square footage bigger than their whole apartment building...and have a truck that's even bigger! *LOL*
Home Depot opened the N.Y. store so Tony Stewart would be near his Sponser when he comes to N.Y. to collect his NEXTEL CUP championship trophy this winter. GO TONYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Hey Now! This female person knows her way around the local home depot just fine:)So far I've talked myself out of a compressor and nail gun...
105,000-square-foot store
They're going to need a lot more than 15 people to fill up that store.
I see why Home Depot is trying to expand there -- dollars, of course -- but the cognitive dissonance of an upscale Home Depot selling $8,000 rugs in Manhattan is brain-shattering.
Who was looking down their noses? I didn't see any of that in the article.
8 X 10's?
Going to pay a visit tomorrow, it looked more like a Bed Bath & Beyond from the street, but we'll see.
Not! I know my way around Lowes and Home Depot quite thoroughly, thanks. Latest buy was a compound miter saw with a laser guide.
I guess I read it into the sentence about DIY'rs parked with the SUV's in the parking lot.
And, let's face it...that is the anthithesis to urban living in the Upper West Side, eh?
What I was wondering...
:^)
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