I agree that E - commerce is killing the brick and mortar store. I wanted some additional memory for my computers. I could have driven five miles to Fry’s and got some that day but I checked for compatible components and bought online. Fry’s is dying.
I was sad when Borders closed, as they had a much better history selection than Barnes and Noble. So I bought a Kindle and download what I want instantly at roughly half the cost of a hardbound book.
A place for something like Lowes will probably be the last holdout, as buying lumber and paint online is not yet feasible.
neither do I want to hang out with the tattooed ring nosed little darlings....
frankly, our needs our much less.....
We just did something similar. My wife and I are remodeling her mom's home. We ordered a bunch of lumber, cement and materials online from Home Depot, and had it delivered from a warehouse miles away even though a store is near us. Much easier than us loading up and hauling it from the store. They dropped it via forklift at the driveway, and we carried it into the garage bit by bit.
“buying paint on line is not yet feasible”...funny that you mention this...the other week I ordered a 5 gallon can of Thompson deck sealant on line from Home Depot (free shipping and lazy). The delivery guy dropped it off right in front of the garage door so that my wife could drive into with her gas-guzzling SUV when she came home from work. Don’t think you could have put a bigger crimp in the can with out actually holing it.