Profit Margin of Big Box Store Custom Cabinets?
10 years ago
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- 10 years ago
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Comments (19)Same as other retailing the usual situation is a core group of key employees doing office functions etc. and the rest are often seasonal clerks and car loaders who aren't being used by management as anymore than bodies - when it gets busy during the peak spring season there can be a lot of bouncing around from one station to another, in response to customer requirements. Hence "monkeys". They all have a pyramid structure, same as other stores, with most of the people "on the floor" not being the best informed and best paid part of the staff - any operations that are doing otherwise are the exception rather than the rule. In his book on the subject called Profitable Garden Center Management (which I must have loaned out and never gotten back, as I haven't seen it in years) Louis Berninger (sp) described an actual garden center that had had an expert employee called Otto who was available to customers and able to answer their gardening questions, said every garden center should have their own "Otto" to meet this need. Note that he was talking about a single employee providing this function - of course in combination with other duties - and felt it necessary to point out the desirability of having somebody interacting with shoppers who really did know something. I know people who have been awarded the CPH - I can talk circles around them about plants and gardening. What it boils down to is that in actual general practice the advertized cadres of multiple expert staff persons always on hand to answer your every question is a lie. Both at big box plant departments and at large independents. Hence the numerous posts over the years complaining about getting a bum steer from somebody at a "nursery" - whether they were actually talking about an actual stand alone garden center or a big box plant department. In retailing in general the irony is that at the same time that diversity and complexity of modern inventories is driving an increasing demand for service retailers are moving in the direction of more limited service. This post was edited by bboy on Fri, Mar 21, 14 at 15:33...See MoreBig Box Stores?
Comments (28)The primary appeal of the big box retailer, for me, is that I can buy things there at 7am, 9pm, on Saturday evening, or on Sunday. Otherwise I'd prefer to have nothing to do with them unless I have to. There are times when, whether for reasons of necessity or impulse, that I want to buy *something* now. Home Depot has gotten some business from me for that reason. However, I prefer dealing with the local shop that knows what it is doing. I spend thousands per year at my saw shop, and a fair bit at the lawnmower/snowblower/generator shop, too. It took a number of years to find shops I was comfortable dealing with, though. Reasons follow: 1. I want a shop to actually have stuff in stock when I show up to buy. New units, parts, etc., should be ready to go. 1a. If you have to order something, let me place my "order" over the phone. I will NOT drive to you to tell you to order something that I have to drive back to pick up later, because that adds no value for me. It is, instead, a waste of my time. 2. Have hours beyond 5pm. Even 5:30 can help, but a night or two per week of 7pm would be appreciated. 3. Make sure your sales staff really knows their stuff and recognizes that some customers actually know more than they do. Quoting brochures is useless, and if you've never put any time in on the machines you're selling, well, maybe you should. 4. Service machines brought to you promptly. Nothing should sit in the shop for more than a week. My saw shop in particular is good about getting stuff back up and running within a day or two, since their commercial clients require it. 5. Stay abreast of what "enthusiasts" are doing with the equipment you are selling. I once purchased a lawnmower from a shop that also sells Stihl. The owner was nice enough to bring the mower out to my car, and he started checking out my Stihl 066 and turned critical as he launched into a critique of my improper chain filing technique, carrying on about how nobody knows how to sharpen chain anymore, how my cutters were all beat up, etc. In point of fact the chain was square-filed race chain with the back of the cutter removed, the top of the tie straps relieved for chip flow, etc. His ignorance was excusable, but his attitude was not. I don't shop there anymore....See MoreBig Box store {Lowes, Home Depot} to remodel our kitchen yes or no?
Comments (10)if there is no change besides ripping out soffit and new electrical, I would visit your local hardware store with a good bulletin board. A lot of handymen are actually previous employees of bigger builders/etc...for various reasons they go off on their own. Interview by phone or email. Tell them what you want done. The electrical part will probably require separate group to come in. I would probably use Barkers or Conestoga or similar-online source of design and detail work for ready to assemble cabinets......they ship to you. Putting together is the job of handyman guy with good carpentry experience-it's not rocket science. If you are in a smaller area, I wouldn't like the Lowes/Home depot crowd to be in charge..... I notice in a larger geographic area, some of their stores have really good experienced designers. In a small area, that range of experience might be limited. Too little time and too much risk to mess around. Of course, you should offer more info on this website about your PLAN-the process follows plan. Your plan might be different once you look hard at all your choices and budget and get feedback....See MoreSupply/distribution center vs big box store
Comments (44)@ Sophie The entire reason that cost plus contracts were born was to remove contractors from quality decisions. For example, when NASA wants to build a rocket, they want to ensure quality rather than that it can be done under budget. This is done by control of the bidding process from all subcontractors. This idea of quality control and it's side effect of cost control was perfect for capital investments by businesses and so shortly after WW2 they stole it. When used well, by parties who understand the ideas, it works well for home construction also. However, too many contractors want to use it as if it is essentially a fixed price contract without any risk to them. If you want to ensure quality, or protect supply house relationships, then use a fixed price bid. However, if you want to be largely indemnified from any loss by using a cost plus contract then you give up all rights to dictate quality. There are many far less complimentary words to call someone who takes advantage of the lack of knowledge and experience of their customers. I went with lazy, because I believe the reason most contractors do this is because they simply don't want to go through the effort of producing a fixed price bid, when they can do a serious bid for their money and rough estimates for everything else. @ Joseph Nothing in the original post makes me think they agreed at any time to use his recommended supplier. They even call it a recommended supplier rather than a required supplier. Just because they are agree to a standard cost plus (contractor's net cost, plus contractor's set fee) doesn't mean he gets to decide where his costs come from. That is the consumer's purview in a cost plus contract....See MoreRelated Professionals
Ossining Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Ramsey Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Soledad Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · United States Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Woodlawn Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Town 'n' Country Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Elk Grove Village Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Hickory Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Santa Fe Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Ridgefield Park Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Forest Hills Cabinets & Cabinetry · Maywood Cabinets & Cabinetry · Mount Prospect Cabinets & Cabinetry · Watauga Cabinets & Cabinetry · Chaparral Tile and Stone Contractors- 10 years ago
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