paul the original - 3/9/2024 20:26 Wife feels that way about Walmart. I understand the feeling but not as strongly as she does. On a different note, some of you talked about Home Depot here a few weeks ago……. I used to like Home Depot, decades ago. Since Menards built in my local town I hadn’t been in Home Depot in many years. Stopped in this past month happened to be near it with time to kill. Wow, that same Home Depot I used to enjoy visiting was a dark, dingy, crowded, uncomfortable place! None of the workers were smiling. The merchandise was stored and stacked so high it blocked out the lighting and made the isles shadowy, drab, dull. A very dark and unfriendly look. Everywhere were those little gates to pull across isles to keep people out while they were restocking. There was a lot of extra packaging and inventory setting around blocking isles. Much of the tools and hardware was locked up behind grating. As I remember decades ago, things were organized where I could find my way and find what I was looking for. Now, seemed things were just randomly placed, the saw blades were here, there, and around that corner. Stuff not related to a sea in between. The electrical dept of Home Depot used to be really good decades ago. Now most of it was grated off so I couldn’t really see what I would be buying. And those 2 isles were so full of warehouse boxes I couldn’t really walk through and look at much of the electrical items. Every 5 minutes over the intercom came a message - not advertising, or welcoming, or….. no, it was a warning to be safe and don’t get hurt and stay out of the way! Did not add any to a shopping mood at all! Felt more like, just leave so you aren’t bothering us…. Just seemed like such an unfriendly place. It made me sad. From what I remembered to what it was now. Makes me very thankful to have a Menards in my home town! They aren’t perfect, but the layout and friendly folk are a whole different level than I saw in that dismal Home Depot. Paul