At 01:00 PM 11/20/2006, David Gilbert wrote:
>Jim Brown wrote:
> > One of the most negative things that WalMart, Home Depot,
> > and their ilk have done to our world is force many good mfrs and
> > good products out of biz by flooding the marketplace with cheap
> > junk.
>
>I sometimes feel the same way but it really doesn't work that way.
>People shop at Walmart and Home Depot because they have the lowest
>prices for products that meet the needs of the majority of shoppers.
>You might decry Home Depot because you can't find better quality light
>dimmers there, but the majority of people couldn't care less whether
>their light dimmers generate electrical noise. You might (as an
>example) be less interested in paying extra for light bulbs, or ceramic
>tile, or windows, etc, but someone out there is probably disappointed
>that they can't get better versions of those products at Home Depot.
>It's simple economics, and I can absolutely guarantee that almost any
>vendor, even Walmart and Home Depot, would prefer to handle more premium
>merchandise where the margins are higher for the same costs of
>distribution. Consumers make the choices, not the suppliers.
>
>73,
>Dave AB7E
Indeed.. they have shelf space for one brand and model of a given
type of device, so the lowest cost one gets stocked. Same applies in
office supplies (try to get decent drafting tools or supplies at
StaOffDepot), in paint, etc., computers, etc. Heck, even in ham
radio... Tried to buy any ham gear in a store recently?
There's two strategies:
1) Find good mail-order suppliers (but of course, you don't get to
fondle the merchandise when making your selection). McMaster Carr,
Grainger, etc.
2) Use "trade suppliers", and pay the increased cost over the heavily
discounted prices at the consumer big box stores.
For electrical stuff, there's usually a trade supplier (All-Phase,
etc.) that has a decent selection and/or can order things. They often
have all the catalogs and cutsheets that you can look at over the counter.
One can find the latter, for Lutron anyway, by going to the website
and you can search for suppliers to electrical contractors by zip code.
Jim, W6RMK
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