ACE the last hardware store?

[4Runninfun]

I don't know about the rest of you but when it comes to places like home depot, lowes, even sears generally i leave irritated. either i can't find what i'm looking for or it takes me so damn long that it seams not worth it. However every time i'm looking for something specific i can find it at ace. like today i needed an m12 1.25 tap to get ready for when my head arrives. I wasn't even going to try HD or lowes. I tried sears because they used to have a bunch of this kind of stuff. Now they had MAYBE 6 or 7 taps. once again ACE came through. I think i spent maybe 10 min in the store from door to door. the people there are always nice and actually seam to know what they are talking about.

couple weeks ago i needed some exhaust manifold studs. nobody had them, went to ace they didn't have a stud but they had a bolt. oh darn... cut the top off and it was perfect. why is it that these other hardware places seam to have 100 of the same thing in different brands but can't seam to carry a wide variety of everything?

[Brody]

I absolutely loathe Home Depo or Lowes, but my work has me in them almost daily when I am busy. They are also a cheap source of welding wire and some other stuff. I have mentioned to the store managers on more than one occasion that his/her employees only requirement for working at the store was to have a functioning autonomous nervous system, nothing else..

Chris and I both mentioned that ACE hardware pretty much rules when it comes to putting things together...they are my first stop for nuts, bolts, weird fittings, anything metric, grommets, etc.

Eagle, when they were in town, had a speciality parts section that was pretty hard to beat. It was huge. Then they left and we were invaded by Lowe's...

[Jamie]

Ace hardware is the last place I know of to find actual hardware.:confused:

There is a place called Fasten-All. I'm not sure how you spell it but there is one on Fillmore in the Springs. They have any nut, bolt, nutsert, ect you could ever want or need. Not always cheap but by the time you drive all over the place it might actually be cheaper.

[WINKY]

im with pete, i go to ace right down the street for anything i need aside from building a house.

ACE ROCKS!!

it makes sense though you dont see any store named

Home Hardware Depot

or

Lowes hardware... nope you see Ace Hardware!

[4Runninfun]

Ace hardware is the last place I know of to find actual hardware.:confused:

There is a place called Fasten-All. I'm not sure how you spell it but there is one on Fillmore in the Springs. They have any nut, bolt, nutsert, ect you could ever want or need. Not always cheap but by the time you drive all over the place it might actually be cheaper.

fastenal yeah that is another good place, i guess we could also throw grainger out there too. they have a lot of good stuff.

[SCRubicon]

It is worth the extra pennies to go to Ace sometimes.

[scout man]

I have a lowes literally across the street from me, and I avoid it at all costs. Even if I find what I am looking for there, the NEVER have any lines open to check out. I will drive miles past the place to Ace. Also have a Fastenal right down the road, they are great for bolts and stuff.

[Pathrat]

When I was working on my old, 1957 built house, I hated trying to find stuff in big box land. Ace was where they had the sink fittings I needed, etc.
I have found bolts and nuts and such at the corner of 64th and Simms, at D & G Hardware. They keep bins and drawers of fasteners at the back of the store, complete with little paper bags and pencils to write down what you got. It is a small, family run store and we go there first to find things.

[Chris]

Watch out, Home Depot is planning opening neighborhood hardware stores in their attempt to spread their ineptness further. I drive a couple extra miles for Ace, there's always someone to greet and help.

[Brody]

There you have touched on the key upper management issue.

If any one of us had a store that was trying to cater to contractors, contractors who got started early in the morning, wouldn't it make perfect sense to set the store up so that there were actually clerks at the registers at 6AM-9AM? And wouldn't it make perfect sense to have everything stocked at night so that the isles are actually open to get what you need in the AM?

Instead, you get a line of contractors each with hundreds of dollars of stuff on their carts, wanting to get out of the store and go to work, all waiting on the ONE clerk behind the register. And this is after waiting for the stocking clerks to finish what they are doing and open the isles up so that you can actually get the materials you need.

So you have idiots who own the stores (BTW, both stores are run like this...), hiring idiots to manage them, who, in turn, hire idiots to work in the stores.

One of the few stores that I can actually walk into and get PO'd within a few seconds. One of the few stores that I have called someone who worked there a stupid F***wad to their face, too...

[Roostercruiser]

i used to work at Hugh M Woods up until they closed there doors and they had the outdoor lumber yard. you could drive up and load your lumber right on your truck and not onto a cart then to your truck. i did some fencing a while back and its hard pushing a flat cart full of concrete bags. i always go to the Ace in Greenmountain for my need now. everyone there is very knowledgeable and at every cornner. i dont have to end up walking 2-3 miles up and down the aisles of LOWES or DEPOT.

[Chris]

So you have idiots who own the stores hiring idiots to manage them, who, in turn, hire idiots to work in the stores.


The only consumer advantage I've found is the ignorance can result in incorrect ringing up of the purchase. At minimum wage they can't expect people to know one wood from another.

"Is that pine?"

"Must be!"

:lol:

[SCRubicon]

What gets me pi$$ed off is there's only 2 contractor's lanes at Home Depot and only 1 is usually open. God forbid you have to give them a tax exempt number. You'd think it is the end of the world. And, everybody else buying wood, concrete, or fence materials uses those lanes even if they're not contractors. I feel bad for the guys trying to get to a job site when they're stuck behind some DIY putz with a bag of concrete and a couple patio blocks on his cart. I started shreking my stuff through the self checkout. Still took the tax number, and it was faster. Lowe's - I won't even go there.

[1freaky1]

My dad used to work for HD after he retired and the management was soley focused on a couple of things and one of them was not the customer.
Fasten-all is a good place for nuts and bolts of almost anything made and they finally opened up to the general public a couple years ago they also have one over on 72nd in Commerce City.

[4runner freak]

I found another hardware store. I stopped in at D & G Hardware(11601 W 64th Ave, Arvada) to get some metric and large nuts and bolts, and they actually knew what I was looking for and were very helpful.

Another would be McGuckins in Boulder, but it is in Boulder, so you can imagine the brains lodged in some of the workers heads.

[Brody]

Ahhhhhhhhh Danny...I tend to not associate the word "brains" with Boulder, unless accompanied by the prefix "scrambled". I normally associate "land of fruits and nuts" with Boulder along with "cosmic", "out of touch", "separate reality", "dysfunctional", "neurotic", "trust fund baby", etc. I think that Zappa, Ozzy, Alice and whole slew of other musicians just wandered through Boulder to get ideas for songs....and ones that really mocked the "OHhhhhhhhh...like I am too cool and just so into things! Like mmmmmmeeeeee!" Boulderite attitude...

[Patrolman]

As Brody can likely attest, it is super-nice living mere blocks from A&A Tradin' Post, voted the best hardware store in Denver several times. Metric, standard, grade 8, allen head, stainless, etc. They almost always have everything I need. The cost can be incredible, but the parts are quality and saves me time and hassle. I would hate to ever have to move.

About a year ago I needed a VERY LARGE metric bolt for a Miata. Ace couldn't even come close. I went to this place:
http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/AAA.Metric.Supply.Incorporated.303-892-9000
They didn't have it, but had something that was within 1/4" in length of what I needed. Just not quite long enough. Super cool place though and I would certainly return!

[Brody]

Damn long ride from where we are living now to get there , too. Everytime I know I am going to down that way, I start a list of...well..just stuff...That is absolutely the best of the best. They also have a really nice selection of trailer stuff and clevis'...and not a bad assortment of odds and ends of metal, too.

Whenever I have a project and need stuff..you know, the kinda stuff that you don't know until you see it stuff, I always go down there and just wander around looking...

[Pathrat]

I found another hardware store. I stopped in at D & G Hardware(11601 W 64th Ave, Arvada) to get some metric and large nuts and bolts, and they actually knew what I was looking for and were very helpful.

.

That is the one within walking distance of my house. They let me bring my Hi-lift in to find the mounting bolts, they ask if I need help and leave me alone if I don't.