Another Super Store Brings a Super Disappointment

Greg P. Smith

Have you visited the new Lowe’s store in Conyers? When it first opened I was a little impressed because of its convenience--I live on this side of town. Frankly, I hate to drive across town, cross I-20 to go to Home Depot. Every time I cross town it makes me question the decision why I moved here, but that’s another story for the future.

Secondly, I was impressed with the number and friendliness of the employees during Lowe’s grand opening. In my mind the number of employees should equate to better and faster service. This should boil down to shorter lines, which saves me a valuable commodity--time. I will gladly pay more if I can spend less time in a line.

However things have changed. The customer service and the employees have disappeared-poof, gone. I was there early this past Saturday to pick up a gallon of paint . . .a quick task right? I felt a little guilty going to Lowe’s because Cowan Hardware is a client of mine and I am pleased with the service they provide. But Lowe's is closer to my house.

At the counter the Lowe’s paint guy told me to walk down the aisle and he would be there in just a minute. I waited 15 minutes—he never showed up. Forget the paint, I also needed some tile to finish a bathroom project. Off to the tile isle and low and behold the tile was out of stock and I couldn’t find anyone working in the tile aisle either.

So I pushed my big shopping cart with two itsy-bitsy light bulbs to the cash register. Then I really hit the roof. Of the possible 14 cash registers only two were open and you guessed it . . .long lines in each. I mean this was Saturday and only two lines open! What kind of super store is this? I left the bulbs and tried to make my escape but all the aisles were blocked except for the two open cash registers. I felt like a rat on a sinking ship. I left Lowe's and went to the place I should have gone to first--Cowan Ace Hardware. I had my gallon of paint-mixed and was out the door in a few minutes.

It appears Lowe’s grand opening has not been too grand. Rumors have it that they laid off 22 employees because sales have not reached expectations.

Why do these big box, super stores come to town in the first place? Some civic minded people would like you to believe they are providing a service to our community or they provide jobs-yadda yadda. The truth is they are here for two reasons neither of which have anything to do with community service—arrogance and money.

I imagine some executive at Lowe's corporate headquarters looked on a map and saw there was a Home Depot in Conyers, "So by gosh we need to build a Lowe's!" So here we are in our small community with two large home-improvement boxes trying to out do each other. What wisdom allows them to come here in the first place I ask? I guess if you are a local government bigger means more taxes. Does this community need two mega-superstores?

What about all these smaller businesses who suffer the consequences? What about their livelihood? Many of these business people built Conyers. Competition is good has long as there are rules. I just hope in another six months we don’t have to look at another closed-up store because of arrogance and shortsighted thinking-time will tell.

Our lovely little community is turning into a haven for strip malls, dollar discount stores and cookie cutter houses. Some people call this economic development. I call it bad planning and a community losing its character. So if you want to stand in long lines go to Lowe's. If you want service go to Cowan Ace Hardware.

Gregory P. Smith shows businesses how to build productive and profitable work environments that attract, keep and motivate their workforce. He speaks at conferences, conducts management training and is the President of a management consulting firm called Chart Your Course International located in Conyers, Georgia. Phone him at 770-860-9464.

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