Team Two Times

Question: I am never sure which Home Improvement store I should go to, can you please help me understand the difference (if any) between Lowes, Home Depot, OSH, and my neighborhood ACE Hardware?

Marcus: Great question, I’ll do my best to explain what I see as the differences. If you watch my show on HGTV called Hammer Heads, then you already know I am a total gadget freak - so I definitely do my share of shopping at all these stores.

Lowes is more homeowner-friendly, Home Depot is more tailored to contractors, OSH is a combination of the two and ACE is your mom and pop equivalent comparatively. For the most part, the larger chains are comparative in price and content, however, Home Depot and Lowes carry Contractor Packs of certain items, which make the price per item cheaper. It seems like Lowes is better taken care of and not nearly as messy – probably due to the early rush of contractors, plumbers, electricians, etc. that flood into Home Depot in the morning. I feel that they’re more customer-friendly at Lowes although, once again, that observation is in my surrounding area. OSH is a good place to find different things – can’t really tell you what, but it’s one of those places that if I can’t find it at Home Depot or Lowes, I’ll check OSH. As for ACE – it’s conveniently closeby, the customer service is usually great, the employees are typically older, retired guys who know almost everything about anything but the prices are substantially higher on a lot of the items. I’m all about supporting local shops, but it is difficult when the price difference is significant so, unless I’m in a huge hurry, I like to shop around.