"There is a showroom of doors and windows unlike any other we've ever tried," Feldman said.The pilot Home Depot Design Center opens this week in Concord, CA, while a second store is expected to open soon in Charlotte, NC. Home Depot may want a new slogan to match their pretty new stores; "You Can Do It, We Can Help," never sounded so patronizing."She can buy a light bulb as well as all of the lighting," he said. "Or a major appliance plus the laundry detergent to go with it."
Though there will be a garden center, the focus won't be on the act of gardening as much as the appreciation of outdoor living. No piles of dirt and grass-seed bags or rolling shelves full of begonias and impatiens will be found at the design centers. Instead there will be more stylish outdoor furniture and accessories, upscale pottery and other garden paraphernalia.
This Home Depot is for women [Contra Costa Times]
(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Maybe though it would be good for older women, because definitely one of my grandmothers would not be able to walk the length and breadth of HD comfortably.
My other grandmother is more fit that I am, OTOH. So maybe it is not actually useful for any demographic.
]]>I work at Home Depot and i have never seen the male employees hoot at women, i do know that if they think she is attractive they will be a bit more persistant on helping her. So you should be flattered if anything, and the men at my store(most) dont think of girls as weak and stupid, i had an old associate get mad at male customers who complained about having me help them load things that were 40-60 pounds. They complained because i was a girl and i guess in some way i was insulting them by giving them, a male, my help. This associate made it clear that i was fully capible of lifting more than a girl would normaly lift while shopping for meat for her husbands dinner
]]>@mantari: A gay friend of mine already calls it that. He elaborated by way of explaining HD's attractiveness as a gay hangout, "I think it's the combination of power tools and interior decorating."
As for "Her Depot," this is a marketing approach that has been a known loser for at least 51 years. In 1956, Dodge tried to convince women they needed a car called the "La Femme" which was painted in girly colors and came with a makeup kit that matched the upholstery. Think Barbie car for grown ups. Guess what. It was a total flop.
]]>I recently shopped both stores looking for a screen door and various light fixtures, and found much better-designed merch at Lowe's at the same price range as HD.
It's kind of like Target vs. Walmart's aesthetics- one is a bit more sophisticated, while the other is function plus no taste. If I'm looking to buy a bunch of inexpensive merchandise, I'm going to look for as much style as I can get.
]]>As far as Home Depot's "Expo" Stores, it seems to me that it's the red-headed stepchild of the company - totally forgotten about.
For a store with such high-end products, the condition of the displays is horrible. Broken tiles, dirty bath fixtures, broken faucet components....
It used to be the place to go a dream about what you would want to do in a remodel. The one in Torrance, CA has very dated products. It seems like they haven't changed their displays in 4 years.
]]>I admit it, I'm not one of those women who gets offended by these kinds of things because I know I can hold my own and I have nothing to prove. I'm a woman who has worked in the construction industry for the last 7 years. I ran a roofing company with my father for 3 years and I have done everything from "handyman work" to deck building to roofing. Now I'm in the field office side of things for a large general contractor and have the construction experience from a different view. I know my way around just about hardware store, can ask for help when I need it, and actually know how to use those "scary tools", but I have to say that I actually like this idea. I don't like the warehouse feel and I really don't like the "you're a stupid female, aren't you?" look I get pretty much any time I go into Home Depot or Lowes or any other one of these stores... if I can even get any assistance. I don't like the industrial look or standard 6 colors of anything that you get through HD. I don't like my limited options. I don't like the cheap look to a lot of the products. The idea that "Her Depot" would be more upscale and look different would be far more inviting to me and many other women. They just need to change the name to something that isn't quite so ultra girlie.
]]>This is the dumbest idea ever. I'm not stepping within 100 feet of one of these stores.
]]>Jezebel will have a field day with this.
I should know, I'm from Kotaku.
]]>Dumb move, but then this is the company that named themselves THE Home Depot.
]]>Brain short-circuit, sorry.
]]>I'd just love it if they'd train their staff and put a decent directory in the new store. I'll never forget the time I went alone, struggling to find decent home networking equipment. My husband recommended the place as a good place to buy a big box of RJ-45 connectors. Unfortunately, they were almost out, aside from a busted box. The staff was utterly useless and kept trying to suggest that RJ-11 connectors were the same thing **sigh** I just drive the extra miles to Fry's now...
Lowe's doesn't strike me as being any cleaner than Home Depot. The only difference I've noticed between the two is that they have brighter lights and white shelves.
]]>Oh well.. they can keep giving me dirty looks from their hot sweaty dusty construction site while I'm sitting in my nice leather office chair in an air conditioned building.
]]>Um, is that local CBS affiliate story wrong? Is it *actually* called "Her Depot," or did someone misunderstand a joke in a wire story? It seems like it's really called Home Depot Design Center.
In fact, a Montana tv station lists the Associated Press story, with the line, "A new Home Depot is more like a Her Depot. " - [www.montanasnewsstation.com] (scroll down)
]]>@xtc46: This is true. Women's razors are overengineered with "fins" and "moisture strips" and "ergonomic design" and whatnot, which means that you can't actually get the blades to reach your skin. Very safe shave, that, but not so effective.
To stretch an analogy, one wonders if "Her Depot" will spend all their time and money on designing cushy, pretty, non-threatening stores that won't make us feel scared, while neglecting things like employee training, efficient stocking/ordering/shipping, and reasonable policies.
]]>They already have this, it's called Expo Design Center. There's one right next to HD here.
]]>"Here's something I didn't see in the article -- are they going to have employees ANYWHERE around, or are they going to hide like the HD ones do?"
Amen!! I thought it was just me they were hiding from...when I was shopping for my bathroom remodeling, I got so frustrated trying to find an HD employee, I wished I was carrying a sign that said "Ready to spend $2,000 - 3,000 $$ Please help!" Feh. I ended up going to some plumbing and hardware wholesalers w/the contractor where we got much better service.
]]>What will women do when they need to build that deck and fix up their garden to accompany all that lawn furniture they bought? I just hope you can still rent a truck after you buy all your crap and realize it will not fit into your compact car.
]]>I don't know much a home improvement. I also don't know much about sewing or knitting. It's just not an interest of mine.
So I don't need a pretty store. What I need are employees who know what the fuck they are doing so that they can help me find what I need. The "Her Depot" employees will probably be even less competent than the regular HD employees.
I was just about to say that the whole thing sounded patronizing. What exactly is wrong with all of it being in a warehouse? They have signs and I can read. If the "prettification" means I have to pay more for a faucet washer so they can afford to pay the store designer, no thanks!
]]>The worst thing about Home Depot-like stores is getting treated like a dumb-dumb by all the male employees.
It is a pretty insulting busindess model, but I'd be willing to go to a dumbed-down store if it meant being treated like a human. Home Depot employees ruin my day. I know that as a female I'm weaker, smaller, and downright stupid, but I'd like to shop for lightbulbs in peace and carry my own paint cans.
Maybe they will carry pink power tools too! (With easier instructions and fewer functions for my delicate female brain.) I have to get them somewhere and I never intend to set foot in the local Home Depot again. (There are actually male *employees* who stand outside smoking and hoot at the women who walk in/come out.)
]]>There's totally a market for a store that sells home decor/organization stuff, furniture, appliances, and soforth. Target is really popular because they have all the things you need to furnish, clean, and organize your home in one store. Take just that section of Target, expand it, and get a wider price/quality range of products, and you could have a huge success with that.
The real marketing failure they've got here is the bright idea of describing their store as "like Home Depot, except we took out half of the departments." If they'd gone with "Hey, we have this great new home store with tons of stuff!" it would have looked a lot better. Marketing it to women just makes it even worse, as now it looks like they've crippled Home Depot for the sake of scaredy-cat weenie girls.
]]>Sounds similar to what HomeBase tried with the House2Home stores before they went belly up. I don't need my hardware pretty, I just need my hardware. Oh, and Home Depot sucks, I wouldn't go to their stupid girl store unless they were giving hardware away.
]]>Okay, I agree with everyone so far and say that this is very borderline insulting.
However, to play devil's advocate, I'm going to think about how this could help someone like my mother. She's 100% capable but just hasn't had the exposure to tools and such that I do. I'd rather have her going into a simplified environment (not because she's female and supposedly can't handle more but because there's a lot in a Home Depot she simply has no use for) and be able to get what she needs for around her house. As of right now, she's paying fix-it people waaaaay too much money to fix tiny little things around her house simply because she doesn't know how easy it is to do it herself.
If this could give her the knowledge she needs in an environment she finds inviting, I'm all for it. If they make everything pink and shiny... I'll take back everything I said!
]]>...
That's all I have to say
...
Kidding, but in all seriousness, isn't it somewhat stupid to notify half the population, right in the store's NAME, that this place isn't for you?
]]>And yet enough women buy it that they keep doing it.
Like men, most women are not capable of having their intelligence insulted.
]]>Using his shaving cream is fine. But don't even think of using his razor. We can tell when you do...
]]>They should call it "Heil Depot"
]]>If they only separated the lumber the way the separate the garden stuff, I would like it a lot better.
]]>I used to work at Lowe's as a summer job (ugh, such boring work) and there were plenty of women in there who did just fine. Why do we need this again?
]]>But seriously, I understand what you are saying. It is ridiculous to associate colors with gender.
]]>And screechy, indignant Feministing post in 3...2...1...
]]>Here's something I didn't see in the article -- are they going to have employees ANYWHERE around, or are they going to hide like the HD ones do?
By the way, I use my boyfriend's cheap "guy" shaving cream -- works just as well and costs a whole lot less. Just doesn't come in a pink can.
]]>I hate the friggin' Home Depot and gag from sawdust whenever I have to go there.
]]>@homerjay: lolol
i think the great indoors is already an excellent non sexist alternative
]]>Math is hard. Lets go shopping!
]]>