The Scourge of Amazon

MrWhoopee said:
Your story sounds familiar. I was trying to maintain 2 houses 250 miles apart. When I couldn't find something after searching one house, I would decide it must be at the other....until I got to that house a week later. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Your fuse problem started well before Amazon, when the big-box stores started displacing the well-stocked locals and franchises. Despite their size, the big-box chains only stock the stuff that moves, and only in season. One of the few well-stocked west coast chains, Orchard Supply, closed their doors in the last couple of years. We still have a couple of really good Ace Hardware stores where you can buy 1 unusual fastener if that's all you need. Living 40 miles from town, next day delivery is better than "local" availability.

When calling around looking for an item like your fuse, ask to speak to the oldest guy in the store.
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You really nailed it. We are lucky to have a local Ace that really does a good job of stocking what our little highly DIY community needs in a really tiny store. The big box stores have truly bred this monster Amazon through their ineptitude.

It’s been mentioned before how if Sears hadn’t been so stupid they would have been Amazon before Amazon. The thing that keeps me begrudgingly coming back to Amazon is the astoundingly fast shipping/w real tracking. I went with some eBay sellers that had the same thing at the same price as Amazon and say now something about US stock. This is the second time where they send a USPS #right away but now 3days later the package has still not arrived at USPS. Because when pressed they admit they are using DHL e-commerce to get it to the USPS. And DHL is how it comes out of China, DOH! Should have gotten it from Amazon as it would have been here yesterday while I’m still seeing it’s not gotten to USPS.
 
The wife hates Amazon because of who they are. But it is hard to beat the prices and being a Prime Member the free shipping. That alone saves me a ton of money. The price may not always be the lowest, but when you take into account the shipping I would pay elsewhere and the speed at which I receive most items it is hard to beat. It just drives her nuts to see the Primer charge every month on our credit card. But one shipment, maybe two recovers that very easily and we buy probably 3-6 items a month off of Amazon so the advantage is there.
 
Fifty years ago, there was a hardware store directly across the street from the state capitol, called Wolff, Kubly and Hirsig. When you walked to the back of the store, it was dimly lit and kind of dusty and dingy but you could find any bit of hardware you could conceivably want. I bought 1lb boxes of piano wire there, as well as many other odd items. They have moved from the city center; the real estate was too valuable for a hardware store. They are now part of the Ace hardware chain and still one of the best bets in finding odd hardware but a mere shadow of their former self.

Milwaukee used to had an ancient hardware store facing the Milwaukee river. You were likely to find stock there which had been put into inventory in the 19th century there. It has been decades since I have been in that part of town and I expect that property values have pushed them out as well.

Fifty years ago, Sears and Roebuck used to be a reliable source for hand and power tools and accessories and hardware as well. I recall going into the store asking for a star drill and the young clerk led me over to a pipe reamer. I also recall walking out of the automotive section, telling the clerk that I thought I had more parts in my garage than they had in their store. I haven't been back to the automotive section since and gave up on the store in general some twenty years ago. You can't blame that one on Walmart or Amazon they didn't exist then. Poor management decisions are to blame, in my opinion. Sears could have been the Amazon of today. They had a massive distribution infrastructure which had been in place for more than 100 years. But they blew it.

For my part, I am thankful for Amazon. Especially in this past year. They may not be perfect but having the ability to order a $3 part and having it delivered the next fay or two has been a godsend. For odd bits, e-bay has come through more times than not and not having to drive 50 miles and on a store to store search is a decent tradeoff for the bird in the hand.
 
RJSakowski said:
Milwaukee used to had an ancient hardware store facing the Milwaukee river. You were likely to find stock there which had been put into inventory in the 19th century there.
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Those really old hardware stores were always a treasure but now are almost completely nonexistent sadly. They were more like a museum of our manufacturing prowess because they had stuff that is not even being made anymore and when it was gone, there was no more. I hate to be one of “those“ guys but the link in my mind of the decline is the idea of somebody with a MBA who’s never worked a trade taking over something like a hardware store has failure written all over it. Same with the manufacturing I’ve worked in. Some don’t know, others don’t have a clue and having a degree doesn’t mean you know what it takes to make anything.
 
markba633csi said:
I wonder if China has hardware stores? They certainly have hardware :)
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Very good question. It was a revelation to be asked here what we are all doing with a 4x6 bandsaw. As in China and Taiwan only a manufacturer would buy such a thing. So is there hardware stores over there or just manufacturing suppliers?
 
It was funny when I had to go to China to service some equipment we sold them. If you had to drill a hole, there was one man that was in charge of the old dull drill bits, another man was in charge of the hand drill, and a third man was in charge of the extension cord. They each guarded their piece with their life and would stand and watch you use it and then immediately collect their stuff, before you could even put it down, and hide it away again. I had my company send me a Dewalt 18V drill and a 115 piece set of drills so that I could have them to use. It took well over an hour to drill a hole with all the rounding up of personel to do it thru a translator that had no technical knowlage to understand what I was asking for. That Dewalt and that box of bits totally blew their minds. Not to mention seeing how a sharp drill cuts. Just having my own drilling ability took a 4 month job down to 3 months.
 
Flyinfool said:
It was funny when I had to go to China to service some equipment we sold them. If you had to drill a hole, there was one man that was in charge of the old dull drill bits, another man was in charge of the hand drill, and a third man was in charge of the extension cord. They each guarded their piece with their life and would stand and watch you use it and then immediately collect their stuff, before you could even put it down, and hide it away again. I had my company send me a Dewalt 18V drill and a 115 piece set of drills so that I could have them to use. It took well over an hour to drill a hole with all the rounding up of personel to do it thru a translator that had no technical knowlage to understand what I was asking for. That Dewalt and that box of bits totally blew their minds. Not to mention seeing how a sharp drill cuts. Just having my own drilling ability took a 4 month job down to 3 months.
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This sounds a bit like the description of setting up a booth at a machine tool trade show in Chicago. If you needed an extension cord plugged in, you had to get a union electrician to do it. Tony wouldn't be happy if you tried to do it yourself.
 
DON'T get me started on union issues......
 
ACE Hardware is still one of the best sources for odd ball and specialty hardware, at least in our area. They have a complete room or area set up with small drawers of the stuff.
Other than maybe the specialty houses which a few still exist for fasteners, ACE is the best option locally. Other than that, McMaster Carr.
 
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