FYI: Home Depot no longer stocks metal pipe or fittings

[Michael Schuch]

You must like overpaying if you buy your plumbing stuff from Ace. The only reason I wouldn't go broke buying plumbing supplies from my local hardware store is because the selection is so small compared to Menards. I wouldn't find a lot of what I was looking for.

I have never considered Zoro for plumbing stuff unless I can't find it locally. My experience with Zoro is they are usually overpriced unless you have a coupon. Pretty much the only time I order from Zoro is with a coupon. Granted, I have never looked at their prices for plumbing stuff.

Yep, you are right. I meant www.supplyhouse.com ---NOT Zoro! For some reason I had Zoro on my brain when I was thinking www.supplyhouse.com. I can pretty near order double the number of fittings from SupplyHouse and still pay half of what I would at HD or Lowes. HD will no longer allow me to return fittings still in their sealed plastic bags with the receipt a week after I bought them which I why I don't go there any more.

[Dave Lehnert]

I was talking to a Home Depot employee and said there was talk of converting some stores into on-line/ pick-up only.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I use our Ace store when I can. They never offered pipe threading. They are doing a decent gob of sending me $5 and $10 off cards which helps. The most helpful thing is that there is an Ace on the West side of town which can save an hour or more, and a 7 to 14 mile drive. I also work for several darling widow ladies who insist that I do their shopping at Ace.

[Alex Zeller]

I can walk into a local hardware store and be heading back home in 10 minutes where as the big box stores are always at least a half hour to get in and out of. Whether it's finding someone for help or waiting in a line to cash out it just takes too long. As for pipe threading, before I moved to this house I lived near a friend who owned a sprinkler business and I would often go over in the evenings to cut and thread pipe for him. He now has an automated threader that has what looks like a 1/2" tap that cuts the threads. What use to take hours now just takes minutes.

[Roger Feeley]

My local HD must not have gotten the memo yet. I’m told that it’s the busiest HD in the country so maybe it’s still worth it? It’s also a very messy HD. Finding fasteners in the bins is always a hassle. Sometimes, there are some tape measures lying around that customers have taken from the tools section.

I’m kind of tempted to have a 6” rule tattooed on my left forearm.

[Jim Koepke]

I’m kind of tempted to have a 6” rule tattooed on my left forearm.

Knowing this may have been posted in jest, I always have a tape measure in my pocket.

I haven't been in an HD in a while. Their website shows iron pipe products in stock in my local store.

Bill may find his local store may be more to do with being in California than with Home Depot. Having not lived in California for close to 15 years it isn't known to me if they have banned new gas connections or not. That could lower the demand considerably.

jtk

[Tom Bain]

My local HD must not have gotten the memo yet. I’m told that it’s the busiest HD in the country so maybe it’s still worth it? It’s also a very messy HD. Finding fasteners in the bins is always a hassle. Sometimes, there are some tape measures lying around that customers have taken from the tools section.

I’m kind of tempted to have a 6” rule tattooed on my left forearm.

Roger — Are you talking about the one on route 50 or the one in Merrifield? They are both super busy and terribly disorganized. It’s even worse this time of year when they stick Christmas crap in every open spot in the store and you can’t even maneuver a cart through there.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Our HD has copper pipe and fittings.

[Jim Becker]

Regional stocking reflects regional demang. Iron pipe is most often targeted at natural gas or propane applications, other than the occasional pipe clamp, and use of gas is being discouraged in some geographies. The store isn't going to dedicate space to something that can't develop enough sales to justify that space.

[George Yetka]

When did they start this I grabbed a couple last month.

You could check the brass. if its just the one piece.

[Jim Koepke]

Regional stocking reflects regional demang. Iron pipe is most often targeted at natural gas or propane applications, other than the occasional pipe clamp, and use of gas is being discouraged in some geographies. The store isn't going to dedicate space to something that can't develop enough sales to justify that space.

The beancounters likely have a dollar per square foot number, along with other criteria, that has to be met for products to be stocked in a store.

When looking for an extra pair of wireless headphones it was discovered HD had them marked down to $39, $20 below the regular price, for a set from Sharper Image. Fortunately the HD web site also listed the location in the store. Turns out it was a small clearance area of items that hadn't sold well. I purchased two pair. I've been using a pair for years to watch TV without disturbing the wife and wanted a back up pair. Now one pair is used with my computer and there is one back up pair.

jtk

[Jim Becker]

There are definitely metrics which come into play for in-store inventory and the major home centers have also created a more robust "ship to store" program for next tier stuff, too. Things that folks buy, but not in quantities and not with frequency. There are many items that have been swapped from store inventory to quick-ship to store status in my observation at this point. Relative to the metrics, if "something" is being pushed out of the local market for a given store, such as the iron pipe that brought up this topic, it's not surprising it would no longer be on the shelf/rack.

[Brian Elfert]

There are definitely metrics which come into play for in-store inventory and the major home centers have also created a more robust "ship to store" program for next tier stuff, too. Things that folks buy, but not in quantities and not with frequency. There are many items that have been swapped from store inventory to quick-ship to store status in my observation at this point. Relative to the metrics, if "something" is being pushed out of the local market for a given store, such as the iron pipe that brought up this topic, it's not surprising it would no longer be on the shelf/rack.

There is zero chance I am going to place a ship to store order for something like a pipe fitting unless nobody else in the area carries that item. Home Depot quit carrying ABS pipe and fittings in store. Menards is across the street and still carries ABS so I just buy it there. Ship to store means waiting several days to several weeks for the item to be delivered to the store. I then still have to drive to the store to pick up the item.

[Jim Becker]

I do understand, but it's not going to stop them from offering stuff like that. I remember you mentioning about the ABS...as I mentioned then, ABS isn't even offered in this area, at least in any of the mass market. (The closest Menards is probably about 300 miles away, too)

[Curt Harms]

I imagine any item availability depends on the region. In this area - S.E. PA - gas heat & hot water is very much a thing and both Lowes & HD stock black iron pipe. If I'm killing time in another part of the country I'll go into borgs just to see what they stock. One thing I notice is a lot more bug control products in areas that don't have hard frosts. OTOH not many snow shovels in south Florida.