Menards

I ventured here on Black Friday because their ad looked interesting. Kudos for having enough stuff for your sale. I stopped in around 830 a. m and was able to buy a Polaroid Tablet, Realtree hats, dog sweaters, icicle thing for wine, ice ball molds for drinks, aromatherapy stuffed dogs and make your paw print ornaments. I did miss out on Moscow Mule mugs for $ 9.99 but no big deal. They blocked off aisles for the 6 hour sale so lines weren’t chaotic. This Menards actually bags your items too. Nice and helpful telling you what aisle things are in. Courteous check out cashier.

We definitely prefer Menard’s for home-​improvement projects. This is a nice store which was built several years ago, replacing the location that was further south in Apple Valley. The store is huge and the assortment is fantastic.
But, The service is only so-​so. I went in to buy my husband’s Christmas present several weeks ago, and was trying to get advice from the workers in the hardware area. The gentleman who «helped» me didn’t offer any opinions and just pointed in the general area of where I needed to go, despite my specific request for a recommendation.
Growing up in a family that had owned a hardware store, I do expect service at this types of locations. Even mass retailers such as Menard’s need to focus on the hiring personnel that actually know what they are selling. I would expect to see people working that have some sort of craft background such as carpentry, electrical or plumbing etc. I have often been disappointed with the service.
That said I still prefer Menard’s over Home Depot… Though sometimes I think I just like giving business to a hometown company (since Menard’s is based out of Eau Claire Wisconsin versus Home Depot which is based out of Atlanta Georgia.

I often refer to Menards to a «home improvement» Walmart. Actually, I think Walmart is more organized and their employees aren’t subjected to taking their break in the sales area of the store. That being said, the staff is generally nice and quite helpful. Yes, there are those few employees that stand out. You know the ones. You think to yourself that it’s probably some lack of social skills. Actually, it’s probably retail shell-​shock. Every retail shop has them, Menards perhaps just a few more than most.
Regarding the Apple Valley Menards, they don’t sell milk and frozen pizza yet. Other Menards do, what’s up with that? However, I’m sure they’re studying the viability of it for this store. Cheap theater candy and Doritos? Yep. Oh, they sell tools and lumber stuff too. On the subject of tools and lumber, Menards as a whole sells some really shitty stuff. If you want quality lumber, spend the money and go to a actually lumber yard; that is if you consider time as valuable as money. If not, go ahead and take an hour pawing through all the shit and be disappointed. You were warned. Mind you, if its just framing wood, stick to Menards. Tools? You’d find a lot better items in China, where most of the tools sold here seem to be manufactured. Cheap isnt always better, I’m sure you’ve heard before.
Back to Apple Valley. As stated, they are generally pretty decent in customer service and the store is staged rather well for ease of finding most things, unlike other Menards.

I dislike shopping at Menards. I can never find the products in their ad. Very frustrating. Not going back. I will stick with Home Depot, they have good signage.