Menards

I had a lovely experience when I returned an item. First of, what a great idea to have a kiosk when one can retrieve a receipt based on the credit card I paid with!!! I’ve only seen this at Macy’s so I was really impressed. Also the customer service was amazing. You certainly have impressed me and I value your service so much that I will shop at your store to be able to have this experience every time.

I’ve been shopping at this Menards for over 10 years and am consistently doing over $ 10k/​yr in purchasing here. I own a home, a neighboring rental property, and a small business, so I have non-​stop repair and improvement projects.
Menards is better than Lowes and Home Depot in almost every way. For years I used to comparison shop until I finally realized it wasn’t worth the time because Menards is always cheaper. The only reason I visit other stores now is to look at wider variety in things like light fixtures and kitchen and bathroom fixtures/​appliances and such. For raw materials like drywall, lumber, dry-​mix products like concrete, insulation, plumbing and electrical, as well as hardware/​consumption items like nails, screws, fasteners, sandpaper, blades, etc… they’re always the winner. You can tell just by looking at the quantities they handle. Their stacks of sheet goods move at a rate that makes an embarrassment of Lowes and HD. Menards’ stockpile is gigantic. After you figure in sales and rebates Menards beats all in the price war. The only rare exception is using gift card and coupon combos at Lowes.
The things I usually end up buying elsewhere: toilets, vanities, sink tops and faucets, light fixtures, etc… I have and will purchase these things at Menards but I just often find a design I like better at another store.
As far as customer service goes, it’s pretty lousy at Menards, but pretty awful everywhere else. You just can’t expect to find people in hardware stores who know much about construction. Very few people in the store know anything about what they’re selling. It’s especially bad in the paint department where you really need some advice on what product to use. There’s just one guy at Menards who works in plumbing that knows a lot, and I might go to him with a question. Anyone else need not waste my time. Checkout lanes are generally fast and well-​staffed.
The outdoor yard is a great convenience for loading. The big downside is they won’t let you in without a pickup ticket. The problem with that is if you just want to look at something before you buy it, you’ll have to walk about a mile through the store into the yard and back out. Frequently I’ll get a pickup ticket for some 2×4’s or something then when I’m in there I can inspect all the other stuff I might want, drive all the end of the yard and walk into get another pickup ticket for the other items. Early in the day it seems there are lots of people to help you load, but in the evening I usually have to chase someone down to help with drywall. It bugs me that they want to check inside your trunk when you leave — if I wanted to steal stuff I could hide it anywhere else in my vehicle, plus I frequently do have a bunch of hardware store stuff in my trunk but not once has a gate guy asked me about it, so what’s the point of checking?
I probably do most of my power tool purchasing online because it’s almost always cheaper. Menards is definitely lacking in brands since they don’t even carry Dewalt. They have some Bosch stuff but in general I feel like their power tools are cheap junk brands. I wouldn’t really shop Menards for deals on power tools. I do buy plenty of hand tools at Menards.
I wish propane refills didn’t take so long. I wish they didn’t play that irritating Menards song in the store. I wish the checkout people would stop asking me if I’m going to pay with my Menards card (I’m not).
Menards has, without question, the best return policy of any store that I’m aware of. They’ll take back anything after any amount of time in almost any condition for almost any reason. They’ll even do a price adjustment if something drops within two weeks of your purchase.

Last fall I came in to get an air mattress. I rode my bike and the closest bike rack is either at JoAnns or Binny’s. I decided since people come in with their scooters all the time, I’ll just bring my bike in while I shop (to be clear, it’s not like I was riding it through the store). Suddenly, this biker dude starts following me around the store and informs me that I must leave my bike at the front. I’m thinking to myself «why is this creep harassing me about my bike». Cyclists are used to random vigilantes harassing them so I decide to ignore him. He keeps pushing the issue and following me and shows me some sort of badge he’s wearing at his hip. I used to work at a costume shop so I know these things are pretty easy to come by. At this point, I became nervous and sought out the first customer service desk out of pure fear that this man was seeking to take advantage of me behind the power tools! When I get there, I find out that this guy apparently works for them! Why an undercover security employee was sent to deal with me my bike and not a customer service employee wearing a blue vest, I cannot understand. The regular Menards employees were very helpful at that point but maybe if it’s a security issue to walk your bike through the store, they should put bike racks out front! After all this, nobody asked me if I needed help finding the air mattresses which took me forever to find.

Store review:
With my move to Champaign, I am excited to have a Menards which is a lot cheaper than Home Depot and Lowe’s, however the quality is also slightly lower, but sometimes cheaper is okay. The best items to buy here are the rebate items which allows you to get some or all of your money back in the form of a voucher to be used for future menards sale. The selection is also quite expansive as well. The only downside is that it is often hard to find someone to help you out.
Pros: cheaper option for home improvement, rebate items
Cons: limited staff, occasionally not very helpful employees as detailed by waiting in line at the customer service desk for 5 minutes before being helped
Hidden deals:
1. Menards rebate items which can be cycled through to buy other menard rebate items!

Staff is very friendly and very helpful, if there is any project that is needed they are sure to point you in the right direction on what is needed.

I have purchased a bunch of equipment here including cleaning products, an acrylic sheet, lightbulbs, extension cords, etc.
The prices were relatively good and the selection is larger than Loews and Home Depot. This will be my first stop in Champaign for anything hardware-​related needs.

We were trying to build a few pieces of furniture and checked out Menards and their lumber selection. It was much bigger and much cheaper than that at Lowes or Home Depot. The only problem was that they didn’t have a saw big enough to cut the sheet of wood we bought into pieces. So unfortunately we had to buy it at Home Depot and pay much more. But I will definitely be returning to Menards in the future.

Couldn’t have built our house without them. Their special orders desk is great too. Though I’ve always thought they were slightly sexist. It seems the only two jobs a woman can get are cashier, or plant waterer. Oh wait, they can be paint shakers too.

There are a lot of great things about Menard’s. They have a great selection and the best prices of the Big Three home improvement stores in C-​U. We also found their employees in the store to be the most knowledgeable and helpful by far. My gripe with them is regarding a special order we made. It took twice as long as they said it would, and when we kept calling about the status, they’d either tell us «maybe tomorrow» or the employee wouldn’t call back at all. We’ll keep shopping there, but just allow more time for special orders.

If I place a special order and the employee says that he will call me on Monday with the status, I expect a call. If I then call on Tuesday, and the same guy says he will call back on Wednesday, I again expect a call back. By Thursday with no word, it’s pretty clear the place has blown me off.
Two stars because Menards has so many odds and ends at cheap prices — from $ 1 throw rugs to $ 5 shower organizers and backpacks. They even carry name-​brand food at discount prices. If only the workers weren’t such donkeys…

Save big money at Menards. Damn straight, man. We’re in the process of building a wood fence and their prices blew Lowe’s and Home Depot out of the water. ($ 19.99 per dog eared panel vs. ~ $ 29.97 elsewhere — even though at Home Depot they offer a 10% Lowest Price Guarantee.)
Eric in the building materials department made the whole process a cinch. Plus, we bought the supplies during a Project Days sale & we were able to store them at Menard’s for a few weeks after the sale ends — til we’re ready to use ‘em. Now, let’s see how the fence holds up!