Menards

Menards is okay. Whenever I need someone, there doesn’t appear to be a person in sight. But I’ll walk around and see a lot of the workers just standing around.
Menards is a good place to go to for all home needs though. They pretty much have everything you’ll need and the occasional sale usually catches my eye.
Their garden and wood centers are actually pretty goo too.

If you are a person that lives and breathes home improvement/​hardware, then Menards is your one stop shop for all things home department store.
But if you’re like me, a «newbie» to this world of hammers and saws, you might be in a little trouble. When Pinterest exploded, I jumped on the crafting wagon. I wanted to make anything and everything I thought I was capable of doing. I reached as high as making things with wood and nails (who knew?). Menards is close enough to my house, that it was always my first choice. There was one day in particular that I was looking for table legs. I needed them for an end-​of-​my-​bed bench. I had already gotten the wood cut at another department store, and couldn’t find legs I liked there. I must have walked around 2 times, trying to make eye contact with workers who were standing around talking with their peers, completely ignoring my inward plee for a little push in the right direction. And might I add, Menards is ginormous.
I circled twice, and finally asked a guy in paint. He acted like I was from a different planet. He gave me a general explanation of where they might be and I ended up in the rotary tool department. I was a little ticked at this point. I once again scanned the aisles for another employee. I happened upon a woman whose mouth was stuffed with powdery donuts, she couldn’t answer my question for the longest time. She was successful in pointing me in the right direction. Nice going Menards.
I wrote the general manager of the store, who replied that if I experienced a situation similar like that again, I should just call him, because we’re besties and all :) Not the response I wanted.
My many treks to the Menards in Council Bluffs have been similar. I don’t try to go in there anymore.
Pluses include a wide variety of paint, you can register here for a wedding/​birthday/​any excuse, they claim that if all lines are filled, they will open another register, and they give a lot of rebates in store credit.
To me, the Menards in Council Bluffs is filled with nothing but young kids who have no idea about the store in which they work. They’re, at times, unapproachable, and make me feel a little stupid. I would think the first thing you would need to have working in a home improvement store is a little, teeny, tiny amount of knowledge about the products they sell. Thanks a lot Menards.

As far as home improvement stores go, Menards is well organized. Once you get to know the store, finding what you need is a snap, and Menard’s prices are generally lower than the others. I’ve not had troubles finding employees willing to help at our local Menards, much better than our «other» home improvement store where you’re lucky to find an employee on the sales floor. I’m not sure why Menards got into selling food, and I don’t understand the small kitchen appliance section… prices there aren’t very impressive. For electrical, plumbing, garden, and lumber, selection and prices are pretty good.

If you know what you need and where to find it, you will be fine. Otherwise you might be in for a ride, the few employees that have actually spoken to me are unfamiliar with the store or unwilling to help figure out where an item might be.
Don’t buy the caramel covered popcorn! It’s cheap for a reason.
Other than that it’s not a bad hardware store.