Orchard Supply Hardware

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!
I went to Orchards Supply Hardware today to return a metal and slate fire pit I bought from them this past August (yes, 5 months ago). The metal bowl, screen and mesh cover had so much rust, that it was more rust orange color than the original painted black.
I was told that «it rains a lot and anything is going to rust. Then you have a fire, then rain, it’s going to rust. You can but some paint to fix it, but it will rust again»
Leaving disalussioned, I went to Home Depot and bought some Rustolium high temp paint and did the work myself.
I’ve spent more than $ 1,500 at this place in the last year and will never return. Poor customer service at OSH. Easily solved by apologizing and offer to provide me a return or even offering a free can of spray paint and I would have been satisfied. When none of that occurred, I was headed to HD.

I have been to the Barnes Road store three times and after my experience there I wouldn’t go back. The prices are the same or higher for like items at other places and there is a lack of knowledge and follow through from the staff. Everyone appears friendly and offers help but the issue is the staff lack knowledge of product and procedures. I spoke with 4 employees and not once did I receive the correct answer. Once the subject matter expert in drip systems failed to show up at all to assist me and I waited 20 minutes.
The biggest issue I had was with delivery of an item I purchased on Saturday. I setup delivery for the following Tuesday and was told three times on different days that all was in order. Tuesday arrived and at 1100 AM I called the store to inquire about delivery as my wife had been waiting half the day for the delivery. The delivery rep at the store told me they had the order but no notes and only discovered when I called the table was still there and not scheduled for delivery. They called the delivery service who called me and said they would deliver it between 1200 – 1600 however this was the first they knew of the item being scheduled for delivery. The store took no ownership of the issue and didn’t offer to resolve anything or even refund a portion of my delivery fee.
After our experience there I would highly recommend taking your business elsewhere.

Clean and friendly but a little pricy at times. Less supplies available but not bad. Good in a pinch

Very helpful staff. Recommended Hormex Liquid Concentrate for transplant shock and accelerated growth. Worked even better than expected!

Had something in stock that neither Home Depot, Lowes, or Fred Meyer had. Not so large that you get lost, and better quality of customer service.

Prices are comparable to Home Depot on selected gardening items. So if you know the prices of the items you are looking for, this is a great place to shop. It is never too busy and it is clean. The staff is also very friendly. Almost too friendly. I also like it because it is down the hill from where I live. I don’t have to get on the freeway or go through Cedar Mills village area like Home Depot. I probably wouldn’t get power tools here since it is a little pricier but like I said previously, gardening supplies and plants etc. are very comparable to everywhere else.

I don’t know what it is about hardware stores, but I really, really, really dislike going to them. I lack the fixer-​upper gene, I don’t get excited thinking about home projects, I just don’t like them. I’d probably rather go to the dentist.
That said, being a homeowner, there are times when we have no choice but to visit a home improvement store. Times like those, I’m glad that Orchard is around to make a not so fun experience seem almost enjoyable. The employees are helpful and nice. We’ve always been asked by at least a few people if we need help and have been quickly directed to wherever we needed to go. The last time we were here, they actually didn’t have what we needed and were kind enough to tell us where we could buy it (which ended up being at a competing place). I appreciate that they genuinely wanted to help us and for that, they’ll continue to have my business (even if I don’t like hardware stores).

Nice hardware store with some fun stuff. The staff are always super friendly and actually seem to know what they are talking about. The store is nice to with a layout that makes it easy to find what you want, If you live in the area get on their list they have lots of coupons and specials,
Smaller then most of the big box home improvement centers, they don’t carry washers and dryers or lumber but do carry work cloths and items that surprised me like pistachios and hard candy.
Orchards is fun to walk around in and see everything they have, They make keys even some of the harder to duplicate chip keys (for far less then the dealer)
Note, Orchard Supply was started in California but now is a division of Lowes.

Prices are too high and the selection is limited. The store manager/​owner seemed annoyed when I told him I was killing time while waiting for a person at a nearby grocery store. Started following me around in what appeared to be an attempt to make me uncomfortable. It was actually funny but I won’t be back. Heard the orchard brand is going out and if this store is the way things are ran, then I can see why.

Just rented a rug doctor here. I’ve never used one before and had a few questions about using it and the rental agreement. The employee assigned to help me offered no advice or help after I told him I was new to this. His attitude was very brisk and he was far more concerned with whether I was a member of the «orchard club». He was also about to sell me the 4 – 8 room size container of cleaner after I told him that I was doing 3 small rooms. Luckily, I noticed the labeling on the bottle and switched it in time. Will be going back to Home Depot next time.

My husband & I have shopped here for about 3 years. The prices are usually higher than the chain stores but we want to invest in our community by supporting local businesses such as this one. The problem is that you never know what kind of person the owner is our what the policies of the store are until the opportunity presents. Unfortunately we had such an opportunity this past weekend.
While looking at their clearance shelf, I picked up a jar candle to smell it. The lid was very tight and popped off with force causing the candle to fall from my hand breaking when it hit the floor. I stayed there until a clerk came to clean it up & explained to her how the accident happened. At that point my husband had finished shopping so we went to check out. The clerk brought the broken candle to the counter and «rang it up» telling us that she would have to charge us the $ 7.50 cost of the clearanced candle.
We were shocked. Dropping the candle was an accident true but not one I was expecting to purchase. Well, my husband replied, «are you kidding me? It was an accident. Any other store wouldn’t charge us for an accident. «The clerk said that this is the store policy, to which he replied, «Well, then this will be my only purchase. I don’t want anything else. Any other store would not charge for something broken by accident. I’ll never shop here again.»
At that point, a man who had been standing behind the counted stepped forward to stand directly in front of my husband. He didn’t say anything at first, just stood there. My husband asked him what he wanted to which he replied, «nothing, just standing here.» My husband asked for the manager or owner and this man told us that he was the owner. He then said, «how ridiculous is it that you wouldn’t pay for something you broke?». He began to berate us & I responded that it’s ridiculous to expect payment for something that broke especially since it was an accident and it’s a write-​off as a loss. (We did pay for the broken candle during this exchange.). We asked him if the $ 3 he was going to make off that candle was worth our business & all the referrals we send. (And until this incident we had referred many people to his store).
I’m appalled by the way this man spoke to us. His whole approach to this situation was so unprofessional and threatening. My husband was upset that we were required to pay for the candle, but what fueled his upset was the aggressive & unreasonable manner in which this owner approached us. He actually followed us out to our vehicle. My husband turned to him & asked him what he wanted. He said he wanted to talk. After the disrespectful and disparaging way he had already spoken to us, my husband didn’t want to speak to him any longer.
The bottom line is that this owner was incredibly rude and his approach to the situation was inappropriate & disrespectful. His words were mean & disparaging and he was far too aggressive. Owners should be able to defuse a possible negative situation NOT fuel it. And ya know, policies like that are supposed to be posted. I’ve been in stores that have signs that say, «You break it, you buy it.» Why didn’t he? Is the economy that good, and your business that profitable that you would turn away $ 1000 – 2000 yearly business + referrals over $ 3 profit?
At any rate, we won’t shop there again. Buyer Beware.

I love this place! It doesn’t have the same sort of inventory as Home Depot, because it focuses on more on outdoor stuff, and less on construction materials (though it does have some of those too).
But what I really like about this place is that it’s fun to look around, things are arranged well and easy to find. It’s kind of like a Ace Hardware store, but ballooned up to a much larger size, with more selection. The construction of the place is large and open, but feels more more comfortable than Home Depot for reasons I haven’t quite figured out. Perhaps it’s partly the smaller size than Home Depot, but I also think it’s much less warehouse-​y (is that a word?).
That said, the staff isn’t as well trained (yet) as a typical Ace store, so even though they are super friendly and want to be helpful, they don’t know their inventory quite well enough to be great at it. Give them a few years in the saddle, if the store survives, and maybe that aspect will improve.
That’s my main concern for this store… survival. The several times I’ve been to this store, there haven’t been many customers there. Probably less than 10, in fact I think the employees outnumbered the customers.
Their prices seem to be right in line with other places. I didn’t notice any dramatic difference from Home Depot’s prices on the few things I checked.
Definitely give these guys a chance!

Orchard is a nice, neat hardware store. They don’t have as many things in stock as the other larger chain hardware stores, but they have everything people typically need for house and yard maintenance. I particularly like how they display things, which makes everything easier to find.

We recently had a «big ass» solid patio cover built over the concrete patio that was poured last summer in my backyard. We’re really looking to utilize it as an outdoor living/​entertainment area. The next step, other than relocating my grill to it’s new permanent home in back, is obtaining outdoor patio furniture and a bit of outdoor storage for the back of my home.
Enter Orchard Supply Hardware.
I’ve seen the TV spots, and paid attention to their FSI ads/​coupons in the Sunday paper. I did a bit of research, and read about their recent Chapter 11 reorganization and acquisition by Lowe’s. Whatever the case, I liked their advertising and they had a seemingly decent selection of outdoor storage options. After a recent visit to Lowe’s and Home Depot (and coming away none-​too-​impressed) we decided to head over to OSH.
They did, in fact, have a good selection of outdoor storage sheds, at what appear to be decent prices. They also had more than a few outdoor furniture options which, unlike Home Depot and Lowe’s, weren’t relegated to the out of season or bargain shelves. Nice! They make an obvious, concerted effort at seasonal displays, too, and had several non-​big box home improvement store «touches» scattered around. Example — several Halloween themed displays with stuff that actually caught my wife’s attention. This is in contrast to either of the previous stores we’d visited that day.
Truth be told I saw less than 25% of the store. I was there for two very specific things, found them and made note. Each and every one of the employees was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. I like the layout of the store, to be sure. After discussing my trip with friends over the weekend, one of them described it as the «New Seasons» of home improvement stores, which I entirely agree with.
Great first impression. I hope they don’t simply morph into Lowe’s stores, and they’re able to keep their identity distinct and unique. It seems there’s a business case to be made for higher-​end home improvement, and from what I’ve seen, OSH seems capable of filling that need.

Nice store but prices are more expensive than Lowes or Home Depot. Employees are friendly but guys in the gardening section couldn’t answer basic questions about the plants they carried. Better off at local nursery or hardware store if you’ve got questions. Better off at Lowes or Home Depot if price is a consideration.

Update: Orchard has gone bankrupt, Lowe’s apparently is taking over. Store empty of customers with staff much reduced. Sue (my paint expert) has been laid off.
A former co-​worker told me she is now the «paint lady» at Ace Hardware in Aloha.
Goodbye Orchard, hello Ace. And good news too, they also feature Benjamin Moore paints at same price.

Before I moved my family back to Oregon, I lived in the Bay Area (California), where I often visited Orchard in San Jose, at their original store. It was kind of plain, but they carried a wide range of hard to find hardware, often items you couldn’t find elsewhere. The Oregon incarnation is nothing but a huge disappointment. Instead of mirroring the store I used to frequent, this Orchard is like a small Loewes, with fewer items and much less selection in every department.
I’ve visited four times now, and the last two visits were frustrating and disappointing. I came in for a simple plumbing part, but I was told by the «plumber» on staff, after much fumbling and mumbling, that they don’t carry the adapter I needed because they don’t carry American Standard fixtures. This is just plain lame. Whatever fixture brands they choose to carry (not much more than an Ace Hardware), they should carry the basics, regardless. The second visit was to buy a gas outdoor fireplace, which was so damaged in the box that I had to return it. I think it got damaged by the guy that loaded it, because it was too heavy for one person, and he wrestled it quite a bit.
If you want an extensive collection of hardware and other items, Home Depot is still, unfortunately, the best option, even if you can’t usually get help in the aisles. If you want a more «designer» approach to your hardware, go to Loewes, and suffer through their lame service. If you want something hard to find, go to Winks, on SE Stark Street. They have an «old time» counter, with actual, knowledgeable employees, who will disappear into the bowels of the store’s back racks to find you almost anything.
If you want slightly more selection than your local Ace or True Value hardware store, and you live very near Orchard, it may have what you want. If you’re expecting anything more, you’ll be disappointed. Unless they move towards their roots, I see little chance that Orchard will survive in Oregon.

Orchard Supply Hardware is a brand new hardware store located off Barnes Road in the Peterkort area. Years ago this location was an Ernst hardware store. The building is like the perfect size for a hardware store. Speaking of sizes, most hardware stores these days seem to be the large variety (i.e. Home Depot, Lowes) or smaller independents like Ace Hardware stores. Orchard Supply Hardware fits very nicely into the middle.
Orchard Supply Hardware is one very handsome store! The merchandise is very beautifully and logically laid out. A greeter meets you at the front door and gives directions. Every Orchard Supply Hardware employee I encountered smiled, greeted me, and offered to help. If you’re fed up with trying to get help at the large hardware stores then going to Orchard Supply Hardware will be like a nirvana experience for you.
Among the product lines here are tools, paint, gardening supplies, work clothes, barbecue equipment, plumbing, lawn mowers, electrical supplies, lawn furniture, and a very respectable garden area. Orchard Supply Hardware even has a kitchen supply department and they do bicycle repair!
One criticism. Some of the prices at Orchard Supply Hardware seem to be a little on the high side. My companion and I priced the lawn furniture and some of the tools at Orchard Supply Hardware. We both concluded that we could have found some lower prices elsewhere.
Orchard Supply Hardware is an outfit that has taken direct aim at the large hardware stores. If they keep an eye on their prices then I’d say that they have a very good shot.