What”s wrong with a big box store?
I look forward each day to see if someone speaks up for the consumer in the debate over whether to permit Lowe”s to build a facility in Clearlake. So far only the opinions of the established big three (Piedmont, Kelseyville Lumber and Four Corners) have been considered. The consumer, after all, and their hard-earned dollars are what each business competes for. The consumer determines if the price is right and makes the decision to buy or not. I am quite familiar with all of the big three and have purchased many products from them over the years, mostly for convenience and not favorable pricing.
I often leave Lake County to purchase products offered by the big three for various reasons. Often it is for product variety and quantity, as well as price. I”ve been frustrated frequently by the lack of product on the shelves and high prices. I”ve toured all big three locations in order to get enough material to do a simple thing like change the door knobs in the kitchen. Ordering from these stores is dicey at best with intervals of delivery from several days to over a month. Why put up with this when you can drive out of the county and buy what you need at a favorable price and find quantities you need right now?
The argument that Lowe”s will not be as community oriented as the big three is very interesting. Lowe”s, as well as all the big box stores, have community action programs and policies. The workers in big box stores in general live in their respective communities and participate just like our big three. What this means for the big three is they will have to work harder at becoming more efficient and consumer friendly in order to compete with Lowe”s. At least one of the big three is well-versed at competing with big box stores in the Bay Area. It”s time for the big three to work harder with their vendors and suppliers so that they can get wholesale pricing that makes them competetive with Lowe”s as well as other big box stores who offer similar products at lower prices.
I encourage the cities of Lake County to look for opportunites to bring in other big box stores like Costco, Sam”s Club, etc., so we consumers can get a break. I wouldn”t worry about tax revenues because people in adjacent counties will be coming here to buy, because Lake County has what they need at affordable prices. I”d rather not drive to Ukiah, Santa Rosa and Sacramento to save money and find the products I want at a fair price.
Alan West
Kelseyville
