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Comment by alex_doom | Hacker News Reader

How is Home Depot a model of "Customer Intimacy". Have you been to one of their stores? If you do, god forbid, don't ever go on the weekend and look for help.

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Got the Home Depot example from an HBR article. [1] Just realized it was dated 1993. Home Depot has definitely changed a lot since then. Better examples might be Trader Joe's or Virgin Airlines.

[1] https://hbr.org/1993/01/customer-intimacy-and-other-value-di...

I don't know where you are... but in Bay Area, California my experience with Home Depot locations around here have always been very positive. There's always someone walking around with those orange aprons and they always know where something is in the store. Note though, that before I go to Home Depot I've done all the research I can on what I need to fix/create whatever I need in my home. I've watched youtube vids of people making repairs very similar to what I'm trying to do. So I don't go in like a deer in the headlights; when I show up at Home Depot I know exactly what item I need or very specific question to ask.

This widely varies. In Livermore (technically Bay Area) I asked a simple question of whether they sold a compass. The man in the orange apron had no idea what a compass was, and I had to correct his spelling of 'compass' as he searched for it on homedepot.com . It was very bizzare.

Are you by any chance referring to the RWC or EPA stores? I've been to both and had miserable experiences each time. Employees that I can only describe as the "B-team" with no answers. Looking at my like deer in headlights when I ask a simple question on where to find a grout scraper, etc.

Decided to go to my local ACE hardware store and the experience was night and day. Never going back to Home Depot if I can avoid it.

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