Question: what is the benefit of a Graingers (presumably heavy
duty) shop fan over
a lower cost Home Depot type of attic exhaust fan or whole house
fan ?
TIA
-Roger
Hi Roger and list,
This question drills right to the core of much of what we discuss here.
I have shopped at Home Depot, Home Base, and the like for about as long
as they have been around. Their prices are usually as good as anybody's
for what they sell.
What I have found, however, is that they are very cost-specific, in that
I mean they usually stock the lowest cost products of a given
description, and rightfully so, as that is what most of their clientele
is shopping for, lowest price, regardless.
If you can find the same manufactured item at HD as at McMaster-Carr,
MSC or Grainger, it probably will be a few dollars cheaper at HD. When
it comes to tools and industrial supplies, HD does even try to compete
as they need huge volumes for their marketing strategies (look for SK
hand tools, Starrett mics, Ingersoll-Rand or Quincy compressors, etc.).
Maybe it is because I have grown tired of the swarming mentality of HD
(I still buy my sprinkler heads there), but it is so nice to have a
choice of high quality products that meet the specifcations of the job,
rather than settle for the limited product range determined by HD lowest
cost mentality. It also is very nice to be able to call in an order at
"will call" and then be able to pick it up with the order placed
correctly rather than wait int the lines and stock outages at HD (I am
referring to the HD in Los Angeles California and this clearly may not
apply to your local HD).
Much of what I buy I plan to use for the rest of my life, and I have
just stopped shopping based solely on price--it is no bargain in the
long run to get a low price on an inferior product.
So back to the topic, I try to shop brand and model specific across the
industrial suppliers as well as the local discounters. Buy the best
product for your needs at a honest price. Please, though, don't simply
let price determine your decision. Once the majority of Shop Talk type
folks adopt this lowest cost mentality, we will no longer have Simpson
meters, SK hand tools, industrial quality compressors and parts washers.
I am an idealist, perhaps, but I love to be able to select industrial
quality tools and supplies from the industrial suppliers. If you do not
have a copy of an MSC, McMaster-Carr, or in my bias, to a lesser extent,
a Grainger catalogue, you probably don't know what your money could buy.
I also like Northern Hydraulic over Harbor Freight for similar
reasons--they stock higher quality items, and are not tied to the
absolute lowest price mentality.
On a pulpit again, I guess--I apologize....
doug
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-------------------------------------
Douglas Shook
Clinical Associate Professor
Marshall School of Business
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-1421 USA
phone: (213) 740-6818
email: dshook@usc.edu
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