Menard's may come to Livonia.

**gumby** · February-06-12, 04:49 PM

Menards is a great store. I live fairly close to the Davison and Clio stores and go quite often when I need some home improvment stuff. It is nice having another option than Lowes, Home Depot, Gil-Roys, or Ace. I am the type that will go to several stores to find the cheapest price.

**thnk2mch** · February-06-12, 05:00 PM

Originally Posted by Danny

No The Jack in the Box restuarant on Ford Rd and Farmington Rd. was closed after 1980. It was replaced by Sliverman's Restaurant. After Slivernman's closed it was replaced by a local Arab owned cell phone shop.

The Jack in the Box on Michigan Ave and Outer Drive St. is now Tubby's sub shop.

Ford Rd and Wildwood

**Jowlska** · February-06-12, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

Menard's is a dump. Like shopping at a rural Kentucky swapmeet.

And they seem to be all over the state, except in Metro Detroit.

Is there really something called a "swampmeet" in rural Kentucky? Sounds interesting....

**DetroitPlanner** · February-06-12, 08:10 PM

Actually the Store Danny speaks of is @ Wildwood not Farmington. What the heck does Jack in the Box have to do with Menards coming to the region anyways? Lets not de-rail topics to this point. Start another thread for Jack in the Box already!

**mtburb** · February-06-12, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by Danny

There used to be a Jack in the Box Resturants [[ that I know) was at Woodward Ave. near Temple next to small White Castle Restaurant and the Old Donovan-Motown Annex building once stood.

One on Plymouth Rd. and Evergreen Rd.

One on Ford Rd and Farmington Rd. in Westland

One on Michigan Ave and Outer Drive in Dearborn.

There was also one at the large intersection of Fort Street, Trenton Road and Pennsylvania Road in Southgate, it was a Tubby's in the 1990's, it is now a Metro PCS store.

And to get back on topic, I hope Menard's moves into the former Farmer Jack space at the Southgate Shopping Center. Last Menard's I've seen was in Toledo in October 2010.

**thnk2mch** · February-06-12, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Actually the Store Danny speaks of is @ Wildwood not Farmington. What the heck does Jack in the Box have to do with Menards coming to the region anyways? Lets not de-rail topics to this point. Start another thread for Jack in the Box already!

Only if you promise not to re-post something someone else already posted...

**Det_ard** · February-06-12, 11:23 PM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

Menard's is a dump. Like shopping at a rural Kentucky swapmeet.

And they seem to be all over the state, except in Metro Detroit.

Dump? Not in my experience. I've used them in other parts of the state. They have a better plumbing department. For example, they stocked a full line of PEX before HD and Lowes carried it at all. The still have probably four times the variety of PEX tubing and fittings that the big-boy big boxes. Better variety in drywall, gutters, roofing materials, hydronic heating, just to name a few. Better prices usually too. And general merchandise, which is a convenience. And frequent sales where you can buy, say, a set of Irwin clamps for $20, with a mail-in rebate for $20 in store credit.

Obviously, I've been waiting for them to arrive in metro Detroit.

**Detroitrobert** · February-06-12, 11:39 PM

Originally Posted by Det_ard

Dump? Not in my experience. I've used them in other parts of the state. They have a better plumbing department. For example, they stocked a full line of PEX before HD and Lowes carried it at all. The still have probably four times the variety of PEX tubing and fittings that the big-boy big boxes. Better variety in drywall, gutters, roofing materials, hydronic heating, just to name a few. Better prices usually too. And general merchandise, which is a convenience. And frequent sales where you can buy, say, a set of Irwin clamps for $20, with a mail-in rebate for $20 in store credit.

Obviously, I've been waiting for them to arrive in metro Detroit.

If you grew up in Birmingham, you'd probably think Menard's is a dump, too. A store without fountains and statuaries? Ugh.

**CLAUDE G** · February-07-12, 01:43 AM

Menards is awesome. Everytime I go down to Toledo I stop by. I love the way they lay out the stores and all the aisles are low to the ground.

The only issue I see is that there is not enough room in Detroit for a 3rd mega hardware store. Back in the day we had Builders Square, Followed by Home Quarters, Home Depot, and finally Lowes.

Remember Builders Square was around for a very long time, and then we got Home Quarters. When Home Depot and Lowes came to town they ran the other 2 out of business.

I hate to say it, I think if Menards does open around here they will probably force Home Depot to close some stores.

I will say this, if you go to Eastland in Harper woods there is a Home Depot and a Lowes on each side of Eastland. Not to be prejudice, but it seems that all the customers from Detroit shop at the Home Depot and all the Grosse Pointe customers shop at Lowes.

Lets just tear down Eastland, put up a Menards in the middle and see what happens

**rooms222** · February-07-12, 01:35 PM

1) Menard's has really good stocks of lighting- fixtures, lamps, and bulbs [[including lots of LCDs and Fluorescent's).

2) The Anderson's is a unique and wonderful experience in Toledo.

3) Jack in the Box is getting closer, there is a brand new one that opened last month in Indianapolis, to huge lines

4) Closest Waffle House is still in Toledo.

**Detroitej72** · February-11-12, 07:11 PM

Originally Posted by SteveJ

Have a friend that does business with the city of Warren. Looking around where that golf dome is on Van Dyke.

I heard it was going in where the old Walmart was at Tech Plaza on Van Dyke at 12 Mile. Mayor Fouts has said he has a national retailer eyeing that sight but Walmart refuses to let go of their lease because they don't want any competition moving in.

**DetroitPlanner** · February-11-12, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitej72

I heard it was going in where the old Walmart was at Tech Plaza on Van Dyke at 12 Mile. Mayor Fouts has said he has a national retailer eyeing that sight but Walmart refuses to let go of their lease because they don't want any competition moving in.

The Livonia location is huge. There is an empty strip mall next to it with a closed Walmart and F&M's once largest store. The proposed site is currently Kroger's old distribution center. Tech Plaza may be too small, even if you could get the entire mall to move out!

Claude, you forgot the Forest City pioneered that type of store and metro Detroit had several of those. They closed down about the same time the HQ got bought out by Builder's Square.

**fareastsider** · February-11-12, 08:45 PM

Seems there is interest in Chesterfield as well. Here is a link for whoever seems to require links/ proof.

http://www.voicenews.com/articles/20...3257634879.txt

**DetroitPlanner** · February-11-12, 09:14 PM

Quick lets sell Menards on the old Fairgrounds!

**Wheels** · February-11-12, 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

The Livonia location is huge. There is an empty strip mall next to it with a closed Walmart and F&M's once largest store. The proposed site is currently Kroger's old distribution center. Tech Plaza may be too small, even if you could get the entire mall to move out!

Claude, you forgot the Forest City pioneered that type of store and metro Detroit had several of those. They closed down about the same time the HQ got bought out by Builder's Square.

The Walmart and F&Ms was originally a Handy Andy.
I think they may have pre dated Forest City.

**catch22** · February-11-12, 09:56 PM

Originally Posted by Wheels

The Walmart and F&Ms was originally a Handy Andy.
I think they may have pre dated Forest City.

Forest City sold off their retail stores to Handy Andy in 1987, which went bankrupt in the mid-90s. Forest City remains in business today as a real estate developer.

When I was a teenager [[mid-60s), the building housed a GEM department store. Anyone remember those? You needed some kind of sponsorship to "be a member" [[my dad's credit union in our case). It was a lot like a Topp's or Shopper's Fair. I remember them having great prices on LPs and 45s.

**Detroitej72** · February-12-12, 12:52 AM

Originally Posted by Wheels

The Walmart and F&Ms was originally a Handy Andy.
I think they may have pre dated Forest City.

Forest City pre-dated Handy Andy which it became and was short-lived. They were a pioneer in Metro- Detroit home improvement stores, quite the novelty.

Soon, the landscape was inundated with "Do it Yourself" big box stores like [[K-Mart owned) Builder's Square, HQ, and Home Depot. After mergers, hostile takeovers, etc., the current breed exists today.

**compn** · February-12-12, 08:47 AM

couple things

i'm glad they are moving into an existing building rather than building another giant monstrosity. livonia is full of vacant buildings. farmer jack ran off and left a whole bunch of empties around metro [[9 and farmington - was another grocery but gone now, 7 and middlebelt across from wal-mart empty since 2005?, inkster and plymouth, and a ton more)

home depot has always [[no offense to workers) been staffed by people who havent a clue about home repair or do it yourself. you'd go in there and ask questions and get responses like "that wil be a lot of work". really? home repair is a lot of work? i never knew.

these days companies dont like competition and lowering prices. if there is too much compettiion they just pull up the stakes and move out of town. lowes closed a bunch of stores last year.

so i say good luck to menards. home depot's aisle organization was always stupid, and i dont like lowe's much. ACE and ACO are both a bit more pricey. and the amount of cheap chinese crap sold at all stores is gross.

isnt there a home depot across the street there ? next to a meijer, costco, and not far from two wal-marts? thats pretty ballsy to put a store near all of that.

**Designerguy24** · September-02-12, 01:00 PM

Any word on Menards in Warren? I see them building the one in Chesterfield next to Walmart.

Shollin · September-02-12, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by CLAUDE G

Menards is awesome. Everytime I go down to Toledo I stop by. I love the way they lay out the stores and all the aisles are low to the ground.

The only issue I see is that there is not enough room in Detroit for a 3rd mega hardware store. Back in the day we had Builders Square, Followed by Home Quarters, Home Depot, and finally Lowes.

Remember Builders Square was around for a very long time, and then we got Home Quarters. When Home Depot and Lowes came to town they ran the other 2 out of business.

I hate to say it, I think if Menards does open around here they will probably force Home Depot to close some stores.

I will say this, if you go to Eastland in Harper woods there is a Home Depot and a Lowes on each side of Eastland. Not to be prejudice, but it seems that all the customers from Detroit shop at the Home Depot and all the Grosse Pointe customers shop at Lowes.

Lets just tear down Eastland, put up a Menards in the middle and see what happens

Menards is popular in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I have family in Minneapolis and every time I go there, there seems to be more Menards. The Twin Cities also has Home Depot and Lowes. Menards can hold their own against them. I like their strategy of moving into middle class areas like Warren and Livonia instead of places like Rochester and Troy. I think their target market is in places like Warren.

I lived in Harper Woods for 17 years and people from Grosse Pointe quit going to Eastland long ago. It was likely the long time Harper Woods residents you were seeing. Possibly St Clair Shores.

**Wheels** · September-02-12, 03:24 PM

They started tear down just this week at he Livonia site. Looks pretty aggressive with a large number of big excavators on site.

**Thruster315** · September-03-12, 01:01 AM

All I can sincerely hope for is that they don't put the Menard's over by 12 Mile, east of I-75.

That's where Madison Heights in all of their great city planning wisdom allowed Lowe's to be built right next to the Home Depot. They put two big ass box stores with relatively the same sort of services offered right next to one another. Hell, they practically share a parking lot. WHY?

It absolutely makes no sense whatsoever to having competitors adjacent to one another. They'll either sap each other or one of them will end up closing and then leaving a huge shell of a building there.

**Hermod** · September-03-12, 06:04 AM

Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

There are a number of chains that don't venture much into cities.

That is actually a very good and proven strategy. The track record of chains that began in the rural areas and only moved into urban competition when they became strong, is a lot better than that of stores which tried to be just urban and suburban.

Walmart is the classic example. They had a really good base of stores in rural America before they risked their money in large metro areas. Compare this to:

Woolco, WT Grant, Nicholls, JM Fields, Aes, Zayre,and Caldor [[all gone) and K-Mart [[staggering).

Another happening store [[great stock to own) is Tractor Supply which have all of their stores out in the sticks [[might do well in Rochester or Clarkston).

**detlump** · September-03-12, 11:08 AM

I can't wait for Menards to open in Livonia. They offer different products than their competitors. There is some overlap, but they also sell building kits, etc. Check out their weekly ads to compare prices. They even sell toys - I had to get one of the 1/6 scale Menards RC stock cars - pretty cool!