Buying gear

[Charnwood]

With high streets across the country losing their identities due to losing their local independant shops, how long will it be before there will be no independant local merchants?
Almost everybody on here pushes Screwfix, Toolstation et al, but few suggest trying local merchants. Screwfix etc; jacks of all trades, master of none.
Shopping there reminds me of the Victoria Wood waitress sketch:
Diner: "Do you have trifle?"
Waitress: Confused look. "Can you see it on the trolley?"
If you're unsure what you want, and what you ask them for isn't exactly as described in the catalogue, blank looks is the order of the day.

Tesco and Kingfisher* will soon achieve world dominance.( *Screwfix is owned by the same group as B&Q; Kingfisher.)

What's wrong with your local, preferrably independant, merchant?
I'd welcome your comments.

 

[Bosswhite]

Went into the Trade department of B&Q for some items in their catalogue,

I was told although these are listed as being sold by them, they cannot sell them but if I went down the road to Screwfix I would find everything that I had picked from the B & Q catalogue there. (Its the same Bl**dy Firm)

 

[dcawkwell]

There is a lovely DIY shop in my local town.
Bathrooms, plumbing and diy stuff. Costs a fraction of the local B&Q.
Pitty they don't open on Sunday as well.

 

[hazetimesfive]

i dont have time to muck about

plumbase and screwfix give me pretty much everything i need.

 

[JayPage]

I use drakes. Not a corporate giant but big enough to have everything I could ever need. I think there's about 6 or 7 drakes stores.

 

[Bosswhite]

There is a lovely DIY shop in my local town.
Bathrooms, plumbing and diy stuff. Costs a fraction of the local B&Q.
Pitty they don't open on Sunday as well.

Thats where B & Q Trade score, I pop in on a Sunday to pick up items for the week,

 

[mfarrow]

I've been to BES a couple of times recently, Screwfix can't beat the price for DIY and their catalog has pretty much every fitting known to existence in it.

I use the merchant where I can, but they don't open late enough on a Saturday for me to go there for 'emergency' stock in the afternoon, so Screwfix gets the trade instead.

 

[hazetimesfive]

i thought this was a thread about scoring drugs

 

[neiltheplumber]

Worst thing about screwfix is that spend time looking for what you want, then you wait to be served, and then you are told that most of the things you want are not in stock!