TrueGreen and Home Depot

[Chuck Sinclair]

Well we have all talked about it and here it isin black and white This ad was in our local paper they also have a big display in the local Home Depots.



http://www.wblandscape.com/Pictures/HD.jpg

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Can't say where I got this.

[65hoss]

Just another attempt to get themselves out of a bad situation. Having plenty of cash flow problems right now.

[1grnlwn]

No home depots here. AHH HA HA HA. You can fake good fert plan and use nat contracts to get material cheaper than my supplier can. But I bet the gas companys won't go for it and what happens when the cut loose some of there prime employees loose with a walk behind? Different ballgame. Maybe itl doim in. AH HA HA HA. :laugh:

[proline32]

Well, If home depot decides to do this in my area( offer lawn services) then They will never see another dime of my money again. I.E. Fertilizers, weed control products, you name it. Lowes is already on my bullcrap list and they will never get another dime from me, and they know it, same with sears. Lately I have been doing more business with walmart, the prices are good on many items, plenty of stock on hand and the help isn't arrogant like they have been lately at homedepot. Not to mention the assinine check out stand issues at home depot. Before I got into the lawn service business, I owned a paint store for years here in my town, home depot came in and put me out of business within a year of moving into town, I couldn't even sell the store, who wants to buy a store in a town where as soon as home depot comes in the fickle customer decides to say "screw personal service, lets go save a few bucks"....... today we have no more local hardware stores or lumber yards here in this town they all left or died out.

[65hoss]

I think I'm missing something. I don't understand.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Originally posted by 1grnlwn
No home depots here. AHH HA HA HA. You can fake good fert plan and use nat contracts to get material cheaper than my supplier can. But I bet the gas companys won't go for it and what happens when the cut loose some of there prime employees loose with a walk behind? Different ballgame. Maybe itl doim in. AH HA HA HA. :laugh:

I got some of it, and I know Hoss said he couldn't figure it out, and he is pretty good at that. You usaully post easy to read posts, but damn if we can't figure the last part out.

Can you Reiterate this post?

[proline32]

Home depot is looking to get into the lawn service business 65 hoss,..... but they are cutting a deal with truegreen chemlawn, the way this usually works is that the truegreen guy goes out and does a bid, then adds on top an additional percentage that they pay homedepot. In turn, homedepot offers trugreen the right to use homedepots name in it's marketing and vice versa.

Sears is real famous for this, I had a paint contractor friend who was almost involved in one of these plots.

The problem is that they( home Depot) are trying to cut into our livelyhood, while they expect us to purchase products from them. I have always said that Home Depot was never really contractor friendly, they really cater to the home owner and I honestly beleive they don't care who they put out of business just to increase thier bottom line.

[1grnlwn]

Half of the chemical business is product. TGCL gets their product for about 2/3 what we can get it for, plus the don't use premium prod. Lawn maint has no product. Just service. There costs will be close to the same as ours. Easier to compete with them. Plus if you add in all the telemarketing and distain for the customers needs you may have the straw that broke the camels back. The giant bites off more than it can chew. I probably need sleep. OK.
Mark

[LAWNGODFATHER]

That's better 1grnlwn, thanks

[peteloare]

Educate,Educate,Educate, your customers. Explain what that company is doing.When you see there employees on the job,asked to see there certification.Turn the S.O.B.s in.

[jeffex]

One of my customers on my mail route is an assistant mgr. for home depot. I asked him if there were any plans in the works in our area for this program. He told me home depot was being sued left and right in this area by customers who have stuff delivered. They now have a policy that they will not go on a customers property. They drop off at the curb. He said he thought in this area that that program would increase lawsuits trying to get big money from a big company.

[GarPA]

well I'm new in this biz as a full timer...so maybe I'm all wet but it seems to me that they may not be a major factor:
1. where will TruG get emp's? college? what happens when they go back to school in early August? How will they train them asap?
Where will they get experienced foreman?

2.I've personally had TruG price aeration for my own home....VERY EXPENSIVE

3.how will they provide prompt call back on service problems?

4.how can they cover their schedule when they will have frequent resignations with these seasonal employees?

5.their fees have to be higher...HD wants a cut, TruG a cut, and employees need to be paid at the going rate

my bigger concern is that they will contract with established large LCO's...HD does that now with plumbers and electricians....now thats something to worry about

[65hoss]

Thanks Proline, but I was referring to 1grnlwn's 1st post.

Kitzy, they do some and will probably do much more subing out to LCO's. TGCL also has a maintenance division. They have the theory of 1 good guy and he can train monkeys to do what they need done.

Chemlawn is in trouble financially right now. They are looking for ways to increase sales. Everything is increased sales to them. They tried to buy up everything and usually companies that do this end up in trouble eventually. Chemlawn has done some really good things for this industry. They've done a lot to hurt it also. Only time will tell. But, I don't really think the effects will do to much damage to us. It may even help in the long run.

[harperservices]

How much is HD charging? Who knows, we all may want to band together and sub out HD while we all drink Margaritas on a beach!:cool:

[TOSLC]

Not to mention they sponsor the arragant a-hole Tony Stewart!

[Ground Master]

I didn't realize tru green actually did lawn maintenance, landscaping, and irrigation, etc,. I assumed they only fertilized, aerated, and sprayed weeds.........hmmmmmm.........I can't see this working out for them on such a grand scale. Just too many variables involved.

How long before we see

home depot hvac?
home depot home construction?
home depot electrical services?
home depot concrete contrators?
home depot this and that?

I see them treading on thin ice here. I assume most of there customers are do-it-yourselfers.......when they see bids from trugreen....these customers will most likely stay do-it-themselves.

Also, like a previous poster said......this is adding an additional "middle man". It seems that every operation could beat there price and still make a profit.

[JimLewis]

I see them treading on thin ice here. I assume most of there customers are do-it-yourselfers.......when they see bids from trugreen....these customers will most likely stay do-it-themselves. I think that's the key.

Fortunately TrueGreen isn't all that big around our area. They have a decent sized commercial operation. But they can't compete in the residential market very well, around here.

[heygrassman]

How long before we see

home depot hvac?
home depot home construction?
home depot electrical services?
home depot concrete contrators?
home depot this and that?


I don't see Home Depot being around in 2 years. Around here. Lowes is kicking some HD butt.. Lowes reaches an agreement I will start to worry..

jf

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Originally posted by Ground Master
How long before we see

home depot hvac?
home depot home construction?
home depot electrical services?
home depot concrete contrators?
home depot this and that?


Well there is Lowes that subs all these services you wrote and more.

I read in L&L TGCL is trying to improve their customer retesion.

Also here TGCL is extremely cheap. They will underbid every just so they can get it all.

I am not worried about them in the least.

[Eng Mwr Guy]

****they really cater to the home owner and I honestly beleive they don't care who they put out of business just to increase thier bottom line.****

From my new experience this is true for vendors relationship with HD also. However, boy they buy a lot of stuff.

Barry

[proline32]

True, but a vendor or manufacturer will loose some autonomy when they deal with a company like HD..... If you sell to HD you have to do what HD says...... A good example is black and decker.... Black and decker was doing online internet sales and home depot told black and decker to stop doing it or they will loose HD business..... unfortunately B&D does over half of it's businesswith home depot alone so you can see where that went, It's a big mistake to have to many eggs in one basket. Several paint manufacturers have done business with HD only to get burned..... HD Demands that they get inventory up front for little or no cost only to pay for the product when it is sold.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

proline32; What you're saying about HD is good business on their part. Don't you wish you had the power to control like they do.

If they didn't do this there would be to much compatision.

That's why HQ went out of biz.

[leeslawncare]

True green hates me !!I had a run in with them years ago !.In my town as far as i know . They buy most of there Sh*& from Lesco ,an so do I.An all my contracts that have used them in the past ...Well my work is better than they have been .My #1 contract used them for 5 yrs,When i did a soil sample ,it took 12k of lime Just to get his soil up to par.So go figiure........If i had a multi mill. biz an shot some hi nitro "an so called other s*&^* "Every 8weeks i would be rich too!!!!Just my .02 cent

[MOW ED]

It will be interesting to see if the 2 HD's in my area start to offer this.

I know that they already sub out work like installing garage doors but they use local subs. Then again, I don't know of any national garage door installers.

[1grnlwn]

We have Lowes and Menards 1 Mile apart. I'm kind of glad we don't have H Depot since I havent heard anything good. I have very specific tastes and want what I want. These types of stores cater to the masses and often times specific special items will never be found. Shame! Some day I will give in and become average. Drive a SUV with a case of bottled water in the back, talking on my cell phone as I drive, on my way to mega hardware, to sign up for TGCL to fert my yard, then off to Walmart.

Maybe I could start my own chain. Same size store, but half would be lumber and the other half would be steel and hardware. The yard care section would have reps. from Toro, Scag, Ferris, DC, And Exmark. Stil, Echo and Shindawa would also be represented. All bolts would be bulk . Fert would be sold by the 1000 LB. Homeowners whould be welcome after signing for temporary membership card. Lets throw in an Irrigation dept., and a 10 acre test area. Each manufacturer would be required to supply test machines so you could actually mow. Am I leaving anything out? Oh might as well have welding stuff and 45 min mini instruction also. Vert up for me. Sorry this is vent-dream.

Mark

[proscapeINC]

I really wouldn't worry much about it. If you do a little research Trugreen has a 50% Turnover rate in customers I might lose 1 here or there but nothing to compare with those staggering figures. Continue to go out of your way to deliver excellent customer service and building on relationships and you will have no problems.

[SLS]

I smell lawsuits.

Several of my clients USED to have contracts with TGCL.

That was before TGCL practically killed their lawns.

One of them had to be restarted from scratch...it was a well established lawn (fescue) and TGCL turned it into a dirt lot in less than 7 months. No kidding. Dirt. :rolleyes:

That particular client told me that she never saw the same guy twice...always a different person dragging the hose each time..."painting" the lawn/dirt. :D

[Pape's Landscape Maintenance]

There are some good points being made here but we have to remember that we offer a "service" to our customers in a way that no home depot or anyother big box store will ever be able to offer.
Sure we may lose some customers but as you know most of them will find their way back to us, a lot of our business relationships become personal and our customers for the most part are commited to us, we offer a personal touch that the big box stores could never provide.
Just continue offering affordable prices and proffesional "service" and this will be a non-issue, if we keep our customers happy we keep our customers.

steve :cool:

[Schlepie]

How long before we see

home depot hvac?
home depot home construction?
home depot electrical services?
home depot concrete contrators?
home depot this and that?

Hey , it's already there. They do ac, fence, and are just adding to the list. I work there part time, and man "I don't even want to go there":rolleyes:

[MATTHEW]

Yes, they are in trouble with the lawncare end. The problem is that lawncare will always reap the highest profits. They can offer maintenance and landscaping, but they will need to bid VERY HIGH to keep up with it. It will not happen!!!!!!:blob3:
They are doing this to facilitate cash flow, yes, but really it is just to keep the shareholders from jumping ship. This plan will not last long. TGCL will be SOLD! Mark my words.

[coldlake]

Here in Sacramento we are in full swing of the new cutting season. Home Depot with over 12 stores in the area has mass advertised the services available, ie; Lawn Fertilization and weed control....Mowing ,trimming and edging,...Tree/shrub fertilization and pruning...Seasional color rotations, Landscape design and Installation...... Irrigatrion system Installation...
TrueGreen Chemlawn.... how greedy can they get...I've received three advertisments in the Mail this past week alone....everyone that goes to Home Depot Lawn & Garden dept. is pitched... How can you beat that... Home depot has driven all the small hardware stores out of business.... we are next... Of course I'll not shop and contribute to their wealth.. This is National in scope... this isn"t any small matter. Any suggestions out there to beat them?

[Schlepie]

yeah! there are alot of lco's that work part time at Depot including myself. Their rule is " If HD provides the service, an employee cannot". Fortunately it's not here yet, but if it does, i'm gone anyway. On the advertisement , they mention clinics. Go the day of the clinic, scope out the clientel (if any ) , wait til the class is over, catch them with your card outside. They have to be higher priced for TGCL and HD to get their cuts. I tell them at HD....I guess selling the wooden coathangers isn't making it , now they need to mow lawns....................................

Schlep:rolleyes:

[Mark]

I agree with steve, we have a personal relationship with our clients or we should. As long as we give the customer great service,at a affordable price which gives us a nice profit and stay on a first name bacis HD can cut all the grass they can get.Personally i bet most of us turn down work,i know i do i stay booked and have never lost a client unless they relocate,or passaway. Just for example,just look at your finest manicured lawns,you then realize that HD couldn't come close. Marks Mowing Service

[coldlake]

Originally posted by Ground Master
I didn't realize tru green actually did lawn maintenance, landscaping, and irrigation, etc,. I assumed they only fertilized, aerated, and sprayed weeds.........hmmmmmm.........I can't see this working out for them on such a grand scale. Just too many variables involved.

How long before we see

home depot hvac?
home depot home construction?
home depot electrical services?
home depot concrete contrators?
home depot this and that?

I see them treading on thin ice here. I assume most of there customers are do-it-yourselfers.......when they see bids from trugreen....these customers will most likely stay do-it-themselves.

Also, like a previous poster said......this is adding an additional "middle man". It seems that every operation could beat there price and still make a profit.

Add to the Home Depot list of endevours; as of Mar 31
in Sacramento,
New TERMITE & PEST CONTROL, in association with Terminix

What is next. Home Depot Dog Doop Collection Service?

[Chuck Sinclair]

coldlake,

I know what you mean since i started this thread i have been bombarded with this crape from HD & TGLC i'm getting sick of it myself.

[Mowingman]

The people who want personallized service, and there are plenty, will stay with the independent operators. Here we have a Lowes and a HD. However, we have two independent paint stores that have no problem competing. We still have one independent hardware store and they are packed with customers all the time. I know the owners of these stores, and they all offer the same thing, personallized, friendly service. I don't think we need to waste much time worrying about the big boys taking over the lawn care business.WE could reap the benifits of this. Let HD/TGCL sign up customers who have never before used a lawnservice. They will get used to having the service, but will sooner or later get ticked off at TGCL. Then we can come in and pick up their business by offering more personallized service.:D

[landscaper3]

Just another ploy to put medium sized companies out of business or at least hurt sales! I can tell you though on the up side if such a thing- if I was a home owner and they did a bad job lawn serving-Home Depo being in business with them would leave a bad reputation with me and if asked would voice my opinion and Home Depo would to me be responsable (this would be if I were the home owner) and take ALL my business elsewere!