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A Visit to Home Depot Expo

comments (0) February 9th, 2009 in Blogs

FHB_WEB, member

1 user recommends

I thought this sink was cool, if not ridiculous.

And a ridiculous pricetag to match. I wouldnt pay a dime more than $800 for something like this.

Even Taunton Press books in stock were on sale. Ouch!

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If you ever wondered what the contemporary equivalent to an architectural salvage yard might be, a visit to the Home Depot Expo is a good bet.

Although only in limited states, these spin-off design centers by Atlanta-based Home Depot were all the rage in the carefree golden-age of home renovation (read: a few years ago). If you never were lucky enough to step inside, think outlandish special order materials on display, and often times, in stock.

But since the HGTV-bubble has burst, Home Depot announced last month that they are closing their 34 Expo centers and liquidating their contents. I made a visit this past Saturday to find out exactly what their advertisements prominently announced as 30-percent off everything*.

Notice that little * above? That’s the fine print indicator, something that I clearly missed. Pretty much nothing was 30-percent off, except thousands of door pulls. Most everything, including floor model cabinetry, was only 10-percent off. Not exactly liquidation pricing in my mind.

I can report back that this once extravagant store looked pretty depressed, lacking sales staff and selling to the bare walls. But maybe it’s a bigger reality wake-up call. After all, as cool as some of the materials are, they are luxuries. And in today’s market, why pay $1800 for a Plexiglas sink when a $250 drop-in will do?

It looked like Home Depot cleared the store of any inventory that could be moved into their normal store supply chain, so don’t expect any common building materials. However, if you have clients that want the highest of high end, like Kohler bathrooms, it’s worth a trip.

An employee told me the liquidation is scheduled for another two months and speculated the prices will keep dropping. But I bet if you haggled you could do better on that $2229 three-piece bathroom vanity set. But remember, you better bring cash, because home equity isn’t what it used to be.

posted in: Blogs, kitchen, bathroom, countertops

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