Via Mr. Charles P. Pierce, Michael Isikoff has produced a most interesting Yahoo report on his “Scott Walker dark-money probe“:
John Menard Jr. is widely known as the richest man in Wisconsin. A tough-minded, staunchly conservative 75-year-old billionaire, he owns a highly profitable chain of hardware stores throughout the Midwest. He’s also famously publicity-shy — rarely speaking in public or giving interviews.
So a little more than three years ago, when Menard wanted to back Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker — and help advance his pro-business agenda — he found the perfect way to do so without attracting any attention: He wrote more than $1.5 million in checks to a pro-Walker political advocacy group that pledged to keep its donors secret, three sources directly familiar with the transactions told Yahoo News.
Menard’s previously unreported six-figure contributions to the Wisconsin Club for Growth — a group that spent heavily to defend Walker during a bitter 2012 recall election — seem to have paid off for the businessman and his company. In the past two years, Menard’s company has been awarded up to $1.8 million in special tax credits from a state economic development corporation that Walker chairs, according to state records.
And in his five years in office, Walker’s appointees have sharply scaled back enforcement actions by the state Department of Natural Resources — a top Menard priority. The agency had repeatedly clashed with Menard and his company under previous governors over citations for violating state environmental laws and had levied a $1.7 million fine against Menard personally, as well as his company, for illegally dumping hazardous wastes…
The contributions by Menard, made in 2011 and 2012, were uncovered among hundreds of emails and internal documents seized by state prosecutors in the course of a wide-ranging criminal investigation into whether Walker’s campaign committee violated state campaign finance laws — including those requiring public disclosure — by funneling large donations to outside, nondisclosing advocacy groups, such as the Wisconsin Club for Growth, with which they were believed to be closely coordinating their efforts, sources knowledgeable about the investigation told Yahoo News…
More details, timelines & flowcharts at the link. The Koch Brothers have poured a lot of money into grooming Scott Walker as their 2016 candidate, but it looks like Walker’s political affections can be rented by any right-wing “conservative” with a big enough bankroll and a low enough threshold. To quote Mr. Pierce, at Esquire:
This is Walker’s modus operandi. This is the essential dynamic of his entire political career, although what Isikoff describes demonstrates that Walker’s playing with a bigger stack of house money than has been the case in the past, in which his rise to power was fueled by sad little exercises in penny-ante grifting by the junior members of the firm, like swiping money meant to take war orphans to the zoo so you can treat yourself to a tropical vacation…
… And Scott Walker is the the kind of person who is taken very seriously by about half of the American political elite.
Roger Moore
Only the ones who are willing to cross his palm with silver. The ones who have their own house candidates aren’t going to get the same friendly treatment.
danielx
Friend to all conservative billionaires, but wholly owned subsidiary of the Kochs only.
Zinsky
Anyone who votes for this dullard doesn’t deserve to live in this great country. By the way, I never shop at Menard’s stores in Minnesota. They are dirty, disorganized shitholes that treat their employees badly – much like Scott Walker himself!
Gravenstone
Guess I’m down to Lowes now for my hardware needs.Home Despot is just as nutty and wingtardish as Menards.
Kropadope
Well, in his defense, it wasn’t like he was planning on enforcing those environmental regulations anyway.
@Zinsky:
The very essence of Republicans’ not fully realized aspirations.
RaflW
OT but it appears that we are now into the “It’s Obama’s fault that Netanyahu is jerk” phase.
FFS. Thank you NYT for helping us see that its not about Israel’s actions, it’s about Obama’s reaction. Argh!!
Mike in NC
@Zinsky: In Virginia and NC and SC, there’s a dirty, disorganized shithole retail chain called Rose’s, owned by a wingnut semi-billionaire named Art Pope. Inherited all his wealth and basically owns our corrupt Republican governor McCrory and the Tea Party legislature. Huge homophobe and racist asshole. Maybe every state has one.
RaflW
As a Minnesotan, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that Menard’s was funneling money to the Club for
Billionaire ScoundrelsGrowth. Or that they were pay-to-playing Walker for tax credits and getting that pesky pollution agency to go away.But I will certainly end the rather limited amount of shopping I’ve ever done at the chain. It’s such a weird place anyway. I guess Home Depot is pretty wingy too, anyone know if Lowes is big on the GOP palm-greasing?
Chris
Ah, a reclusive Unseen Puppetmaster. What a terrible cliché.
Kropadope
@Mike in NC: I’m from Massachusetts. He’s not a billionaire, but a mere hundred millionaire, Willard Mitt Romney.
WaterGirl
@Gravenstone: I go to the local mom & pop hardware store whenever possible. Maybe you still have one of those in your area.
Bobby B.
This is why I boycott those Nazi hardware chains. Plus I have a shitty little apartment.
Chris
@Mike in NC:
It’s the American Dream (GOP style): a loose collection of fiefdoms, each one with a Mister Potter character who’s master of all he surveys.
Cervantes
@RaflW:
That’s the NYT’s Jodi Rudoren “reporting.” For context, here’s Peter Feld’s write-up of her appearance (with Joe Klein) on Brian Lehrer’s WNYC (public radio) show yesterday:
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@RaflW:
It’s always about Obama’s reactions, not other people’s actions. See also the pundits claiming that it’s Obama’s fault he doesn’t get along with Republicans despite the Republicans repeatedly and publicly rejecting invitations.
Chris
@Cervantes:
As an American, the faith in American sensibilities that’s being displayed here touches me deeply.
Tree With Water
First of all, the Menard jingle is not that obnoxious. Of course, I’ve only heard it once. Otherwise, Pierce shares information that I deem sufficient to scuttle Walker as a viable candidate (the hell of being such information exists on all the GOP contenders, but one of them will indisputably gain the nomination regardless). It’s both amazing and appalling the good people of Wisconsin let him get this far. But at least he doesn’t bear spooky resemblance to that other senator, tail gunner, and killer of coconuts from Wisconsin, Joe McCarthy- unlike another contender I could name.
KXB
I don’t go to hardware stores that much, but when I do need to go (usually for the office), there is an Ace Hardware within walking distance. Most are independently owned, like a franchise. They seem to go out of their way to hire seniors and veterans.
WaterGirl
I miss Cole’s short posts that were such great conversation starters. I also miss the long rants, but I’m okay if we have to give those up because of sobriety. But damn, I miss the great posts that start with a short comment from Cole.
It’s crazy with a puppy, and I can’t imagine two + Ginger mom, but Cole, I hope you have the energy to come back to us soon! I miss you.
Bill Arnold
@RaflW:
That’s all reactions of Israelis.
Tree With Water
@RaflW: I always forget. What are the stages of grief? If what you say is true, it appears the Israeli’s have reached the denial stage. Who can blame them either? Not me. Netanyahu’s blunder ranks right up there with union president Richie Phillips walking his umpires off a cliff 15 years ago. As it transpired, that proved a fortuitous miscalculation for major league baseball, in that the game’s best interests were promoted as a consequence. I think that will prove the case with Netanyahu’s candid admission, and the planet will be better off as result (as will the Israeli people).
pseudonymous in nc
@Mike in NC:
Buying an entire state is pretty cheap, and good business. Cheaper than trying to buy the federal government.
This is why I think Scotty Wanker is going to have trouble in the primary. He has been a bought-and-paid-for corrupt bastard throughout his entire political career. He has been ‘Unnamed Person 3’ in a lot of investigations.
Valdivia
@RaflW: I saw that and it sounds to me like a warning hit-piece–hey jewish dems, do something or you lose us. Very weird article.
Kay
@KXB:
We have two here. They keep the former name and just add an Ace sign
I like hardware stores in general. I went in one Sunday and I saw my (grown) son wandering around in there. I thought it was so funny – it’s his hobby too! :)
jonas
This is too awesome to be true, right? Ted Cruz’s wife will take a leave of absence from her Goldman Sachs job in Houston to support Rafael in his totally realistic bid for the White House. But, as he’s repeatedly acknowledged, he uses her health insurance because it’s totally better than that crap government fascist plan US Senators have. But now his wife’s glorious Randian rugged individual private sector insurance is no more and what’s a staunch liberty-lover like Cruz to do? What kind of health insurance did Patrick Henry have?
To the exchanges! Also, leeches, laudanum, and a lot of praying.
Valdivia
Apropos of Bibi & the GOP, this is pretty good
NotMax
@Kay
The drawback to the ones here is that they’re too small and try to cram too much stuff into limited space.
However, one of the franchise owners opened a new one here less than a year ago, and that one is spacious and a joy to browse through. For kitchen tools and tchotchkes, best thing here (both for selection and for price) since sliced bread. Only problem is that its location is an out of the way drive for most everyone.
billb
So lets see, corrupt Gov. Scotty, Christyie and ol dog Jebster. Possible Criminals, seriously possible!
HEY someone wake up the AG. Is he even in DC or did he go back to licking his corporate masters balls.
jonas
@KXB: We have a similar local franchise hardware outfit in my town a few blocks from my house. I have no idea what the owners’ politics are — probably pretty damn conservative — but I can go in there, in 10 seconds a friendly employee asks if I’m looking for something, and 1 minute later I have my little screw or flange or bracket or whatever and I’m out of there with a friendly “come again!”. They even offer to carry stuff out to your car for you. Damn. Compare that to a 20 minute drive over to Home Depot or Lowe’s. 10 minutes spent trying to find a goddamn employee, or page one on the courtesy phone; another 10 minutes spent waiting after located employee explains “this isn’t my department” and has to page some guy on break, who shows up 5 minutes later and then spends another 5-10 minutes trying to find the piece you need because he “actually usually works over in paint”…..and so on and so on. If you can’t tell, I really, really, really frickin’ hate huge home improvement warehouse stores.
danielx
Which sensibilities would those be? Has Rudoren ever bothered to read article comments in any major newspaper (other than NYT), in which the very unattractive mentality of a great many of her fellow citizens is on full display?
pseudonymous in nc
@jonas:
Of course, had the GOP not been Cruz-like assholes about it, Congresscritters would be treated as federal employees who could sign up for very nice FEHB plans and that would have satisfied the ACA requirements and provided very good health insurance, as it does to many thousands of federal employees who take advantage of a large insurance pool.
pseudonymous in nc
@jonas:
Likewise. I’m sure that the local Ace or TrueValue is run by people whose politics are… dissimilar from mine, but they know their shit and they’re country people and they’re not sending millions of dollars to have the state government under their thumb.
NotMax
@jonas
Heh. Home Depot here has the opposite “problem.” That is, the employees are trained to be too helpful. Not uncommon for a half dozen or more to approach me, unsolicited, while I’m there asking if I need help with anything before I get out. And if I do have to ask where something is, they insist on walking me to the item rather than telling me the aisle number, which usually means I then have to double back to the area I was at to get what was after there.
mai naem mobile
Why do all the GOP hopefuls this time around come across as losers/whackobirds/grifters and generally unlikeable? The only one I see who doesnt come across as a total douche is Kasich and it not even a fer sure he’s going to join the Klown Kavalcade. Last time around you had Huntsman, Lamar Alexander and Pawlenty who at least came across as normal and amiable. This bunch are a bunch of snarling angry constipated hippopotamuses.
Kropadope
@RaflW: It’s amazing how many of the quoted people in this article were on message that Obama was just waiting for the right moment to stop providing Israel support in international affairs. One would think that the Times only interviewed Israeli “analysts” who were in the tank for Nothingyahoo already, much like the hand selected Arab leaders who warmly embraced his apology for his pre-election comments. His media manipulation skills put the Republicans to shame.
Incidentally, the right moment for Obama to stop covering Israel’s profuse ass was when he first took office.
GxB
IIRC Menard went to state funded University right in his hometown in the late 50s. Tuition was free then, and while not Ivy league, the business school obviously taught him something. Last I heard he still hasn’t given a damn cent back, no local public works, no library, no parks, not a damn thing. He’s right out of a Dickens novel he is.
Cervantes
@GxB:
I know he pledged fifteen million dollars to the Mayo Clinic not too long ago.
Lizzy L
@NotMax: Where do you live? I’m moving.
Mathguy
Lowes’ is run by just as big of RWNJs as the other chains. Pizza and hardware: homes of the wingnuts.
catclub
@pseudonymous in nc:
The assumption by normal people was that congresscritters (and their staffs) would have to use the exchange plans, but that the federal employee insurance benefit – which pays for 3/4 of the cost – would be applied to the insurance chosen by the employees. But that is only what normal people think. Ass holes decided that being on the exchanges means NO federal employee insurance subsidy. I am not sure how this has actually played out. I suspect that SOME congressional staffers have a bone to pick with their bosses on losing an effective $15k/yr.
Violet
What I find interesting is this came to light because emails were part of an investigation. In other email related news. Radio Shack’s collection of customer data may go to the highest bidder in their bankruptcy auction. Jeb’s emails exposed a bunch of Social Security info. Emails aren’t secure at all.
I wonder how rich billionaires are covering their tracks and yet telling the politicians they own what they want these days. Burner phones? Coded Tiwtter accounts? Pony Express?
Bubblegum Tate
@KXB:
There is an Ace not too far from my house, and it is freakin’ great. It’s not a particularly large store, but it’s got everything I’ve ever needed, and the employees are super helpful. It’s rare that I praise a chain store, but this Ace definitely earns it.
RaflW
@jonas: But now his wife’s glorious Randian rugged individual private sector insurance is no more and what’s a staunch liberty-lover like Cruz to do?
COBRA. I mean, I know the premiums are higher, and I’m sure she had some sort of 25K per year Cadillac Escalade plan, but they’re rich, they can afford to COBRA. Why go on O’care?
dmbeaster
Reading this reminds me of this passage from Citizens United that made this kind of corruption possible:
“In other words, because independent spending is of so little value to a candidate, limits on such spending cannot be justified, since they raise almost no risk of quid pro quo corruption.”
Wingnut magic thinking even at SCOTUS
Bubblegum Tate
@RaflW:
So that he can intentionally make the experience as bad as possible, then tell the “truth” about how terrible it is.
Violet
@WaterGirl:
That’s all happening on Twitter these days. I think it’s why it’s so quiet here. I keep wondering when he’s going to shut down the blog.
David Koch
walker is sooo boring. Plus, it’s hard too see how he endures the famed Bush smear machine that brought you Willie Horton commercials, Kitty Dukakis burning a flag, Mike Dukakis’ electric shock treatments, McCain’s black baby, Ann Richards is gay, Bill Clinton and his mom were a russian spyies, a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, and the swift boaters.
Even if Jeb!’s ex-CIA agents (who are now working as his private investigators) don’t find any dirt on Walker, they’ll just make some shit up.
RaflW
So the Rudoren “memo” column has now been the top left headline on NYT.com for well over two hours. We know what the Times’ editors think is clickbait.
Some of the comments are pretty good, though.
Tree With Water
@David Koch: It’s jarring to see that list of the Bush Family’s greatest hits in cold type. It’s like looking at Babe Ruth’s lifetime stats and thinking, “damn”, only in an appalled way.
PurpleGirl
OT: Tomorrow is the 104th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. As a society it seems that many people want to take this country back to the labor conditions which caused the fire. Remember, 146 women and men died in the fire. Many of those victims were young, immigrant women, working to help support their families. The fire and its impact would not penetrate the thick skulls of such as Walker or the Koch brothers. Whatever good working conditions we (still) have are due to the battles fought by labor and its supporters back 104 years ago.
There will be a rally tomorrow, it will be livestreamed.
http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/
Side note: the building the fire was in is now owned by NYU (Brown Building). When I first began my chemistry major in NYU all the labs and most of the chemistry classes were held in Brown Building. To get into the building you went through a staircase connection with the Main Building or you walked through a doorway from the Waverly Building. Also, the elevators that were in Brown Building are still not used; they were condemned after the fire and NYU has never made moves to have them brought up to code (to my knowledge).
Although that is the time period when my mother’s family came to the US from Sicily, no one in the family worked there that day. My grandfather was a unionist and a day-laborer. My grandmother did piece work at home.
Little Boots
walker is almost incredibly unlikable, but he could pull this out with money. I think he’ll be on the ticket one way or another, but it is nearly impossible to actually like him. it is the saving grace for the left.
Felixmoronia
@Chris: John Menard Jr. is widely known as the richest man in Wisconsin.
and his brother Larry is the biggest asshole in Wisconsin!
mdblanche
@Tree With Water: Denial is the first stage of grief. According to Kuebler-Ross, we still have anger, bargaining, and depression to look forward to before Israelis reach acceptance of their fate.
Little Boots
is there anything more tedious than unresponsive script?
Little Boots
A Cruz/Walker ticket might be the most unlikable in the history of the Republic.
pseudonymous in nc
@catclub:
Especially when they have to buy their plans on the home-state exchange and not the DC one, so Cruz’s staff get the Texas exchange.
Then again, I suspect that Ted Cruz’s staffers are assholes as well, otherwise they wouldn’t be working for him.
Little Boots
what is with this site tonight?
Violet
@Little Boots: It’s not just tonight. It’s most nights.
Roger Moore
@Little Boots:
I think Nixon/Agnew would be a tough act to beat.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Cervantes:
Where did Feld’s write-up appear?
Little Boots
@Roger Moore:
I think they might.
right, steeplejack?
srv
How many + is 500ml of sake?
Tree With Water
@Roger Moore: Pikers. Give me Bush-Cheney every time.
Suzanne
When I was in architecture school, spending $500 apiece to build models, the Ace Hardware near campus stocked an amazing array of hobby woods. Just awesome.
Steeplejack
@srv:
Well, that’s about 17 ounces, so say three glasses of wine. But sake has a slightly higher alcohol content than wine, so I’d put it at about +4. (That’s if you consider a glass of wine +1.)
Little Boots
wow, science, okay.
Steeplejack
@Little Boots:
Nixon was at least competent at some things.
Steeplejack
@Little Boots:
She blinded me with science. And with alcohol.
Little Boots
@Steeplejack:
and walker ain’t
but nixon made it too easy. even sarah palin could play the game. it’s so sad.
Little Boots
@Steeplejack:
and I’ve missed you, by the way.
Steeplejack
@Little Boots:
Thanks. I’ve tried to keep up on (reading) the threads, haven’t had much chance to comment, especially at night. Going through a bit of a trough lately. Or maybe a slough.
For some reason that Thomas Dolby song made me think of Howard Jones, “What Is Love.” Hadn’t thought of that in ages, much less listened to it. Cool.
Steeplejack
I swore I wasn’t going to get into a YouTube music dive, but here I am now listening to “West End Girls.”
Must get a grip and go finish what I was doing.
srv
@Steeplejack: Thanks. My hotel in Seattle got lost, but now it is found. Am going to do more sake in the future over Napa varietals as am pretty sure will be less hung over AM.
Have to laugh at all the young techies in SF who rant on locals blogs about being ‘accosted’ or ‘raped’ by ‘aggressive’ street folks. Would not categorize any of my encounters in a decade like that.
But Seattle, man, I was looking for my shoulder pads tonight. They’re very touchy and feely here. Like Stare Miasto at 2am when the ‘Non-Stop’ clubs close.
Little Boots
yeah, always loved what you post.
sorry you are going through a trough. what’s going on, if you want to talk about it?
Little Boots
and yeah to west end girls, don’t tell omnes.
Little Boots
no kidding, hope you are okay.
burnspbesq
I know that there are people here who, to their eternal detriment, can’t see past Larison’s membership in the League of the South, but the guy had a James Harden-like day today. Seven posts, all dead on, and all blowing up high-value targets.
Steeplejack
Heard this song on Sirius in the car today, perked me right up: the Sunrays, “I Live for the Sun.” Way back to my early teen years, when I wore madras shirts and cursed my curly (non-surfer) hair. Good times.
I especially like this song because there are a few subversive, almost but not quite jazzy chord changes in the chorus.
ETA: Edited the link to omit the pointless intro.
Little Boots
@burnspbesq:
um.
burnspbesq
Is tonight 80s night? Any excuse to play Scritti Politti is a good excuse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5JG_TLdPSY
Steeplejack
@srv:
I like sake; haven’t had any in a while. It never seems to come up on the radar.
Were you drinking it hot or cold? I like it cold.
Little Boots
@Steeplejack:
your are a goob, and I love you sometimes.
Steeplejack
@Little Boots:
I appear to be going down the ’60s harmony hole tonight. The Reflections, “Just Like Romeo and Juliet,” accompanied by tribal rituals of the upper Midwest.
I pinched or irritated a nerve in my neck/shoulder in December, and it has been giving me discomfort and tingling in my right arm and hand. Worst part, although it is better now, was that I could not get to sleep because I couldn’t find a comfortable position. So I ended up sleeping whenever I was so tired that I could get to sleep. Tore up my schedule for a while.
Like I said, it’s better now. But physical problems are dispiriting.
Steeplejack
For you, Little Boots.
srv
@Steeplejack: Well, my waitresses and I had a long conversation about that.
I think most sake was always served warm, but I assumed there was cold sake and hot sake and I just didn’t know what should be what. Always felt like that Bond movie where Sean IDs the Soviet interloper because he has red wine with fish. They told me it’s a newer invention (cold), as a result of western demons. But apparently some purer rice stuff tastes better chilled (not refrigerated) and that has become a thing now and infested the homeland with gaijan peversions.
Would guess old Japanese are screaming ‘get off my lawn’ to younger folks drinking chilled sake.
Linnaeus
Fuck Scott Walker.
Fuck. Him.
Steeplejack
@srv:
I always heard that cheaper sake was served warm to cover its imperfections, but there is legitimate warm sake. And I think the chilled sake thing may predate the gaijin barbarians, but I’m not enough of a
snobpedant to get into a sushi-bar brawl about it.Steeplejack (phone)
@Steeplejack:
And there’s usually never a bad reason to have a long conversation with the waitresses.
mai naem mobile
@Linnaeus: you fuck Scott Walker. I have no interest in fucking some guy who got herpes from giving the Koch brothers blow.jobs. Sorry for the ewww image i just created.
Calouste
@mai naem mobile: It says a lot about American society that “fuck” is supposed to be a negative experience, doesn’t it?
Mike J
@Calouste: It was being used that way in England before the US existed, so you can’t really blame that one on American culture.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack: Before I quit drinkin’, sake was my drink of choice. Some sakes are meant to drank cold. Many, and you’re right about the cheap stuff, are consumed warm. If you drinking it warm, you will get trashed faster.
workworkwork
@RaflW: Isn’t COBRA just a gap plan?
Okay, where’s Mayhew when we have a question?
J R in WV
@Calouste:
Yes, well, “Fuck” is not a synonym for makeing love, is it?
I mean,I’m 64, so I’ve had some very positive sexual experiences in my llife, but I don’t use the word “Fuck” to discuss my sex life, ever.
So it seems to me that there’s room for the word “Fuck” to be a negative word …
Amir Khalid
@J R in WV:
I think that “fuck” as a term of abuse refers figuratively to rape, rather than to consensual sex, the former being the bad thing that you wish on someone by saying “fuck you” or “go fuck yourself” (with or without the famous rusty pitchfork).
Another Holocene Human
“Save Big Money at Menard’s”
High cost of low price strikes again.
I hope all union families SHUN those stores.
Another Holocene Human
@Kropadope: And Staples used to be a retail shithole too. Treasure the memories.
Another Holocene Human
@Amir Khalid: I think we say “fuck” a lot where we used to say “damn”. The word damn was actually censored in the 19th century in newspapers and actually there was a kerfuffle with The Simpsons using the word. Fuck is losing its taboo power fast but it was censored through the 20th century. In the mid twentieth century it’s not uncommon to see literary fiction use substitutes or deliberate misspellings.
The phrase “don’t give a fuck” was previously “fig”.
Valdivia
probably no one is reading now but there was, not long ago, a funny post on academic papers on the etymology of the word fuck as a curse word. can’t remember where now. sad I missed this late night discussion and the good 80s music via @Steeplejack: .
Cervantes
@PurpleGirl:
Thank you.
… originally the Asch Building, was constructed with high ceilings so it met the city’s “breathing room” requirements while giving each worker less floor space in which to to do her work.
Plus the owners of the company were making more than a million 1910 dollars a year in clear profit, partly by “outsourcing” much of the work, sub-renting out space within their own building to contractors so that they, the owners, could disclaim responsibility for, e. g., working conditions and safety precautions.
Aside: The Asch Building was erected on, among other things, the 27 Washington Place site where Henry James was born.
Including the elevators on the Washington Place side (as opposed to Greene)?
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@Little Boots:
Is that what you are? I was wondering.
KXB
@jonas:
A couple of years ago, Ace ran some TV ads pointing to just that – they figured most people who shop in their stores do not want to spend all their time in the store, nor do they want to spend their weekend building a new deck or planting new shrubs. Their customers tended to be non-specialists, like me. I can’t do much more than change a lightbulb or unclog a drain. Even if the cost of the item is a bit higher, I convert that cost into time – time not spent in a giant Home Depot parking lot, time not spent wandering around the enormous store, expecting a Minotaur to pop out, time not spent talking to 3-4 people for just one tiny item.
The store near my office seems to do a steady business, both with ordinary people and specialists. There are a number of other small businesses nearby, from a diner to dentist office to karate studio. They seemed to pick a good location.