boxcarwilly Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Seeing as I know we are all big fans of Home Dee, I am an even bigger fan now that they have stopped allowing our friends back at the good ole Propaganda Mill/War Machine from purchasing nails and paint. In fact it makes me even happier than a good night of painting, and we all know that doesn't happen much so... the only thing that could make Home Depot a better choice of favorite businesses for 2002 would be a refusal to tax customers thus really flipping off the Federales. There is a lot of speculation as to why, a "plausible" reason from an inside source at corporate said, if the government spends a certain amount then HD becomes sub-contractors, thus submitting them to rules and regs in that field, ie. stocking things for government use and government use only. Personally I feel there is a lot more to it than that. Hoping that Home Dee is for the cause and not into a government that lies to its own people, and kills babies... but thats just me and I'm clinically absolved of normalcy. Home Depot stops doing business with federal government By Andrew Schneider Of The Post-Dispatch 2002, St. Louis Post-Dispatch 06/16/2002 Home Depot Inc., the nation's largest hardware and home-improvement chain, has told its 1,400 stores not to do business with the U.S. government or its representatives. The Post-Dispatch checked with managers at 38 stores in 11 states. All but two said they had received instructions from Home Depot's corporate headquarters this month not to take government credit cards, purchase orders or even cash if the items are being used by the federal government. "Engaging in business practices with the federal government is not a strategic focus of the Home Depot," company spokesman Tom Gray said. "The Home Depot is not and does not plan to become a federal contractor or subcontractor." When asked what the statement meant and what it had to do with purchases by an FBI agent in St. Louis or an Environmental Protection Agency investigator in Seattle or a supply sergeant for an Army Reserve unit in Ohio, Gray declined to comment, other than to say it's an old policy. But the store managers contacted said they received the policy within the last couple of weeks. Responding to an e-mail request for clarification, Gray said the refusal to sell to the government was "a business decision based upon the company's strategic direction." The General Services Administration, the government's quartermaster, just learned of the policy. "I was contacted by the Department of Defense last week, and they said that some of their people were stopped from making purchases at Home Depot," Susan McIver, director of the GSA's Services Acquisition Center, said Friday. "Home Depot has not contacted us, so I've got no idea what their problem is. We are checking with the other federal agencies to see what they are encountering and then will call the company." As of April, 384,520 government employees were using "GSA Smart Pay" cards for purchases other than travel or fleet operations, McIver said. Congress approved use of the cards to reduce paperwork and to streamline the paying of merchants. "Use of the cards is mandatory for purchases under $2,500," she said, adding that last year, $3.7 billion was charged to the cards, which are backed by Visa and MasterCard. McIver called Home Depot's actions "puzzling." "This is the first company I've ever heard of establishing a policy of not doing business with the federal government. I find it hard to understand," she said. She described a continuous stream of calls to her office each day from businesses eager to sell to the government. Most of Home Depot's managers interviewed by the Post-Dispatch shared the confusion. All the managers contacted declined to be quoted, but most said they didn't know what was behind the company's refusal to sell to the federal government. Some, especially those near military bases and large federal complexes, said the policy would cost Home Depot a significant amount of money, but they would make no estimates of how much. One Home Depot associate at a store in San Diego said, "It feels weird telling some kid in uniform that I can't sell him 10 gallons of paint because we don't do business with the government." The notification that Home Depot sent from its Atlanta headquarters to its stores offers little explanation of why the decision was made. But the document, which was obtained by the Post-Dispatch, offers elaborate detail on how the policy is supposed to be implemented: - Under one scenario, a customer wants to buy 3,000 light bulbs and asks that the product be delivered to a military base. "That transaction should not be processed," the document says. - Another scenario describes a person trying to purchase lumber and presenting a purchase order listed to the GSA. "This transaction cannot be processed," the document says. OoA third scenario uses a customer who pays cash and asks Home Depot to deliver the purchase to a federal address. The customer is told no, and he asks to rent a Home Depot truck. "Since you are aware that the transaction is for the federal government, you cannot process it," the document says. If store personnel are questioned by customers, the document advises, they should respond that "our focus is directed at do-it-yourselfers and private contractors" and "this has always been our policy." The notification has a section that says commercial credit-card customers will receive a notice with their June bill that purchases could not be made "that would cause the company to be covered by or responsible in any way for compliance with" three federal laws or executive orders: Executive Order 11246 of 1965, which bans discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. - Section 503 and Section 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires affirmative action and prohibits employment discrimination by federal government contractors and subcontractors. - The Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, which requires that anyone doing business worth $25,000 or more with the federal government must take affirmative action to hire and to promote qualified targeted veterans, including special disabled veterans, veterans of the Vietnam era, and any other veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a campaign or an expedition. It would apply to Gulf War veterans and those fighting the war on terrorism. "We are going to the agencies who issued those three laws they mentioned and try to determine whether those laws would have some kind of impact on Home Depot which might explain its actions," McIver said. "This will impact many agencies who might have needs to go to Home Depot. But they can get those needs met by going to other stores." A spokesperson for Lowe's Cos., the nation's second-largest home improvement chain, said that it still sells to the government and that it will continue to do so. Home Depot might not want to sell to the government, but this month, it reached agreement with the U.S. Labor Department to "recruit, screen and refer" 40,000 job applicants to work in the company's new stores that are being opened "every 47 hours." Home Depot was founded in 1978. It operates in 49 states and overseas and has a work force of 250,000 people. Last year, it had sales of $53.6 billion. 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A Fire Inside Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Bump. Nice find Jobe. E-mail me if you have some spare time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
girl-lies Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 home depot cuts down the rain forest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dyptheria Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 the fact that home depot is refusing money from the department of defense makes me want to support them even more. way to go home depot, i already buy most of my paint from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fr8lover Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Originally posted by girl-lies home depot cuts down the rain forest. player, im afraid that EVERTHING in some way or another, whether direct or indirect cuts down the rainforest. welcome to the 21st century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JIGSAW Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 home depot here is right next door to walmart..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suburbian bum Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Home depot drives large wooden boards through the heads of minorities. Yeah i know, that was unessesary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest platapie Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Originally posted by fr8lover player, im afraid that EVERTHING in some way or another, whether direct or indirect cuts down the rainforest. welcome to the 21st century. true dat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REGULATOR Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 i rack from home depot, now i kinda feel bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Mang Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 hey boxcar, you still in philly? if so and you're bored, we should skate some time. good article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxcarwilly Posted June 19, 2002 Author Share Posted June 19, 2002 no im not in philly anymore. im back in hell. not where i belong. not where i like being. wanting to have died three months ago when the shit really hit the fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onesandzeros Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 yes. lets all stop racking from home depot, because they did one little thing that was probably in their best corporate interests, nevermind all the little mom and pop stores that probably had some nice old paint to sell to you that went out of business because of the depot, lets shed some tears for our brothers in justice at home depot. yeccchhhh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SenorSeven Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 agreed onesandzeros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxcarwilly Posted June 19, 2002 Author Share Posted June 19, 2002 i never said stop racking, in fact rack more from them... it shows your support of their move to be less involved in a crapitalist society show your support. im all about it. i was actually trying to get people to reach a higher level with this post rather than thinking like a plebe. oh wait i forgot... the point of discussion i probably should have been more elaborate in pointing out was: does one think that this is a voice of laissez-faire or an actual attempt at standing in solidarity with a dissident voice of protest against the US government? (sorry i didn't put it into words y'all could understand... and you took it to mean wait should i stop racking paint from a corporate entity... ill stop with the sarcasm.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest serpent of the light Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 ///haha, its funny because for most here it is true that is interesting that a corporation of such proportion would not support the US government, i doubt it is out of moral standing. yeah, rack more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onesandzeros Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Originally posted by boxcarwilly i never said stop racking, in fact rack more from them... it shows your support of their move to be less involved in a crapitalist society show your support. im all about it. i was actually trying to get people to reach a higher level with this post rather than thinking like a plebe. oh wait i forgot... the point of discussion i probably should have been more elaborate in pointing out was: does one think that this is a voice of laissez-faire or an actual attempt at standing in solidarity with a dissident voice of protest against the US government? (sorry i didn't put it into words y'all could understand... and you took it to mean wait should i stop racking paint from a corporate entity... ill stop with the sarcasm.) I hope you aren't referring to me champ. Knowing what I know of Home Depot, they, like any capitalist consumption driven "big box" store found a niche in which to make a large amount of profit by copying the tactics of other "big box" stores. I'm real sure that Home Depot has no real underlying notion of wanting to be solid in protest against the government, especially from my own observations of a large majority of its customers seeming to be flag waving right wing contractors. Decisions in such a store are always well thought out by its board members shooting for what would maximize their intake in this free for all unchecked free trade world we live in. As much as it would be nice to day dream about such a business taking a stand, its about as far off as walmart supporting food not bombs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest willy.wonka Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 home depot doesnt even sell krylon anymore...something evil about that.. save the rainforests!! "my part" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dyptheria Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 well krylon sucks. i only use black and white for my outlines. if i want color i go straight to home depot for the real paint. if i need parts for my stove, or some nails or wood something, i go to the mom and pop places. but if i'm buying paint, i can get ten cans at home depot for less than $30, but it would cost $50 bucks anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mental invalid Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 hmmmm, if anything it seems to me that home depot does not want to get locked into policies as a direct result of working with the government...which to me is somewhat discouraging...here is a solid US based company basically saying that they do not want to be tied into hiring minorities or people with disabilties or even veterans....doesnt really seem supportive and patriotic to me.... so my vote would be for the invisible hand of the market....willy sorry to dash your hopes, although im kinda surprised given your stance on things that you would think for one second that the bottom line of home depot was not the motivating factor....but its good to hope and wish and although im right there with ya, theres no fucking way in hell that home depot isnt looking out for numero uno.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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