Open at Last!

[kevin_standlee]

Lisa tried to be the first customer in the door at the new Big R Fernley yesterday morning, but when she first went there in the morning, they said, "We're not ready yet; come back later," and she got the same response on her second attempt. By the third time she got there (she had no interest in queuing), the doors were open and she reports that the store was packed with customers. Considering that this was an unannounced "soft opening," that's not bad at all. Lisa didn't just go for show; she bought some contact paper she's using to cover a sheet of plywood that she's put in my upstairs office behind my desk to act as a backstop. Without that board, anything that falls off the back of my desk will also fall down the staircase, and that could be bad.

Comments

[retro-rider55.livejournal.com]

"Big R" - ? oh; a building supply chain?

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Not exactly, although that's part of it. Big R Ranch and Home is a brand of stores that sell goods for rural living including those people with farms and ranches (for example, they have horse gear and feed), clothing (particular "western" style clothing, but also things like coveralls and the like), camping gear, hardware, tools, cleaning supplies, RV supplies, and all manner of miscellany. For example, we buy firewood there in the form of one-ton wrapped pallets.

Oddly, there seem to be multiple independent Big R stores. The set that includes Fernley and Fallon is five stores in total, but there's a different set that include Klamath Falls. They all use the same sign, but I've not been able to figure out the business relationship.

I suppose you could say, "Oh, it's just a big hardware store," and indeed we've bought a lot of hardware from them. And you could also say, "Why not just keep going to Lowe's like you have been doing." Well, a lot more of the Big R goods are US-made (or at least not cheap Chinese-made junk), and you usually have a choice other than "whatever the big distributors want to sell." And for all that it's a chain of five stores, it's more of a local store than the Big Box outlets are. I feel like I'm doing more to improve the local economy when I shop there.

Besides, this new store is walking distance from our house rather than three miles away (Lowe's) or twenty-five miles away (Fallon Big R). Not that we'd hand-carry a ton of firewood, of course!

[retro-rider55.livejournal.com]

"western" clothing; boots? 45.46-litre hats?

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Yes, among other things. There are a fair number of cattle ranching operations in these parts, and lots of people own horses. Indeed, there are signs just outside of town warning that it's open range and to watch out for cattle. Running into a cow or a horse will ruin your day, to put it lightly.

[retro-rider55.livejournal.com]

- as will running into a moose.

[garyomaha.livejournal.com]

Finally!! Haven't you been waiting for them to open since you moved there? It sure seems that long!

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Not the entire time (we took possession in August 2011 the day after the Reno Worldcon and ownership at the beginning of November 2011), but darn near. The building itself used to be True Value Hardware, and was still identified that way on Google Maps at the time we were using Google Street View to scout the area before doing a site visit, but had been derelict for a while. It appears to have taken around two years for them to finally get the place open. Apparently Fernley and Lyon County are not quite as business-friendly in practice as they would like to claim in principle. It's not that I want unsafe buildings opening; it's just that you should string people along and then say, "Oh, all that stuff we told you before? It's wrong, you need to start over and tear out all of your shelving and do it again" or something like that.