DC’s First Lowe’s Rising Fast in Fort Lincoln

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by Prince Of Petworth August 6, 2015 at 10:15 am 21 Comments

lowes ft lincoln
South Dakota Ave NE & 33rd St NE

@megleona tweets us the update this morning:

“@PoPville The Lowe’s in Ft. Lincoln is going up fast! View from the Costco gas station. #Ward5″

Ed. Note: The Home Depot rival is going up in The Shops at Dakota Crossing – also home to Costco. This will be Lowe’s first store located in the District proper.

before:

lowes_dakota-crossing

EckingtonDoodle

Thank god I now have an alternative to the horror that is the RI Ave Home Depot!
- 17thSter
  
  I totally agree. This couldn’t open fast enough.
- B
  
  +5 million
- Eponymous
  
  +1. Really hoping that this will encourage redevelopment of that Home Depot. It’s a massive waste of transit-accessible land.
- anon
  
  I’ve heard that that Home Depot is one of the most profitable, if not THE most profitable, Home Depot in the country, is that true?
  - Anon Spock
    
    Monopoly in a city where many people don’t drive or want to go far out; I can see it. Also all the development…They’re heavy on contractors.
    - brookland_rez
      
      It’s great for contractors/homeowners in the area who know what they need.
- AG
  
  I was there recently and was actually surprised at the improvement in customer service. I don’t know if they’re already fearing the competition or got sick of all the comments, but I had several people walk up to me asking if I needed help. And when I did flag someone down, they didn’t look at me like I was an inconvenience and were actually fairly courteous.
Anony

Has anyone noticed the uptick in friendliness by the Rhode Island HD staff (granted the baseline was near zero)? My last two trips I was asked if I needed help and even smiled at once. What’s the deal?
- justinbc
  
  It’s most definitely improved over the past year. All the time before that it was abysmal, but now there’s at least a modicum of effort put forth. Regardless, I will still be taking all of my business to this Lowe’s instead. On a related note, I had to go to the Rockville HD to pick up a specific item which wasn’t in the DC HD and holy wow what a massive difference between the two. Clean, organized aisles, employees tripping over themselves to come help you, no massive return line that blocks up the front entry. It was remarkable.
  - Anon
    
    It’s a similar experience at the Hyattsville HD– friendly and helpful staff, clean organized store, etc. Remarkable that 2 HD stores about 5 miles apart can be so different.
- anonymous
  
  I certainly have. I bought a grill and they guy gave me a free grill cover. I bought a propane tank and they charged me as if I was getting a refill. They also offered to get an out of stock item from another store and deliver it to my home free of charge.
- zartan
  
  For the past couple of years I’ve found the service at the RIA Home Depot to be shockingly good and friendly. They’ve clearly made a big change from the way they were managed when they opened. I actually enjoy shopping there now.
- AG
  
  Oops, should’ve kept reading before commenting. I too was surprised at the friendliness the last time I went.
AnonV2

I’ll still be going to HD for most basics since it is a stone’s throw from me and I never have a need to interact with employees outside of the checkout line, but excited to see some more competition in the city. Lowe’s has a much better selection and higher quality furnishings, and the garden departments are usually much better, too. For run-of-the-mill hardware supplies on the cheap HD will still have a use.
- Eponymous
  
  Don’t forget the new Annie’s on 8th Street in Brookland! You should be able to get a lot of basics there once it opens this fall. I’ll probably split my home improvement dollars between Annie’s and Lowe’s in the future. I haven’t had problems with customer service at the HD, but the design of that shopping center makes it a nightmare to get in and out of, and Lowe’s just has a better, more organized selection of products.
First Time Caller

Last time I was at the RI Home Depot, a woman just started yelling for “help!” just so that she could find someone to assist her. I don’t think she was successful. I’m very much looking forward to this new Lowe’s.
Anon

This is good news. I’ve always preferred Lowe’s to Home Depot. And since the 11th Street Bridge has been completed, it’s become so much easier to get over there via the new I-695 connection.
dat

I generally prefer Home Depot over Lowes, but the RI Ave Home Depot is definitely the exception. Among other issues, their saw is usually broken, nobody is ever at the key-cutting machine, their online inventory is completely wrong, nobody is ever around to pull stuff off the upper shelves, the organization in hardware is a JOKE…

I’ve been watching this Lowes go up and can’t wait for it to be done. They will be getting all of my big box hardware business (the rest will go to Annie’s).

Does anyone know when they are expected to open???
SF

Thank goodness since WS Jenks opened on Bladensburg I haven’t had to suffer that RI Home Depot nearly as much. It will be great to have the Lowes for the few things they don’t carry.
Rich

I used to shop the flagship (now downsized) HD in Atlanta–it was no better than RI Ave. Once HD’s profits dropped and they cut back everywhere.

The RI Ave store has had ups and downs since I’ve lived here. Never as bad as people have said it was. I doubt that it’s the most profitable–I’ve seen higher volume stores. I’ve used them for several big ticket items–blinds, kitchen cabinets, countertop and some things for a bathroom remodel. They did ok. The countertop was the one real hiccup because they’d changed contractors. Their online inventory has never been a problem. I suspect a lot of the whining is from people who expect an HD to be like a neighborhood hardware store. They gutted their staffing years ago and they’re all hit or miss. Lowe’s used to be clearly better but my most recent experiences with them (in NoVA) haven’t been much better than HD. Each chain merchandises slightly differently, so you can’t really use one as a substitute for the other on everything–Lowe’s has my odd sized furnace filters in stock, HD has them online. Lowe’s is better for some kinds of lighting, HD is better for faucets.

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