Sunday, April 02, 2006

Headin' out west!

Well it's official. I'm moving. Yep - after 6 years in the 'Zoo, I'm headed to Arizona sometime in July. I'm going to invade Yuma, and bunk with Ang for a bit. It looks like I'll be teaching 7th grade down there (I have to wait until May to find out for sure) and that is terrifying in itself. But exciting too - very exciting. I'm ready for a change and something new, someplace new, new scenery.
So that's my news for the week. So if anyone needs a chair or a dining room table, or an apartment to sublease for June and July, keep me in mind!
So...in other news-
This weekend I went to exotic Howell and my mom and I did home improvement type stuff which was fun. We went to Lowe's and Home Depot and got a new dishwasher, paint, vent grates and electric plates for her new dining room. It was fun, however after an hour walking through Lowe's trying to find the electric plates (you know, to cover the sockets and light switches), which they keep in several different aisles, miles apart, I decided there should be a girls' lowes. I think it sounds like a terrific idea. Because as girls, we wanted to do some remodeling work, some home improvement, so we went to a home improvement store. But it's not just a home improvement store, it's also a contractor's store and a lumber yard and goodness knows what else. For instance - in the girls' lowes I would put the light bulbs by the lighting instead of 14 aisles apart. I'd also put all the light switch covers together. And I wouldn't showcase the nickel-plated ones with swirls on the wall when they take 8 weeks to special order. I'd stock them in the first place.
In the girls' lowes there would be paint and spackling and fixtures and wallpaper and even some wood and nails and basic tools but things like plumbing supplies would not be necessary because plumbing is a specialty. It requires someone who knows what they are doing. The same goes for electrical. But drywall, that's could be in my girls' lowes, even lawncare and grills, those are fine.
If you have other suggestions - feel free to submit them, I'll add them to the inventory list. Also, at the girls' lowes, you have to pass a test to work there. It's the no snide comments and rude looks test. Because the man who works in the electrical department at lowes was full of snide comments and rude looks. He was also about 99 years old and spent a good 15 minutes tying his shoe. Not that I am agist or sexist but come on, if your job is customer service you need to A) be pleasant, 2) not answer your customer's questions with a look that says, "Seriously, are you that dumb", and C) you should tie your shoe on your own time if it's gonna take you that long.
So yeah - girls' lowes. I'm thinking Glows would be a good name. If someone knows a trademark attorney, let me know;-)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I would like to give you a suggestion about Glows "Home Improvement for Women"
Reading the light covers, there are some that work with kitchens and some that work with bathrooms, etc. So maybe instead of having lighting plates or whatever there official title is they could all be in several places in the store so if you are in the bathroom section you might see a style that would work in your kitchen or vise versa, or have these plates directly inbetween the two sections and have electrical close by. Hmm maybe more thought should be put into this comment. I don't know how retail likes redundancy of items. Also for a good frachise to work you need a system, so all stores are setup the same so one Glows looks like any other Glows. Also employee training would be a must so everyone measures up to the best customer service standards around. That should be a must everywhere. This idea could work. Keep at it and improve on it. Your idea is awesome.