Menards — Attraction in Joplin

Very friendly gentleman at the service desk directed me to the rear left corner of the store for order pickup which was handled very promptly by another friendly staff member. The store has a wide selection of merchandise in stock. I only wish that basic garage door parts for Ideal Door/Clopay, like track rails, were kept in stock and not considered "special orders," requiring weeks of waiting time before availability.

UPDATE: Needed to swap out an Ideal Door (Menards-branded Clopay) set of two shorter garage door torsion rods with connector for a solid one-piece 9'9" torsion rod due to angulation at the connector piece. Absolutely poor design by Ideal Door, to say the least. After speaking on the phone with Sarah at Ideal Door tech/install support who assured me Menards would swap them out, because in her experience they have many times (so they must know it's poor design!), I called and spoke with Mike in Building Materials who refused to allow such a swap and told me I'd have to pay out of pocket for new rods. Sarah had told me to have Menards call her to verify if needed, but Mike refused, telling me he'd have to go through the "proper channels." He supposedly spoke to his manager who also refused the swap. Said he'd email Ideal Door and get back in touch with me---never did! If you appreciate lazy, dismissive, and unprofessional customer service, Mike is your guy.

Because of this negative experience with horrible customer service from Mike in Building Materials (and his manager) that far overshadows the polite service desk gentleman, Joplin Menards now...

I went to the Joplin Menards yesterday and was very disappointed in the customer service. It seemed as if the many employees walking around the store made an effort to avoid eye contact in case I needed help. After what felt like the need to tackle an employee to get help, I was directed to “aisle 814”…. absolutely NO visible numbers on any aisle in the building supplies section! I finally went to the building supplies service desk where I waited for 20 minutes before anyone helped me. There were 3 employees helping one customer, with all three searching a computer (were all three really needed as I was obviously right in front of them needing assistance?). There were 4-5 other employees behind the counter… 2 just gabbing away with each other, one who seemed like a new employee who was just wandering around and a 4th who wandered back and forth (and whom I finally was able to receive help from). A fifth one was on the phone and was actually the only one who noticed I needed help, but just nodded for me to move over to the three employees on the computer. I like the 11% rebate incentive, but will probably not be back if I anticipate needing any sort of assistance. The only employer that demonstrated any sort of good customer service was the employee at the register in the garden center where I checked out. The manager of this store needs to stress the importance of customer service to the employees. I left Menards and went to Lowe’s and experienced a night and...

Im far more excited about this shopping option in Joplin than I probably should be. Years ago I discovered Menards while visiting Springfield, MO, shocked by the scale of building and the wide range of products not typically sold in stores like it. This isn’t a typical hardware store, while they offer tools and lumber, it’s wild to see sections dedicated for grocery, toys and even pet supplies .

This past weekend I had time on my hands while my other-half was out of town; I needed a couple things and wanted to get acquainted with the new store, eventually finding myself wandering through every aisle for the better part of two hours. I picked up so many things I’ve needed for projects, while completely entertained. I’d previously driven the hour + on multiple occasions to purchase or browse products, finding items I need that I couldn’t source locally or without trips to multiple local stores. While not everything is a “deal”, the quality and selection of products is incredibly diverse.

I am a business owner of a company maintaining dozens of commercial properties, now able to source items we often need at a moment’s notice, which we are otherwise forced to order online and wait for arrival. Having these products available in a pinch is a game changer.

One additional note- their brand of root beer and cream...