We have both Lowe's and Menard's in our area, and there is an increasing difference between the two...especially in employee presence and knowledge. There is always someone nearby at Menard's to help with questions, etc., whereas at Lowe's it seems increasingly hard to find an employee. Menard's always seems to have 3 or 4 checkout lanes open, whereas Lowe's seems to increasingly want everyone to use their self-checkout line...and the 1 regular cashier that may be open always seems to have a long line of people waiting.
Lowe's parking lot is increasingly more empty, while Menard's seems to have a lot of traffic...I suspect Cutting Back on employees at Lowe's is going to hurt them in the future.