Which of the 3 most common big box hardware stores do you buy light fixtures or bulbs from? I have never seen a Menards in North Carolina, But I have been to Lowe's and The Home Depot. For very specific stuff I like to go to a smaller chain, or an independent store.

Home Depot, because there's one closer to me than Lowes. Every once in a while I go to Lowes and see if they have something good on clearance, as usually, they have a lot better clearance prices than Home Depot.

No Menards here in California.

Lowe’s has better prices, especially on clearance items. They also have better customer service plus better bulb selection.

Home Depot has higher prices, clearance items are a ripoff being like a dollar off, and their customer service (at the locations I’ve been to) is pretty terrible in recent years. To make matters worse, they sell mostly Feit trash. At least they brought back Philips tubes.

We used to have OSH’s (owned by Sears, then Lowe’s) that was overpriced and had creepy employees that would literally stalk you around the store. They had a nice lighting section, similar to Lowe’s but sold TCP LEDs with everything else being GE products.

No Menards.

Lowe's does have some pretty good clearance deals. At a lowe's near me, they are selling a cheap Lithonia lighting 65w fluorscent area light for $12.

Menards by far. The one by me has three aisles dedicated entirely to lamps, and they have a huge selection compared to HD and Lowe's.

The Home Depot. I like their product selection better and they just seem to sell better quality products. Their prices on most things are better, especially when it comes to appliances. The lamp aisle in particular is superior, as they sell more than one brand. However, The Home Depot has terrible customer service.

Lowe's, on the other hand, typically only sells one to three brand of a specific product. For example, in the ceiling fan section you can only get Harbor Breeze, Fanimation, or Hunter. However, their customer service is better than that of The Home Depot's.

I wish we had Menards here on the West Coast.

Me too. We don't have Menards on the east coast either.

Here in Canada I find Lowe's has slightly better product selection in some categories but I think the prices are slightly higher than Home Depot. That said they do have way better deals on clearance compared to Home Depot who only discounts items in clearance by a dollar or two. I did find a commercial grade MH flood at Home Depot once for $50, and this was before the LED era. Otherwise I usually skip the Home Depot clearance and instead wait for them to show up at Restore. They send pretty much anything that doesn't sell from the clearance sections straight to Restore here.

That said, Home Depot is way more convenient for me to go to as there are three Home Depot stores within a 10-15 min drive from me. The nearest two Lowe's meanwhile are both around 30 mins away.

There's also RONA here which is now owned by Lowe's. They used to have a similar by slightly distinct selection compared to Lowe's but the past few years they essentially have the same stuff as Lowe's. They do have more locations near me compared to Lowe's though.

I'm not too attached to any particular chain, I usually go the one that's most convenient for me unless I'm looking for a specific item that is only stock at one particular store. Usually lamps, in this case. Home Depot sells Philips + Feit, Lowe's sells GE + Feit, and Canadian Tire sells Sylvania + Feit.

There's also Home Hardware here are smaller more mom and pop style hardware stores similar to Tru-Value or ACE. Canadian Tire is kind of strange, it's like a hardware store crossed with auto parts crossed with housewares.

The one time I went to a Menards, and it was great in terms of product selection, they stock some stuff in the lighting sections that I never even knew existed. Unfortunately the nearest Menards required crossing the border into MI which is a 4 hours one way.

Unfortunately no Menards around here

The nearest Lowes & Home Depot are within a block of eachother so they're equally convenient. Then there's another Lowes & Home Depot a few miles farther, but still convenient .. makes it nice when you go in one to find the all too 'common empty spot on the shelf' where the item you need goes. .lol. ...

The local Lowes has 2x2 T8 U bent fluorescent troffers on clearance for only $2 something! I got two. Also got two Lithonia I Beam 6 lamp T8 high bay units for about 8 a pop.

Here where Live

 I go to Home Depot  most of times
 
   All lowes around me are 1 hour drive
Away so any savings dont save me the cost
 
 No menards here in Texas

   Now I buy bulbs from Lowes market
   It a grocery store / Ace hardware in one roof

    I have sutherlands  I like to go to.

    Lastly do it best. 

   Around here u just stuck with philips lamps  due home depot, Ace, and Do it best

  Southerlands just as far but i am supporting local company
 And there I can get sylvania and Faux westinghouse.

 

Lowe’s has better prices, especially on clearance items. They also have better customer service plus better bulb selection.

Home Depot has higher prices, clearance items are a ripoff being like a dollar off, and their customer service (at the locations I’ve been to) is pretty terrible in recent years. To make matters worse, they sell mostly Feit trash. At least they brought back Philips tubes.

We used to have OSH’s (owned by Sears, then Lowe’s) that was overpriced and had creepy employees that would literally stalk you around the store. They had a nice lighting section, similar to Lowe’s but sold TCP LEDs with everything else being GE products.

No Menards.

Oh wow, that sounds like the total opposite of my experience with Lowe's and Home Depot, which includes several stores of each.

Home Depot sells EcoSmart here, only a couple on Fiat lamps IIRC.

We don't have Menards here. But I'd say I shop at Home Depot and Lowes about equally depending on what I'm looking for.

I have in the past gotten deals on clearance when Lowes went from Sylvania to GE brand lamps. Got a few MVs then and also some when they donated the leftovers to Habitat.

I also got some Philips MVs on clearance when Home Depot switched over to Feit brand.

I usually go to Home Depot for rough-in type stuff, and Lowe's for finish stuff, fixtures and bulbs.

No Menards near me, but I like to drop in when I'm near one.  There's also Jerry's in Eugene, Oregon.  They had a very Menards-like vibe when I went in there.