BORG help

[Alex McClure]

Long time reader, first time poster. Hello

Would someone please tell me what BORG stands for? I am imagining something like "Big Orange Retail Giant"

[Steve Kohn]

That's one description I have heard. There are others that don't come to mind right now. Others will follow and be smarter than I am.

[Bill Houghton]

The Borg, on one of the Star Treks, is/are a collective life form - one brain, many bodies. I think the writers were trying to imagine what humanoids would be like if they'd evolved from what we perceive ants to be.

The line from Star Trek is something like, "you will be assimilated," so referring to the Borg in our setting is not some distance from a compliment.

I'm not sure of the full story of its use in the online woodworking community. There may be subtleties I don't know about - it's not as obvious as the nicknames for Harbor Freight (as in, "Horrible Fright," my favorite).

There's an Orange Borg (Home Despot, of course) and a Blue Borg (Lowe's). Not sure why Menard's hasn't achieved Borg status, but there aren't any in our area, so maybe they're not so Borglike. We have a Lower's and a Home Despot within ten miles, two-three miles apart, and Home Despot's been trying to build more, spaced about ten miles apart, up the major traffic corridor on our county. Not sure why so many are necessary.

I do know I've been increasingly motivated to support the locally owned home center that offers better service and happier workers at competitive prices...but I'm digressing from your question.

[Bill Roland]

It come from Star Trek. It now refers to large Building Material stores, Home Depot, Lowes, Menards and the like.

[Bill Houghton]

It come from Star Trek. It now refers to large Building Material stores, Home Depot, Lowes, Menards and the like.

We don't have Menards in this area, so I don't know much about this chain.

[Jeff Nicol]

Well I live in the town where Menards got its start! They started out building pole sheds and then supplying all the materials to build them etc. etc. So now we have the main distribution center here in town and 2 stores. They sell everything from blue jeans to milk and lumber to lawnmowers and everhthing inbetween! You can get a coffee at the door wander for hours and still not find the exact thing you are looking for! One is about 5 min from my house so I go there a lot! We don't have a Lowes or Home Depot so it is the only game in town. The owner ...John Menard is commonly referred to as" TAIWAN JOHN" as most of the off brand stuff is from China and Taiwan!

So I guess a borg it is just not nation wide! Pretty much the midwest to the Dakotas.

Jeff

[Clifford Mescher]

Big Orange Retail Giant. Clifford

[Stan Urbas]

Big Ol' Retail Giant. Any Color.

[Dylan Smith]

Well I live in the town where Menards got its start! They started out building pole sheds and then supplying all the materials to build them etc. etc. So now we have the main distribution center here in town and 2 stores

Jeff - I grew up in Eau Claire - I remember going to the original Menards out by the old County Hospital when I was a kid. Wasn't a very big place, not much more than a crowded hardware store and messy greenhouse.

Seems they've come a ways since....

[Rick Christopherson]

The original use of the Borg came from Star Trek and referred to Home Depot's business practices of driving out the small (and large) competition by building stores right next door to existing stores and undercutting prices to the point that the competition could not stay afloat. They were assimilated.

Back then, they wiped out the cashway lumber chain (called Knox in this area) which was one of the best stores for finding what you needed. The most obvious attempt I have seen is where they built a brand new store directly across the street from a Menard's lumber. The store didn't close, but they both have to share the limited customer base for the area.

[Dewey Torres]

http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.p...light=Acronyms

This has helped me many times. You will refer to it from time to time.

[Scott Myers]

Very funny stuff. I think the exact quote is "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated". Now that will be stuck in my head every time I wander like a zombie (That's almost how the Borg would act) down the Home Depot isles. Thanks a lot guys. LOL

The Borg, on one of the Star Treks, is/are a collective life form - one brain, many bodies. I think the writers were trying to imagine what humanoids would be like if they'd evolved from what we perceive ants to be.

[Steve Schoene]

Strangely enough, having the two competitors located right next to each other is better for BOTH stores than if the HD had located itself a couple of miles down the road.

[Greg Cole]

Strangely enough, having the two competitors located right next to each other is better for BOTH stores than if the HD had located itself a couple of miles down the road.

The goold ol' McDonalds n Burger King syndrome....

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

The original use of the Borg came from Star Trek and referred to Home Depot's business practices of driving out the small (and large) competition by building stores right next door to existing stores and undercutting prices to the point that the competition could not stay afloat.

I don't know if he created this approach, but Sam Walton built his Walmart empire this way. I read somewhere that he used to sit and watch the parking lots at other big stores (K-Mart, for instance), and if foot traffic was good he'd build right across the street.

Interestingly, I know of quite a few "hometown" hardware stores that still seem to do OK even in the shadow of a HD or Lowes. We have an Ace hardware that is fantastic - you can go in and say "I need to attach this thingamajig to this doohickey", and then can help you out with it. and it's easier to special order stuff.