Buying Hardware and Plumbing Materials at a Traditional Plumbing Store Is Stressful

Although my second brother works in plumbing engineering and can get quite cheap materials from nearby plumbing stores, from childhood to adulthood I’ve always felt quite stressed about buying things at traditional plumbing stores.

I suppose it’s because my aura just doesn’t match that of plumbing stores.

The Spatial Atmosphere of Traditional Plumbing Stores

A traditional plumbing store feels like a place where you need to be chewing betel nut, holding a bottle of Taiwan Beer with a straw (or Whisbih or Paolyta), and with a cigarette dangling from your mouth before you can walk in and shoot the breeze with the owner.

If it’s an electronics supply store, then I love browsing — I’d even make a special trip into one when traveling in Japan, like walking into a modern undersea dragon palace (and over a decade of browsing, I’ve personally witnessed the trend of it declining more and more).

So when B&Q appeared, it immediately became my best place to buy D.I.Y. tools and materials. Especially in those years when online shopping wasn’t yet popular, I absolutely loved going there. Besides B&Q, I could also browse HOLA next door, buying products of all levels in one trip.

Later I even bought their basement car wash vouchers (though I later found that kind of car wash was expensive and damaged the car, and it was better to just insert ten dollars and spray it myself). I could go about once a month (running from Tamsui to Shilin isn’t exactly close). Add to that discovering the Homebox unique to Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli when I went to study in Hsinchu, and I think that period was also the enlightenment era of home decoration D.I.Y. in Taiwan.

The Key Difference: How Products Are Displayed

After growing up, I once carefully analyzed it, and the biggest difference between traditional plumbing stores and electronics supply stores or B&Q and Homebox is probably how the products are displayed.

Plumbing stores often have little space, so everything is hidden behind the counter. And since I’m not a professional, I don’t really remember product names, so every time I go I have to describe the unknown item in clumsy Taiwanese-accented Hokkien. On top of that, the people inside often smoke, and the customers who come to buy are from all walks of life, so the whole spatial atmosphere makes me uncomfortable.

By contrast, at B&Q or electronics supply stores, products are openly displayed and clearly labeled, so you can slowly look and slowly choose by yourself, without needing to speak up and describe things or deal with social pressure. For a non-professional D.I.Y. enthusiast, this sense of ease is the key.

The Dilemma of Price and Experience

That said, although I myself love browsing B&Q and can always find many fresh and interesting gadgets, my second brother is quite averse to them, for the reason I mentioned at the start of the first paragraph: you can’t get cheap prices at B&Q.

This actually reflects two completely different purchasing logics:

• Traditional plumbing stores: Cheap prices, professional, can get contractor prices, but require a certain amount of professional knowledge and social skills, and the spatial atmosphere is off-putting.
• Chain home-improvement stores: Higher prices, but clear displays, complete product lines, and a relaxed shopping experience, suitable for non-professional D.I.Y. crowds.

For professional plumbers, time is money, and getting cheap materials is the key; for someone like me who occasionally does D.I.Y., browsing comfortably and buying clearly is actually more important than saving those few dozen dollars.

Summary

Traditional plumbing stores and chain stores each have their own customer base and value. The former wins on professionalism and price, the latter on experience and convenience. As for me, I’ll probably continue to be that D.I.Y. enthusiast who browses around B&Q endlessly, never tiring of it.