It's opening morning at Manhattan's first Home Depot, and Curbed correspondent Higgins is there to soak up the scene:
Run to 23rd St. for the most unusual sight of your life: a Home Depot where you can actually get help! The store flung open its doors to civilians for the grand opening this morning and it's stuffed with workers. They wander the aisles aimlessly. They congregate in groups idly. They hand out coupons ($3 off a $15 purchase). They stop you in the aisle and ASK what you need. I'm sure it'll take them just a few days to get the bugs out of the system, and shoppers will be force to hunt in desperation for help in finding, oh, masonry drill bits.
The police barricades were up on 23rd St, set in place Thursday night to control the crowds lining up outside as if it were Maritime on a hot night. Unfortunately, there were no crowds, no one lined up at all. The only impediment to getting in the door were some managers/execs posing for grip-and-grin photos on the front steps.· Home Depot Arrives In Manhattan [Curbed]The emphasis here is on decor, not hardware. Tools are in the basement, and no the exhaustive selection typically found in HD. Think new gleaming faucets rather than PVC pipe or washers. And also think of decor with suburban sensibilities, the sleek style of the glorious kitchen & bath remodling shops dotting the Flatiron district.