Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate This Thread
Hop To
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4
#4385249 - 10/16/17 01:23 PM Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure  
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,196
Chef Offline
Member
Chef  Offline
Member

Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,196
North Carolina
Home Depot Panics Over Millennials

And I was thinking "Man, that is B.S. they aren't that bad". I googled "Home Depot - How to use a tape measure" ...well dang... it's there!
Home Depot - How to use a tape measure

I have to ask myself this though... did we fail them for not teaching them or did they fail us for not wanting to learn? My 8 y/o really seems to enjoy helping out on projects. My 13 y/o rejects any attempt to teach him anything.



Home Depot Panics Over Millennials; Forced To Host Tutorials On Using Tape Measures, Hammering Nails

As wall street analysts celebrate the coming of age of the millennial generation, a group of young people who were supposed to lead another revolutionary wave of consumerism if only they could work long enough to escape their parents' basement, retailers like Home Depot are panicked about selling into what will soon be America's largest demographic...but not for the reasons you might think.

While avocado resellers like Whole Foods only have to worry about creating a catchy advertising campaign to attract millennials, Home Depot is in full-on panic mode after realizing that an entire generation of Americans have absolutely no clue how to use their products. As the Wall Street Journal points out, the company has been forced to spend millions to create video tutorials and host in-store classes on how to do everything from using a tape measure to mopping a floor and hammering a nail.

Home Depot's VP of marketing admits she was originally hesitant because she thought some of their videos might be a bit too "condescending" but she quickly learned they were very necessary for our pampered millennials.

In June the company introduced a series of online workshops, including videos on how to use a tape measure and how to hide cords, that were so basic some executives worried they were condescending. “You have to start somewhere,” Mr. Decker says.

Lisa DeStefano, Home Depot vice president of marketing, initially hesitated looking over the list of proposed video lessons, chosen based on high-frequency online search queries. “Were we selling people short? Were these just too obvious?” she says she asked her team. On the tape-measure tutorial, “I said ‘come on, how many things can you say about it?’ ” Ms. DeStefano says.

Meanwhile, Scotts Miracle-Gro has been forced to start training classes to remind frustrated millennials, who can't seem to keep their flowers alive, that plants need sunlight to grow (apparently not a single millennial ever took biology in grade school). Commenting on the tutorials, a defeated VP of Corporate Affairs, Jim King, admitted "these are simple things we wouldn’t have really thought to do or needed to do 15 to 20 years ago"...sorry, Mr. King this is your life now.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has started offering gardening lessons for young homeowners that cover basic tips—really, really basic—like making sure sunlight can reach plants.

“These are simple things we wouldn’t have really thought to do or needed to do 15 to 20 years ago,”says Jim King, senior vice president of corporate affairs for Scotts. “But this is a group who may not have grown up putting their hands in the dirt growing their vegetable garden in mom and dad’s backyard.”

“They grew up playing soccer, having dance recitals and playing an Xbox,” says Scott’s Mr. King. “They probably didn’t spend as much time helping mom and dad out in the yard as their predecessors or their predecessors’ predecessors.”

Companies such as Scotts, Home Depot Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. , Williams-Sonoma Inc.’s West Elm and the Sherwin-Williams Co. are hosting classes and online tutorials to teach such basic skills as how to mow the lawn, use a tape measure, mop a floor, hammer a nail and pick a paint color.

Unfortunately, at least for the Home Depots of the world, millennials now represent the largest demographic in America with 4.75 million 26 year olds roaming the streets of New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles without a clue as to how to use a tape measure.

The biggest single age cohort today in the U.S. is 26-year-olds, who number 4.8 million, according to Torsten Slok, chief international economist for Deutsche Bank . People 25, 27 and 24 follow close behind, in that order. Many are on the verge of life-defining moments such as choosing a career, buying a house and having children.

Millennials as a whole are America’s latest demographic bubble, overtaking the baby boom generation and, like them, transforming popular culture, retailing, media and lifestyles. They make up about 42% of all home buyers today, and 71% of all first-time home buyers, according to Zillow Group . Some 86% of millennial home buyers reported making at least one improvement to their home in the past year, more than any other generation, Zillow says.

While we have our doubts that it will save their business, retailers like J.C. Penney and West Elm are trying to adapt to the millennial generation by offering basic in-home services like installing televisions or hanging wall art.

J.C. Penney Co. says the group is willing to hire others for projects. The retailer has pushed into home services, including furnace and air-conditioning repair, water-treatment systems and bathroom renovations, and expanded its window-covering installation.

“They’re much more of a ‘Do-It-for-Me’ type of customer than a ‘Do-It-Yourself’ customer,” says Joe McFarland, executive vice president of J.C. Penney stores. “You don’t need a ladder or a power drill, you don’t even have to wonder if you measured your window right.”

Home-furnishings retailer West Elm offers service packages, which start at $129, to provide plumbing and electrical work, painting, installing a television and hanging wall art and mirrors.


The road less traveled is filled with fewer needy people.
Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#4385252 - 10/16/17 01:29 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
Miami, FL USA
And many people wonder why the US isn't nearly the manufacturing giant that it used to be.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4385260 - 10/16/17 01:49 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
Haggart Offline
I Fought Diablo
Haggart  Offline
I Fought Diablo
Veteran

Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
The Lone Star State
Sad but it's about to get worse as the robots are coming ! In the next 20 years i believe we will see changes on a level that we saw with the advent of computers and the internet. I think my older son now sees the value of when i was teaching him how to plant - a plant.

His boss is paying him to plant flowers (Chrysanthemums) in front of his house. He calls home to ask mom for tips - i bet he remembers and wishes he'd paid more attention to what dad was showing him !


"everything lives by a law, a central balance sustains all"
#4385262 - 10/16/17 01:59 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,735
F4UDash4 Online cool
Veteran
F4UDash4  Online Cool
Veteran

Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 13,735
SC
I used to work with an engineer who didn't know why the hook at the end of the tape measure was mounted loosely.

But he was still a good engineer.


"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz
#4385265 - 10/16/17 02:08 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,557
jack72 Offline
Senior Member
jack72  Offline
Senior Member

Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,557
Toronto
I followed the tutorial...glad I did,,,I could have lost an eye.....
On the other hand..I bought a box of nails and half of them were defective. they had the flat part of the head on the wrong side of the nail.


- I know those voices in my head are not real, but man they have some good ideas.

- I never killed anyone, but I have read a large number of obituaries with great satisfaction.

- If I cannot make it to your funeral, I will certainly send a message indicating my approval.

- Most of my Friends are Imaginary

- Time is money, so I decided to sell my watch.
#4385268 - 10/16/17 02:13 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
Haggart Offline
I Fought Diablo
Haggart  Offline
I Fought Diablo
Veteran

Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
The Lone Star State
"they had the flat part of the head on the wrong side of the nail"

a millennial was running the manufacturing process


"everything lives by a law, a central balance sustains all"
#4385269 - 10/16/17 02:24 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 1,671
Sunchaser Offline
Member
Sunchaser  Offline
Member

Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 1,671
Houston, Tx.
"they had the flat part of the head on the wrong side of the nail" has nothing to do with millennials.

It is a well established fact that the first and all subsequent nails with the flat part on the wrong end originated at Texas A&M.

#4385271 - 10/16/17 02:33 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
Haggart Offline
I Fought Diablo
Haggart  Offline
I Fought Diablo
Veteran

Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
The Lone Star State
hehe


"everything lives by a law, a central balance sustains all"
#4385273 - 10/16/17 02:40 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
Miami, FL USA
I had no clue about the UT vs. Texas A&M rivalry until I lived in Texas back in the 1990's. Funny stuff for sure.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4385282 - 10/16/17 04:09 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,138
RSColonel_131st Offline
Lifer
RSColonel_131st  Offline
Lifer

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,138
Vienna, 2nd rock left.
It's interesting.

Namely if we consider where most of us learned how to use a tape measure.

There's a whole lot of society change indicated by that little video.

#4385292 - 10/16/17 05:17 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 693
Pugio Offline
Member
Pugio  Offline
Member

Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 693
Deep in the Leng Plateau
Is the term "Millennial" PC marketing code for foreigners in the US?

#4385301 - 10/16/17 05:58 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 5,864
Bill_Grant Offline
Hotshot
Bill_Grant  Offline
Hotshot

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 5,864
Dallas, TX
Pugio - Nope
Most are probably smarter than our 20-Somethings....


~Bill

In my defense, I was left unsupervised...
#4385308 - 10/16/17 06:20 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 5,420
LB4LB Offline
Still lurking about
LB4LB  Offline
Still lurking about
Hotshot

Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 5,420
Detroit Burbs
Have they come up with a name for the generation after the Millennials ?

#4385324 - 10/16/17 07:25 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: jack72]  
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 13,215
NH2112 Online content
Veteran
NH2112  Online Content
Veteran

Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 13,215
Jackman, ME
Originally Posted by jack72
I followed the tutorial...glad I did,,,I could have lost an eye.....
On the other hand..I bought a box of nails and half of them were defective. they had the flat part of the head on the wrong side of the nail.


Those are for the other side of whatever you’re building.

Sorta on-topic true story here. Somewhere around 12-15 years ago I was helping a friend build a deck. He’d sight down a floor joist to see if it was cupped, after watching us nail a few in his wife asked him why he was smelling the boards.


Phil

“The biggest problem people have is they don’t think they’re supposed to have problems.” - Hayes Barnard
#4385332 - 10/16/17 08:03 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: NH2112]  
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,066
RedToo Online smile
Senior Member
RedToo  Online Smile
Senior Member

Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,066
Bolton UK
It's not just practical skills. I'm 61 and still teach part time (primary). All the twenty somethings who teach alongside me are, in my eyes, computer illiterate, despite having had computer and IT lessons all the way through their education. Two examples: the head of upper key stage 2 (9 to 11 year olds) asked me to make him a spreadsheet that would average sets of test results, a new class teacher had no idea how to check the margin and paper size in Word and couldn't figure out why stuff wouldn't print properly. You may say I'm part of the problem as I have to teach computing and IT as part of my job. Yes I do, the problem lies with the curriculum I have to teach ...

Last edited by RedToo; 10/16/17 08:05 PM.

My 'Waiting for Clod' thread: http://tinyurl.com/bqxc9ee

Always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
Elie Wiesel. Romanian born Jewish writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, Holocaust survivor. 1928 - 2016.

Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts. C.S. Lewis, 1898 - 1963.
#4385334 - 10/16/17 08:12 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 695
axman Offline
Member
axman  Offline
Member

Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 695
NYC
I heard somewhere (think it was CNET) that Sears has put out instructional videos on how to use a washing machine. And Michael Smerconish recounted a story about his son having to be told to put detergent in the washer.

#4385356 - 10/16/17 10:29 PM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,225
No105_Archie Offline
No105_Archie  Offline

Veteran

Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,225
N. Atlantic east of Canada
FARK ME !!! we're all doomed biggrin


Archie Smythe

carpe diem
#4385406 - 10/17/17 05:32 AM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: F4UDash4]  
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,977
Vitesse Offline
Member
Vitesse  Offline
Member

Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,977
Devon UK
Originally Posted by F4UDash4
I used to work with an engineer who didn't know why the hook at the end of the tape measure was mounted loosely.


I imagine that sort of thing is Advanced Tape Measure. Funny seeing a tape with no millimetres, mind.

We get both even after all these years of metric. Timber is still named in imperial sizes but supplied in metric so a 4 x 2 is 47 x 97mm which doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

#4385412 - 10/17/17 05:55 AM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: RedToo]  
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,614
theOden Offline
Member
theOden  Offline
Member

Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,614
Originally Posted by RedToo
It's not just practical skills. I'm 61 and still teach part time (primary). All the twenty somethings who teach alongside me are, in my eyes, computer illiterate...

I see the same thing.
People having good computer experience since thay have had a facebook account for many years (triple facepalm on those).
There really is a huge gap between us who grew up with autoexec.bat and config.sys and todays "end-users" doing not much else than gossip manouvering on social media.

#4385416 - 10/17/17 08:08 AM Re: Home Depot video on how to use a Tape Measure [Re: Chef]  
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,138
RSColonel_131st Offline
Lifer
RSColonel_131st  Offline
Lifer

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 25,138
Vienna, 2nd rock left.
^ Well, the companies spend a lot of time making things "work to schematics" (Apple being the prime culprit here) which leaves users clueless what to do when things don't work out of the box.

I don't think the 20+ Gen is stupid or lazy though. In all fairness they have to deal with a speed of the world that we were never subjected too growing up. Our childhood interests and what's "cool" lasted at least a year, now it's changing every week. And I'm only from '81, I imagine it must have been even slower before that.

There's a lot of confusion in the young and also a lot of confused parents.

Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4

Moderated by  RacerGT 

Quick Search
Recent Articles
Support SimHQ

If you shop on Amazon use this Amazon link to support SimHQ
.
Social


Recent Topics
Carnival Cruise Ship Fire....... Again
by F4UDash4. 03/26/24 05:58 PM
Baltimore Bridge Collapse
by F4UDash4. 03/26/24 05:51 PM
The Oldest WWII Veterans
by F4UDash4. 03/24/24 09:21 PM
They got fired after this.
by Wigean. 03/20/24 08:19 PM
Grown ups joke time
by NoFlyBoy. 03/18/24 10:34 PM
Anyone Heard from Nimits?
by F4UDash4. 03/18/24 10:01 PM
RIP Gemini/Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford
by semmern. 03/18/24 02:14 PM
10 years after 3/8/2014
by NoFlyBoy. 03/17/24 10:25 AM
Copyright 1997-2016, SimHQ Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.6.0