Big Box Store vs. Independently-Owned Business – Which is Better?
For your industrial metal needs, there are a lot of decisions that go into where you purchase your metal. Where you choose to purchase can affect your metal-buying experience in many ways. While metal is versatile and can be found in a wide variety of stores, your experience, and the impact of your choice, can vary greatly depending on where you purchase.
Selection and availability
This is perhaps the factor that people consider first, and for good reason. For your construction business or manufacturing business in Arizona, you want to find what you’re looking for right away, without having to spend time shopping around.
In an effort to appeal to the masses, commercial big box stores tend to stick to offering metal supply that is the most common, such as aluminum or steel. And they usually focus on the most popular sizes and gauges needed for the home repair or small-scale DIY clientele.
Smaller metal supply businesses will often carry a broader, more specialized range of metal types, gauges, and varieties. You can often find custom or unique items not carried by larger retailers. Also, independently owned businesses are likely to accommodate special requests, having the capacity to research and order what is needed.
Value for your money
Because they order in bulk, big box stores usually offer competitive prices on their standard metal supply. But that’s often where the savings end, as large retailers may charge more for custom orders or specialty items.
When independently owned metal supply warehouses often offer better value for unique or specialty items, while still often offering more popular metals at good prices. Smaller businesses also tend to be willing to offer more flexible pricing for large orders or regular customers. And with the time saved by working directly with a dedicated team of experts, you may find working with smaller businesses is worth it, all the time.
Community impact
Large retailers carry a large carbon footprint. Between the large-scale transportation practices and nation-wide manufacturing, big box stores are widely criticized for their negative environmental impact. Also, the money you spend at large retailers tends to impact on a national scale rather than a local community.
Smaller metal supply businesses often practice more sustainable environmental measures, working with local manufacturers and reducing transportation emissions. And when you do business with independently owned, local entities, you know you’re contributing to the sustainability of your local community.
Customer Service
Because those working at large retailers deal with a huge variety of products, from houseplants to toilet plungers to screwdrivers, it’s only natural that their knowledge about industrial metal needs in Phoenix may be limited.
At Arizona Iron Supply, metal is what we do, and we do it well. Our expertise is focused on metal supply in Arizona, and are skilled at offering recommendations, advice, and problem solving. Those who come to us with metal orders, questions about cutting options, specialized needs, and for efficient attention to detail are not disappointed.
If you haven’t purchased metal through a smaller, independently owned business in Arizona such as Arizona Iron Supply, we’d love to talk with you. We’re convinced that you’ll soon see why our customers keep returning to the expertise, personalized service, fast and efficient processing, and variety of services we offer. We have an impressive metal supply on hand in our warehouse, and will work with you to order anything else you may need.
We’re proud to serve Arizona industrial metal industries with their needs; large or small, complicated or simple, one time or hundreds of times. We’ve got your metal construction, fabrication, welding, and design needs covered.
