Home supply stores stocking up

Daniel Armenta stacked 25 planks of baseboard moulding on a Lowe’s lumber cart on Telephone Road, preparing for weeks of nonstop work.

High rises and homes that flooded during Tropical Storm Harvey needed drywall, carpet and woodwork replacements, and widespread store closures had made it impossible for the contractor to stock up on supplies. His phone had already started ringing.

“I haven’t been able to buy this since the storm,” he said. “I’m going to be very busy.”

Lowes and Home Depot, the region’s two largest home supply chains, brought a substantial number of Houston-area stores back online Wednesday, marking the start of a scramble for tools and equipment to repair homes and buildings inundated during the deluge. Customers lined up with carts full of plywood, Sheetrock and cleaning supplies as the clouds at last parted.

Both retailers have expedited shipments of recovery materials throughout the region, but they’re facing the same supplychain challenges that have kept some grocery and big-box stores closed for days.

Flooded roads have blocked access to certain locations, and the regional disaster rendered it difficult or impossible for some employees to report

to work.

Lowes managed to open the majority of its roughly 30 stores in the area by Wednesday afternoon as its drivers navigated alternate routes to complete deliveries. Its command center has shipped more than 900 truckloads of emergency supplies to the region.

A handful of stores remained closed, though, flooded or cordoned off by high water. The store on Beechnut along the swollen Brays Bayou had set up makeshift “closed” signs in the parking lot, and employees there said it would be several weeks before it dried out and reopened.

Home Depot opened nearly 40 of its area stores, drawing heavily from a Baytown distribution center where employees had staged supplies days before the storm struck the Texas coast. The company has dispatched about 500 truckloads of supplies since the storm slammed ashore.

Fifteen stores, including several in heavily flooded areas, remained closed. Company spokesman Matthew Harrigan said the company has for days been tracking road and weather conditions for truck drivers and planned to bus in employees from other Texas cities to help restart operations.

“We’re literally monitoring by the minute,” he said. “We are opening stores as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Hundreds of customers descended on store locations as they opened throughout the city, particularly in areas hardest hit by flooding. At a Lowe’s store in Atascocita, where boats are still rescuing residents, a line snaked out the door.

At the Lowe’s on Telephone Road, store manager Trinidad Rodriguez managed to summon enough employees to open for the first time in days. He estimated 20 of his workers had been affected by the storm, but nearly 30 had made it there to run the registers and help frazzled customers.

By midafternoon Wednesday, the store had sold out of box fans to dry sodden flooring. Customers formed a long line in front of relatively few registers, carts laden with soil, tools and lumber. One man snagged a Texans doormat to replace one that had washed away.

Marlene Vences pushed a cart stacked with lattice. She was staying with her parents near Hobby Airport after the storm destroyed her home on the northeast side, and she trekked to the store with her dogs in mind.

“We’re trying to build a fence so they can go outside,” she said.

Mike Cordova acknowledged his luck as he assembled a stack of Sheetrock. Harvey left his home near Hobby Airport with only minor leaks, nothing that couldn’t be repaired within a few days.

“I’m high and dry,” he said. “I’m very lucky.”

Other customers helped each other push carts stacked with plywood to the parking lot. Rodriguez said his store, located near several East End communities, is a frequent destination for contractors, and he expects brisk business as their work orders come in.

“It’s going to be busy,” he said. “Likely for years.”