I worked at the Clive Menards for about a year in 2015 to get extra wedding money (so 75% of my pay went to purchases at the store, now wife didn't really keep track, so no harm). I agree they have plenty of employees who don't know much (if anything) about other departments, but you gotta remember they need a lot more employees than your local True Value, too. They pay decent, think it was something like $11.50/hour & a boost to $13/hour for weekends.
Seemed the majority of customers were the type who knew what they needed, but not all. 11% weekends were very busy, especially when there were additional big sales on top. I worked in Cabinets & Appliances, so plenty of people who'd wait for 11% to drop $4k on appliances or $10k on cabinets. I wonder what percentage of those actually get used.
Adding another store in Grimes right down the road does kind of surprise me, but Clive is a top performer like someone mentioned. Kind of crazy to think the DSM Metro can support so many big box hardware stores. Will the new one make 10 total between Menards/Lowe's/HD? (Including Ankeny & WDSM)
When it comes to rebates, I think the statistic is that only 20% of people actually do the paperwork to get the rebate. So 80% of the people who go shopping for the 11% discount and need to get a rebate, never actually do it. Menards, being as cheap as they are, probably stick to rebates because it drives more sales, without actually having to take a hit of profitability.