The Home Depot is one of the most successful big-box chain stores in the world.  A big-box store is exactly what it sounds like–a physically large, rectangular retail store.  The Home Depot is the largest home-improvement retailer in the United States and the second-largest retailer in the United States behind Wal-Mart.  It was founded in 1978 and currently has over 2,193 stores spread across all fifty states.  It also has stores established in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, Canada, Mexico and China–making it the largest home improvement retailer in the world. The Home Depot is a giant mega store that made its fortune by building home improvement centers large enough that they could offer more products than any of their competitors.  It’s true that The Home Depot is a goliath and they offer tons of excellent products to customers all over the world.  But this does not mean they’re the best place to shop for laminate flooring.

Recently, I visited The Home Depot website to see what kind of selection they had available for laminate flooring.  Then I visited FloorMall.com, an online flooring retailer that has always impressed me with the size of its inventory.  And after comparing the sections the sites dedicated to laminate flooring I was honestly surprised with what I found.  The Home Depot only had 5 different brands of laminate flooring for sale.  FloorMall currently sells 17.  From there I took a look at how many different types of laminate flooring each retailer sold.  According to their website The Home Depot only sells about 140.  FloorMall, on the other hand, sells over 600.  This may seem surprising but due to the fact that FloorMall is more specialized and more focused they’re able to offer their customers more variety.

The Home Depot is a great resource that homeowners can utilize in order to improve their home but as far as flooring goes FloorMall is a better bet.  The larger amount of products can lead to more options, lower prices and better value.