Menards

Menards is an American home improvement retail company headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Menards is owned by founder John Menard Jr. through his privately held company, Menard, Inc.

The company has 335 stores in 15 U.S. states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Only one location (the 336th) is in the Random Region, located at the edge of Random City.

Menards is the third-largest home improvement chain in the United States and Random Region, behind Lowe's and The Home Depot.

Company History
In 1959, John Menard Jr. began building post-frame buildings to finance his college education. By the end of 1959, he found it necessary to hire extra crews, and to purchase more equipment to keep up with demand. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire in 1962, Menard purchased land in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and built an office and shop. The company was founded in 1960  and incorporated in 1962.

Menards was founded as Menard Cashway Lumber. In the mid-1980s, the "Cashway Lumber" name was dropped and the business became simply known to this day as Menards.

Groceries
In 2007, the 240,000 sq ft (22,000 m2) and larger Menards stores began selling groceries. At such locations, shoppers are able to purchase items such as frozen pizza, milk, eggs, common snacks, and a variety of canned items. In addition, these Menards locations carry items such as office supplies, pet supplies, and mattresses.

Advertising
Menards publishes weekly print ads and broadcasts TV and radio ads. Radio and TV ads are usually accompanied by their iconic jingle consisting of banjo music (resembling that of bluegrass music) played by Gary Shaw of Wisconsin. Ray Szmanda was the "Menards Guy" who used the slogan "Save big money at Menards" regularly on television advertisements from 1976 to 1998, and occasionally from 1999 until his death in 2018. Before his return in 1999, Kim Larsen took over his position in his absence. During the Christmas and holiday season, radio and television ads typically feature an alternate jingle "Warm season's greetings to you all from Menards!" sung by a female chorus beginning in 1986. The same year, the retired "Helping You Build America’s Heartland" jingle was made.

Spanish language commercials (whose music contains a mixture of mariachi and banjo sounds) end with "¡Guarda mucho dinero en Menards!" [citation needed]

Jingle Lyrics (current English version)
You save big money, you save big money, When you shop Menards!

[insert advertisement and "Save 11% off EVERYTHING"]

Plumbing, electrical, appliances too, The savings will always come right back to you! You save big money, you save big money, When you shop Menards!

Trivia

 * Menards is referred to by BP The Clown and a handful of other people as "One of the Midwest's best creations".


 * The only location in not just Random City, but in all the Random Region, is 400,000 square feet (9.183 acres) with 2 floors, 10 departments, and a lumber yard.


 * Some people mishear the "When you shop Menards" portion of the store's jingle as "When you shot Menards". This may lead to people shooting up the department store to steal discount building supplies, but hopefully this won't be the case with our tight security.

Categories: Random City