HOBO – Home Owners Bargain Outlet

We had priced out countertops and installation through several retailers and installers and nobody could come even close to the price we had quoted at HOBO (for the exact same countertops). Needless to say, I was a bit reluctant to go with them since the price was so much lower than anyone else. Well, at the store, Michelle Young helped with our order — she was so friendly, knowledgeable and thorough, it was great! Again, after our purchase, I was concerned because after you pay for the countertops, you are essentially at the mercy of the builder HOBO contracts with — in this case, Kopfmann Co. Let me tell you, they were awesome to work with! They called to set up a final measure within two days of my purchase and had someone at my house doing the final measure up by the end of the week! Of course, then we had to wait a couple of weeks for the countertops to be made. Again — awesome — the countertops were done sooner than we had expected and they had someone in to install them within days of the call that they were ready to install. Two guys came to our house to do the install and they were younger guys (20 – 23 yrs old) — my husband was a bit concerned on how «green» they would be. Well, they completely blew him away with how professional, knowledgeable and thorough they were with the install. We are so happy to have worked with HOBO and Kopfmann! We had our new countertops completely installed within a month of purchase, and without any issues. I only wish they did more home improvement services — I would definitely use them!

Brought an end table and coffee table package drove 40 minutes back home just to find that the guy gave me the wrong set. WILL BE RETURNING AND NOT SHOPPING AGAIN! If you buy be aware of getting wrong product!

Today’s lesson — you get what you pay for.
So, we went to Hobo in early April after buying a house to order cabinets and countertops for a kitchen remodel. Prices were great, so we ordered cabinets.
Called in mid May to find out the status of the cabinets, found out that they were at the warehouse and ready to be scheduled for delivery. Great! Can we have their number? Oh, they’ll contact you in the next day or two to schedule. Great!
So, roll ahead a week to last Thursday when we went to pay for installation. At no point was the question asked if our cabinets were scheduled for delivery, they just went ahead and scheduled the install for today, a week later.
Finally, on Tuesday, we got a call from the cabinet warehouse to schedule delivery. The best they could do was this morning. They were an hour late and unbeknownst to us, the cabinet install was cancelled. AWESOME.
Now, the best they can do is the 5^th for installation. I have no kitchen for the next week.
Kids, trying to save money by going to HOBO may sound great in theory, but isn’t realistic in practice. It just leads to so many additional headaches that make it not worth it.

I’ve spent so much $ remodeling our kitchen in the past three months. $ spent at Best Buy and Home Depot resulted in easy returns, prompt service, etc. I bought a vanity at Hobo which had broken legs and poor staining. I was surprised to be told I’m stuck with it without a receipt. No ability to look up credit card, not even an offer for store credit. Unbelievable. I will no longer shop at Hobo due to their lack of technology to find past receipts or orders, it is an inconvenience. Now I’ve got a botched vanity mirror combo I paid $ 130 for.

How does this place not violate every fire code and ADA regulation on the books? The aisles are more blocked than my colon on the day after the Super Bowl! Currently, there is a ginormous stock of candy blocking the main aisle (I assume it’s the overstock from the last three Halloweens) followed by six pallets of throw pillows. Organization aside, Hobo has you covered. If you are looking to reno a rental on the cheap, HOBO can be a good option, especially if you know your price points. Recently, I installed CVT in a room in my basement. I paid about $.40/​st.ft. Home Depot and Menards were closer to $.80/​sq ft. Hobo had all of the tools and installation supplies right where I needed them too. Sure, their selection was VERY limited, but considering what I was using it for, I was very happy with what I bought. I recently tiled a floor in my basement bathroom and purchased all of those materials from here as well. The price was ½ of what the equivalent was at The Tile Store. Sure, the quality and selection was not the same, but for my application, it was well suited. Would I ever purchase high-​end materials here? Ah, no. Will I purchase garden tools and cleaning supplies here? Absolutely. What’s troubling is that HOBO assumes its customers will be food here. Seriously, they have a nice selection of Klement’s sausage products here and I am talking racks and rack of Summer Sausage. Disturbing. There is also a cooler just in case you needed some fresh brats to go with your new area rug and replacement toilet.
Service here has been better than I would expect. The check-​out employees are very liberal with the return policy. I’ve even been told by an employee «Just see me if you are returning less that a full box of tiles. We sell them individually, so I can return them individually too!» which is contrary to what their policy says. I’ve even received full cash back when returning products well past the 30 day limit. That was very appreciated.
To me, shopping at any given home store is the same as grocery stores. Every one has certain things that they are good at. We buy produce at Sendiks, meat at Bunzel’s, booze at Ray’s, and toilet paper at Target. Same principle goes for home purchases.

If you like the bait and switch on the pricing that this is the place for you.
If you like customer service and paying the price marked on the shelve for an item, not the price the register recalls the price, than this is not worth the time.
Al, a manger at Hobo, needs a class in customer relations.

Terrible place — do not shop here. Horrible service. Lesson to learn: a garbage diposal for $ 69 will probably not work. Lesson two: if the product is defective and you can’t find your receipt, do not expect Hobo to help you or to care. This place sells cheap shit, spend more, get more.

Return policy is antiquated and difficult. No receipt? Forget it. While Lowe’s Menard’s and Home Depot all have receipt retrieval systems, HOBO languishes in the Dark Ages. Without a receipt, the best you will get is a store credit. And they are VERY reluctant to grant that without time-​consuming scrutiny of what is being returned.

Truthfully, the deals weren’t as outstanding as I thought they would be. There is a nice selection of countertop chunks and cabinets to choose from. Otherwise, the prices are comparable to Home Depot or Kohl’s, depending on what you are looking for.

We visited Hobo today to check out stuff for an upcoming kitchen project and I left very, very puzzled.
The Good:
*If you need it, they probably have it. Even out of season stuff like garden gnomes in February.
*There are real bargains to be had — but you need to know your price points
*If you’re a do-​it-​yourselfer as my husband is, you can really stretch your budget
*Surprisingly large selection of stuff like glass tile, flooring and kitchen cabinets
*Some really cool high end sinks, faucets etc are now available
The Bad:
*Weekends are a total shitshow — the parking lot is weird, crowded and always full.
*As noted above — know your prices because not everything is a bargain. Eco counters were $ 2 more a square foot than Lowes and hardwood flooring was cheaper at Lumber Liquidators
*It’s no frills, so don’t expect that staffers will be super knowledgeable experts. They are nice but if you need more than directions, it’s not your place.
The Totally Weird:
*There was a cooler full of Usingers brats for sale. Maybe it’s just me, but I generally don’t think «good source for perishable meats» when I think of Hobo.
*Huge selection of bedazzled flip flops for sale. Random.
*If you’re bummed that your local supermarket is out of 64oz sizes of Kool-​Aid mix, they have it here.
In short, Hobo truly embodies their motto «You Never Know What You’ll Find».

HOBO… I admit I was skeptical of a place selling stuff for the home called HOBO. However, I am one to exhaust all my options, and it gave me a reason to go exploring a different part of Milwaukee. Besides, if it was as good as the ads say, then I’d also find some great bargains. It looked a bit hectic from the parking lot… which can sometimes be a hint to how good the bargains are. The place is easy enough to find and it looked like there were staff helping customers get their purchases in their cars.
As I walked in there was some furniture in the doorway area and when you walk in on the left there is the cash register. There is a hodge podge of stuff, but it seems like most of the stuff is a good bargain. Rugs, curtains, furniture, kitchen cabinets, flooring, lighting, coffee makers, crock pots, brooms, cleaning supplies… really… hodge podge. The problem for me is that I get sidetracked very easily, although I did note a couple of furniture items that I would like, but this was completely a reconnaissance mission to shop around and see what was out there before committing to anything. Their kitchen area made me want to remodel my kitchen, although not sure that my landlord would appreciate it. They have consultants to help as I witnessed one couple talking with one consultant about options for remodeling their kitchen. Overall, love the place and will definitely be back to get a couple of furniture pieces for my apartment… will write an update then.

A solid 4 star review for HOBO.
If you are a homeowner, you know there are tons of ‘little’ projects to do around the house. Maybe some new cabinets, a little fix-​up here, some painting over on the other side of the house… There’s always something to do.
When you need that weird item that you can’t find anywhere else, check HOBO. If you need a few little tiles to add to your bathroom wall, HOBO might have something. But — if you are planning to do a whole room, as Mike P suggested — purchase everything they have, because odds are they won’t have it the next time you come in.
Some of their light fixtures might be a little questionable, but they do well in the area rugs, household items (pillows, smaller chairs, table lamps). They do sell couches here, but I wasn’t so sure about those (and we didn’t need a couch anyway). For example, we might want an easy chair for our basement, and HOBO might have exactly what we need at the right price.
If you’re on a budget, try HOBO first, as you might be able to get everything you need in one trip.

Wonderful service! I bought a couch and discovered it was damaged once we got it home. They processed an exchange immediately and without issues. Great prices! Will shop again.

I like Hobo and will keep them in mind when I am looking for home remodeling projects. I found some great tile there years back. Products can be hit or miss though. We bought a toilet one time and it leaked — fluke? maybe. Sometimes you can find some great buys. I like to check it out a couple times a year.
Store is packed with everything you can think of from furniture to plumbing, gardening to carpet. Great selection of area rugs!

I have never been here before, in spite of seeing their adds way too often. They have plenty of specials. considering most of the stuff is from China. For some things that I don’t mind buying every year.
The few clerks that we interacted with were pleasant the store is like a Home Depot with better prices. Trivia– HOBO, stands for home owners builders outlet. Unique to Wisconsin. We also got weed spray. The return that we had was easy at the customer service desk. I’m thinking about the 6.5X 6.5 barzebo. just under $ 200. My sister had a bathroom done in her home with HOBO supplies. Things turned out good as she is very happy with her remodel.

LOVE me some HOBO. Here’s the bit, this place is WONDERFUL for items that do not matter if you go high end. For example, I got a petite pedestal sink here for $ 30, it is so cute and perfect for our 1920’s theme bathroom. Now, would I get the faucet here? No. The hardware is really what matters in the sink, so the porcelain sink that cost $ 30 is not going to break **be sure to check for cracks though before you buy!** but a cheap faucet is never good.
This place is also good for light fixtures. We bought a $ 22 fixture here that is just perfect.
Would I buy kitchen cabinets, counters, or anything else that I want and expect to be of quality? Hell no. Again, when remodeling your home, you need to decide what is smart to go low end and where you NEED to go high end. Some of these things you learn the hard way through trial and error.
That being said, I think HOBO is a great place for DIYers! You saved me a bunch of money on our bathroom remodel HOBO, thank you!

HOBO is an acronym for Home Owners Bargain Outlet.
WHAT: Discount home products — they purchase in bulk — the offerings constantly change. That means if you’re doing a project it’s best to purchase everything you need at once as they may not have it next time (sound similar to Trader Joe’s?).
HOBO is a Wisconsin-​owned company with seven locations that was founded in 1996 in West Allis.
BEST FINDS: Area Rugs are super cheap here! Light fixtures, paint, patio furniture, living room furniture (think cheap World Market) and housewares (think cheaper than Target). Good place to furnish an apartment or duplex.
WHERE?: HOBO’s flyer in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel doesn’t include an address or phone number, just that it’s located at 108^th and I-​94. This makes it impossible to plug into a GPS without their actual address. (This store is located at 800 S. 108^th Street on the East side of the street.)

In terms of finding affordable kitchen cabinets, I highly recommend checking out HOBO’s inventory of stock kitchen cabinets. There are plenty of deals to find and the prices are very affordable for those looking to renovate their kitchens on the cheap with decent quality.
If you are looking to use their line of stock cabinets, be warned that you should try to pick them up as soon as possible and realize that there is a guaranteed risk in project delays (e.g. Ordering up the countertops after the base cabinet install) when certain items are not available.
Although this can be a common occurance anywhere, keep in mind the nature of how HOBO handles this issue is what makes the experience quite fustrating.
For «stock» cabinets, HOBO doesn’t typically place special orders for pieces that are not in stock and always chooses the «wait and see» method… checking the stock replenishment every week in the «hopes» of getting the pieces one would need.
So far it has been 3 weeks since we first placed the order for an «in stock» cabinet piece and we have been told time and time again that it was going to come in. Once, we recieved a call that the piece was in, we drove to West Allis, only to be told that there is no record of having it held for us.
This is delaying our kitchen renovation project by a month right now and instead of addressing the issue, the staff at HOBO is taking the «its not my fault» stance and not even being sincerely apologetic about it.
From what we were told, the piece in question is also a hot button issue for «a number of other customers as well». Um, red flag HOBO, if that is the case, then maybe we need to figure out the best way to guarantee a delivery date and maybe make a special order. I have suggested to them over and over again that perhaps they should just special order these pieces in. Their response «oh no, that will take 3 – 4 weeks to get it in».
Well, its been 4 weeks since I have taken the «wait and see» method they twisted my arm to take. Hmm, it seems like a special order would have been the better approach to take at the beginning, eh? HOBO has yet to divulge why they choose not to do this (I am assuming that it has something to do with cost on their end, but really… this is BS because it really puts me in a bind).
Also some other fustration points:
1) Making calls to speak with certain departments almost always results in holding, being redirected to someone else, holding, redirected again, and then finally speaking with someone.
2) The on-​floor staff almost always passes the buck when it comes to helping me out. When I had to exchange a cabinet piece, I went to the back registers where you are suppose to have them dropped off, and then I was told I had to walk to the front to handle the exchange. Instead of letting someone know in the front that I needed to make an exchange and telling them who to expect, she simply said…“go to the front, I cant do those types of transactions here”. Wow, really? Oh and when I made it to the register, I got passed to someone else there. Wow again.
3) Always unwrap the boxes and check the cabinets before signing off on the pickup. We found a broken interior piece (which we decided to fix on our own since it was too fustrating to return it), some issues with the wood grain of some of these cabinets and even worse, the wrong cabinet size that was different than the pick up slip.
Imagine having to get a truck over there to pick these cabinets up and then finding out all these easily avoidable issues after they made it home. Granted, there are things I could have done here to avoid this, but when you are looking at the HOBO guy doing the check off on the pickup slip, there is a certain level of trust I come to expect without breathing over his shoulder.
Especially, when he is reading off the labels out loud and crossing them out on the sheet. I honestly didnt think I needed to micromanage READING.
The exchanges were still done in the end ok, but dealing with the customer service is quite irritating.
On the surface, you might think this review is simply giving HOBO a bad rap for an isolated customer incident. But having been back and forth at this location and experiencing this issue with customer service time and time again, I am led to believe that it is being experienced by other customers as well.
In hindsight, had I known the issues we would have faced, I would have approached it differently to save on some fustration, but in the end, there are things about HOBO that could be changed for the better that would benefit all of us, and not just myself.
Perhaps they are understaffed and overworked… perhaps they really dont have good communication or management… perhaps they have a few screws loose… but either way, it reflects poorly on HOBO as a place to go and its irritating enough to write this review.

A good place to find some nice cheapish finds. I recommend going more than once if you don’t see anything that wows you, because a lot if it changes. Staff are pretty helpful and easy to find