Building integrity at Home Depot

I'm one of those HGTV-inspired women who always has a project.

That's why I'm a regular at Home Depot and Lowe's, among my favorite resources for home and garden supplies and nice sales associates who will have mercy on me and suggest ways I can DIY (that means Do It Yourself in home-improvement language).

This month, the buzz at Home Depot is the firing of four managers who accepted gifts from Asian manufacturers determined to obtain a coveted space on the shelves of the nation's largest home-improvement chain.

The folks at Home Depot aren't talking because the feds are investigating. But that gives us a hint as to how extensive the payola might be. Home Depot now bans its buyers from accepting gifts. Lowe's has instituted a more realistic policy, prohibiting gifts valued at more than $75 in recognition that other cultures routinely bestow presents on business associates and, hey, who can be had for $75?

Here's the bottom line: as a consumer I appreciate Home Depot keeping products off the shelves that might have landed there as a result of graft. I'm happy that Lowe's has put a mechanism in place to ward off pay-to-play vendors.

In the end, the consumer wins.