Can some tell me what the connection is? I went to Menards today and found great o guage buildings and am wondering what the connection is?
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Over the past 4 or 5 years during the Holiday season Menards has contracted out with various vendors to manufacture O gauge buildings and freight rolling stock. The product is packaged with the Menards name. In the past Menards has also contracted with Lionel to assemble starter sets exclusive to Menards.
Menards, he company - probably one or more execs at the top - likes O-gauge railroading and sells the stuff with their name on them, probably making a bit of money and getting their name out there among model railroaders - not an insignificant niche market for other products, too.
Here's some interesting Menards tidbits...
So having one of those Menards branded F-150's with a guy removing garbage bags and setting them on the curb with the cops arresting him would be a factual scene!! 
- In 1997, John Menard was found using his personal pickup truck to haul plastic bags of chromium and arsenic-laden wood ash to his home for disposal with his household trash. Menard pleaded no contest to felony and misdemeanor charges involving records violations, unlawful transportation, and improper disposal of hazardous waste. Menard and his company were fined $1.7 million for 21 violations.[10]
- In 2003, the Minnesota attorney general charged that Menards manufactured and sold arsenic-tainted mulch in packaging labeled “ideal for playgrounds and for animal bedding.” Warning labels from the CCA-treated wood were found in the mulch. The EPA recommends that CCA-treated wood not be converted into mulch. As of 2008 the case was still pending.[10]
