They are the same

They are the same window, with Lowe's opting to stock only the Low E with argon units. They can order the non low e units if you want them.
They can get all the sizes as well, but will have to special order some sizes that they don't stock. But they are all the same proline.
AS for pricing, Lowe's and Home Depot can sell product for a much smaller mark up that almost any retailer. Because of their volume, the big box stores don't need big margins to make big profits. Where your experience may suffer, is if you need service. The service level tends to drop with the price. If you know exactly what you need, go to the big box store. If you need help, I'd recommend paying a little more for the experienced sales & service staff.

mike35,

Any idea what percentage we might save? Just trying to figure out if it's worth going to the big box store and possibly sacrificing the customer service we may get from tne retail store. Thanks!

That can vary quite a bit around the country. I'd get a quote from both. That way, you'll have it writing from each source, and you can compare them side by side.

Caribcarol, Lowes vs Pella Store are very different when it comes to pricing. The Pella store will be much more. Also keep in mind that the Pella Stores are not affiliated with Pella the window manufacturer. The Pella Stores are owned and operated by a completely separate entity unrelated with Pella. They just sell their product and got permission to carry the name. So they are really no different than Lowes.

As Mike told you earlier Lowes carries the Proline window with the LoE/Arg filled glass as their standard choice. The Pella Store doesn't use this as their norm to give the customer that rock bottom price. This gives them another sales tactic to mark up your window. The cost of having LoE/Arg added to your glass is really very minor. What they will charge you is different everywhere you go. It can range from $25.00 to $150.00 believe it or not. Lowes will by far give you a better price than most anyone else. Lowes is very limited on what they can get from Pella in certain cases. So make sure they can get what your looking for. It's hit and miss on their installers. You'll have to do some research to make sure your getting the best they can offer. Good Luck!!!

I also found the Prolines at Menards. The brochures from both Lowes and Menards seem to carry the same sizes as the Pella retail store. We would love to get their Vivid View screens but they are outrageously priced-not quite sure why.

The Vivid View screens use a much finer fiberglass mesh for screening. The cost of producing this mesh adds considerable cost to the finished product. Andersen's TrueScene screen is the same way. They use a very fine stainless steel mesh that looks great, but comes in at about triple the price. But if you have great views, and/or bought the applied grilles, might as well be able to see them, right?