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In lugnet.general, Michael Hall wrote:
> Okay, here’s a kicker for you and I’m wondering if anything like this has
> happened to anyone else. I just got back from my local toy store (I won’t name
> which one yet) and was told that I couldn’t by large amounts of Lego from them
> anymore. This seemed really odd to me. I’m friendly with everyone in the store
> and know most of them on a first name basis. The assistant manager was really
> annoyed because I spend any where from $500-$1500 a week in the store. She said
> she was told by her district manager that she could be accused of being my
> distributor. I have his phone number and have tried calling him, but haven’t
> gotten a response.
>
> What really gets me is that while I do part out and sell some of the parts I
> buy, at least half of it I keep for myself and my boys. I pay full retail and
> don’t get a discount from them, so I don’t know why they would turn away a good
> paying customer. It seems like it would be about the same as shooting yourself
> in the foot. Anyway, let me know if you all have any similar experiences or if
> you can shed a little light on this for me.
Well, that's certainly wacky, but I can offer one possible interpretation based
upon my limited experience in retail.
I worked at a small game/hobby store from 97 through 99 that sold a lot of
role-playing games (among other stuff). One customer (whom I'll call Dwayne)
would, without fail, buy two copies of every new item released by White Wolf
games, thereby generating a few hundred dollars in sales each month. Given the
modest scale of the store, this was a considerable sum, and it certainly
represented a big fraction of our overall RPG sales. For some products, Dwayne
was the only interested buyer, and he still bought two copies.
Eventually the store's owner asked Dwayne to consider easing off on his
aggressive buying. His argument was that, if a different customer would seek
and fail to find a product that Dwayne had purchased twice, then the latter
customer might conclude that the store's inventory was sub-par, and he might
take his business elsewhere. Alternatively, if Dwayne decided to stop buying
through the store, then we'd be stuck with an extra two copies of each book
until we adjusted our inventory.
Offended, Dwayne quickly cut back on his purchases through my store,
transplanting his business to our competition (who was literally across the
street). Eventually he stopped buying from us altogether, and our competition
thereafter took in an extra few hundred monthly.
Now, IMO this was a ridiculous choice by my boss. Rather than shunning a
reliable customer, he should have embraced Dwayne's business and worked to
secure it long-term, and he could have coordinated our inventory control to
allow for Dwayne's monthly purchases. Instead, my boss handed a lot of business
to his competition, and we were stuck with immobile inventory and an immediately
visible loss of revenue.
To sum up my long-winded digression, the KBDM made a big mistake in cutting you
off. I'm not sure that I even buy the "distributor" argument, since you were
paying KB's full, listed price rather than scoring some kind of special buyer's
discount.
If you're really fond of the sales staff at KB, then shop there for odds and
ends. But on the whole I'd say that you should take your business elsewhere—if
KB doesn't want you, then there are other retailers who do.
Dave!
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Toy store won't sell me any Lego!
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| Okay, here’s a kicker for you and I’m wondering if anything like this has happened to anyone else. I just got back from my local toy store (I won’t name which one yet) and was told that I couldn’t by large amounts of Lego from them anymore. This (...) (20 years ago, 28-Dec-04, to lugnet.general, lugnet.market.shopping) !
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