Subject:
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Re: Slim pickings everwhere
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Wed, 29 Dec 1999 10:03:45 GMT
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Viewed:
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617 times
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Kevin Salm wrote:
> From a profitable sales prospective, the idea of moving product from store to
> store would seem to work. And if used, would definitely increase the revenue
> of each participating outlet.
No! No! Never! Don't say that, they could be listening. <shifty looks>
> From a paperwork or tracking prospecive, it could become as messy as TRU's
> so-called inventory system. Moving numbers around on paper is pretty easy with
> electric telecommunications to speed things up and for easy verification, so it
> would seem not too difficult to account for product transfers from one location
> to another. In reality, however, this is very much dependent upon the people
> performing the data entry and tracking. The labor pool for retail is not
> highly skilled or especially highly motivated toward the greater good of the
> store or the parent company. What I am saying is that the attitude of 'Who
> Cares' may hamper such efforts.
This is true of most of the megastores--even more so now that we're below 4% (!!!)
unemployment in many states. The Wal-Mart near my home in NJ can't even find
enough people to keep more than one of the "This Register Always Open 11-8 M-F"
registers open. There have been times I've gone there (the last time on 22
December) and found two cashiers covering a 26-lane bank--and what's more, two
*lousy* cashiers. My change was 87 cents and I gave her 13 cents after she'd
already rung it out. She had to get the calculator out to make sure I wasn't lying
about it making a dollar! Sheesh.
That rant aside, there are a few people who actually care. The trick is finding
them.
> From a logistics prospective, it could be a real nuisance. Consider the truck
> driver who is making deliveries to stores in the same chain. The driver just
> wants to arrive at the destination, unload the freight, get the paperwork
> signed, and drive off to make another delivery or go home. If drivers are
> charged with moving freight from one store to another--whether via the
> distribution center or directly--could be cause for problems. I won't even
> begin to list what those problems could be since it would be more speculation
> on my part (done enough in this post already) but I am sure you could come up
> with a few yourself.
We used to do stock redistribution when I worked for Tandy--and you're right, it's
a mess when nobody knows or cares how it's handled. We just used UPS; the sheer
volume of traffic is what made it viable, and the fact that it was fairly
short-distance (never more than 10 miles).
> This is not perfect world. I guess we will just have to deal with the way the
> mega-retailers handle our favorite products. Or try complaining more.
...or option (3), let their poor planning and handling bite them in the rear while
we buy sets at well below wholesale cost. I actually enjoy doing that, because
most mega-retailers are little better than sacrophytes who strangle small business,
and if I can get what I want and have it cost them money too, I'm all too glad to
do it (within reason, natch--theft is wrong!). The wholesaler gets their money,
TLG gets their profit, I get sets for 85-90% off retail, and it's the retailer who
has to take the loss--a loss they wouldn't have to take if they'd just get their
act together. That, however, might take a radical step like "paying good people
what they're worth," that most giant überstores are unlikely to make.
best,
Lindsay
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Slim pickings everwhere
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| (...) Yes, *they* are listening :) (...) *sigh* [climbs on small soapbox] The retailers and TLC are cooperative partners in the situation that exists. Each has its own turf and wants to keep it that way. Perhaps Lego product should be thought of as (...) (24 years ago, 29-Dec-99, to lugnet.market.theory)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Slim pickings everwhere
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| From a profitable sales prospective, the idea of moving product from store to store would seem to work. And if used, would definitely increase the revenue of each participating outlet. From a paperwork or tracking prospecive, it could become as (...) (24 years ago, 28-Dec-99, to lugnet.market.theory)
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