Bad economy? Anecdotal observation: re: Walmart

Last night I went out for awhile and stopped into a Hampton, VA, Walmart (I know, I know). I went in to see what there price is on a GeForce graphics card for my computer and needed some other things. Now, I don't go out shopping often. Hate it. But, it seems to me that following recent Christmases past, the post-holiday retail sector remained strong. Am I right? So, keeping in mind that this is the post-holiday season, I don't think it's a normal one. To wit: the WalMart I visited was suffering from what looked like severe inventory shortages.

There were huge gaps in consumable needs like bar soap and toothpaste selection. I use reading glasses - low quantity and quality. Clothing was thin, with more room between the racks and small "filler" displays stocked with packaged shirts or socks. In the food section, there were large gaps in areas including sugar, flour, rice and many products seemed to be in short supply. It just seemed as if the store was having a going-out-of-business clearance.

Anyone see this happening not just in your local WalMart but in other retail outlets?

Wal-Mart and the other Big-Box stores help create the current economic climate, they should be the first to go down as a result.

Store shelves can get wiped out with enough traffic, and not enough help scheduled to do a re-stock. The night stocking crew will have their work cut out for them.

If you went back this morning, I'd be willing to bet things were whipped back into shape.

The clothing may be a deliberate decision as they may be letting inventory dwindle as spring clothing will be out soon.

I don't know much about it, but when you consider the gazillions of dollars spent on advertising to get us out there buying redundant crap...makes you wonder if an economic downturn points out the elephant in the room.

:shrug:

:(

Granted, when it comes to a reeeeeeally nice shirt or pants that fit proper, I have two of each. In case one gets torn or stained. Styles change thrice as often as I do, and the colors aren't the generic Target fluff either...

Looking for a particular shirt, I went to three clothing store outlets to get my size for the color I wanted. They had plenty from several other sizes, but none of my size (16 collar, 34/35 arm length)

Lot of sales (buy 2 get 1 free) and all that... and these clothing (and other) items were of good quality, which is why I stopped going to walmart in the first place. I like shoes to last more than 3 months before they fall apart...

They usually restock early during the week; not at week's end anyway, most stores... especially when there is a sale. Don't freak out just yet.

stocking at night, at least the items that their own employees stock. I've been in at night, and noticed those gaps in products.

This economic situation isn't hurting Walmart, if anything people who shopped at more 'upscale' stores have shifted to Walmart (and KMart and Target and other discount stores).

They didn't have one bag of regular flour out, the shelf was empty.

seasonal change over in their stock.A friend who still works there said they are changing their "plan'o'gram" which is how things are laid out in the store, could be the reason.
I mentioned to my SO I went to Kroger the other day and there were all of 5 cars in the parking lot, for this particular Kroger that is unusual.So it could be a little bit of both, I would guess.

If anything, I've seen an overabundance of merchandise sort of falling all over the place in clothing stores like Goody's and Penney's, the "upscale" chains in the town where I work. Fred's looked like it always looks, not overstocked or understocked. I have noticed fewer cars around most stores, except for our local thrift stores, which have a rep for quality and selection (some shoppers come from larger towns far away to buy for their thrift and consignment shops, I've been told).

I will say that, after buying from the Hospital Auxiliary Thrift store in Harrison, AR, I rarely go anywhere else. The quality is better than at Fred's or Dollar General and often even Penney's and Goody's, and the prices are great--$1.50 for a pair of jeans (regularly $3 there-they were having a sale). And each trip is an adventure, because there is always something new coming in.

I started noticing last YEAR that choice of products was fading away. Where occasionally you'd be able to find the rare well-made clothing, it was GONE as far back as last August.

Seriously - next time you go check out the *variety*. It's virtually GONE. And I don't think the economy has such a direct link. Walmart KNOWS it has a stranglehold on the shoppers. WHY should they offer quality and variety when they have NO competition?

section.. that sounds kind of like old Soviet Russia

and they just cut most of their part-time employees and severely reduced the hours of the other part-timers. This is going to last until at least February. Then they cut all the full-time employees down to 36 hours a week. They told us yesterday at a store meeting that they are doing this to keep their profits up. :eyes:

I don't know if I'm supposed to share this information, but I don't really care.

As for the holes in the shelves where product is supposed to be, more people are buying groceries at Walmart. That's why there are so many holes. They can't keep up with the demand from customers.

A high ratio negatively affects cash flow, and must be reduced by more sales or less inventory.

Nobody's buying these days, so stocking less items for sale is a wise move.