Frankie and Slim

Frankie and Slim
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Thursday, February 16, 2012

GOODS AND SERVICES

 
Is it just our local area WalMart or is yours out of everything?  Are other stores running low on inventory too.  At first I thought it was a re-stocking day but returning the next week, the things I needed were still gone and this week the same.  

You can be sure that those items will reappear sometime but in smaller packages and at much higher prices.   Obviously transportation costs are delaying restocking because the trucks make fewer trips to deliver the replacement items because they can't afford the fuel to transport?


We have been running out of services for a long time and now it appears we are running out of goods...

If only we could run out of "bads"!

23 comments:

  1. I can't really say I've noticed that, but I'm not a Walmart shopper (except for oil changes and the plant nursery.) Oh - and that red candy (cinnamon discs) I keep on my desk at the office.

    I wonder what that's about - the shortage???

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  2. Our Walmart is the same and I thought I was there on restocking day too. And I have noticed that our Walmart is getting rid of more and more name brands and replacing with just their brand. So I choose to shop at other stores now that carry the name brands I want and really only use Walmart for dog food and meds.

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  3. It's a problem here too. Since Walmart is the main source for groceries in our rural area, it is frustrating to find things out of stock. I never considered transportation costs as an issue, but it makes sense. I figured it was just another Walmart plot.

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  4. Our Wal Mart is out of a lot of things too - including customer service. sandie

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  5. They have closed most of our convenient Wal Marts and moved on to newer areas of the city. They used to be my go to store but now I have to make do with Target. But Target also carries just mostly their brand.

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  6. Lynn -- Thankfully our little town does have a great Automotive store and we can have our car worked on and oil changes done there but driving 16 miles to WalMart is our best grocery store. I don't know about those cinnamon discs but perhaps I should. You left me wondering about the one-eyed dog Zen. It isn't your dog is it?

    Bonnie -- Of course you are right. They are replacing with their own brand of Great Value products. I won't mind as long as they make Turkey Bites. I would imagine you can keep WalMArt in business just by buying dog food! Sorry about my answer to your "first kiss" question. Perhaps that was one of those TMI moments for me.

    Rae -- We too depend on WalMart for our rural living. It's kind of one of those "damned if you do and damned if you don't". We can't live with them but we can't live without them. You had the most interesting question meme on your blog and I loved the dogs. Plus did you see where the FCC is targeting robocalls from computers to our homes. I think this will fix our main problem for sales calls this time.

    Chatty Crone -- Sadly our WalMart is lacking in customer service too. Maybe they are tired of people asking them where stuff is. LOL I love it that you met the author of COURAGE and found the proper credit for the poem. It thrills me to know Monica James of Changes in the wind blog who wrote BUCKSKIN BESSIE, a most amazing tale of true life.

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  7. Stella -- Hello Stella by Starlight. Great to see you here. Yikes! I wonder if our WalMart is planning to close. Hope not. Love your blog. That lamp is great. The telephone chair is so wonderful. I have one but it is a much different structure. I'll have to put it on my blog someday.

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  8. I just got back from Walmart and was shocked to see that it has the same clothes stock it had when I was here in October.

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  9. We have a grocery store here like that - always running low on things. But when we go to the same chain in a different location, it's properly stocked. Annoying, though, to have to drive way out of your way to get staple products.

    You're so right about the 'bads', Annie - there's never a shortage of those!

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  10. I have walked through a WalMart once or twice many years ago, when I had a job in Mississauga, but there are none whatsoever in my usual range of travel. I've never had a problem with low stock levels in my local grocery stores, so I'll count myself lucky.

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  11. Did you hear about the young fellow who worked in the produce department at Wal Mart in Tulsa?

    He walked into the back one day and said to his boss,"Some creepy jerk out there wants to buy a half a head of lettuce." Just then he looked behind him and saw the guy standing right there, so he said to the boss "And this kind gentleman has agreed to buy the other half."

    When the customer left the boss said,"Wow,kid, you are really a quick thinker. How long have you been here?" The fellow says,"Oh a few weeks."

    The boss is impressed and says ,"Where are you from?" the kid says "Norman." Oh,says the boss "Why did you leave Norman?"
    "Because there's nothin down there but prostitutes and football players."

    "Hmm,says the boss,"My wife is from Norman."

    The quick thinker says,"Really,who did she play for?"

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  12. Hi Annie ~~ I shop at Woolworths mostly and they do not seem to be short of goods, but there are more and more of their brand goods and a choice is nice.
    Thanks for your comments. My doctor and I get on very well. My granddaughter was makind soup for the first time (she's 31) and I stirred it to see the
    consistency and she said, "That's cooking Grandma" I tried to tell her I was only
    stirring. So I wasn't surprised that she suggested
    dismantling my stove and her father agreed. I said "NO Way" so haven't seen him or heard from him in 3 weeks. Glad you enjoyed the jokes.Take great care my
    dear friend, Love, Merle.

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  13. Yes! I depend on Walmart for some inexpensive medicines, n they were out of store brand allergy pills for 3 weeks! sometimes they run out of eyedrops I need- the alternatives at the drug store are $10, instead of $3. Those weeks I cut way down on food.
    All stores have less in stock these days. They've run out of my daily Green Tea at the market too-

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  14. A couple of years ago, the operations manager at work gave me a large candy jar full of those cinnamon discs. Everyone loves them, so when I get my Walmart oil change I always slip inside and stock up - the are only $1 per bag and are Walmart brand. Let me know if you try them.

    No - I have no pets anymore after my kitty Sophie died almost two years ago. Zen belongs to a printing client. I was so upset that some business cards they needed for a conference weren't delivered in my absence last week. The delivery address came in over an email and no one noticed it. So I drove them over myself. The couple makes documentaries and works out of their home and Zen is a wonderful watchdog, but very friendly once you are inside. :)

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  15. I don't go into Walmart much for fear I might end up on one of those 'people of walmart' photo blogs.
    I can just 'feel' the folks with cameras following me.

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  16. I don't shop there, but the huge jump in gas prices could have something to do with it.

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  17. I don't shop walmart for food. I have noticed the same thing at Aldi. Lots of my favorite things are gone when I get there.

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  18. LL Cool Joe -- What! No new hats? You post on "faithfulness" suited you because you definitely are a faithful person in all you do and say. Regardless if people always agree with you, you are faithful to your opinions as well and that is a good thing.

    Talon -- I'm glad to hear it is not just Walmart. I know what you mean about one store in teh chain having the items and another not. Yep there are lots of "bads" but you sure have a way of making them disappear with you lovely writing. Loved the conversation in your post Rara Avis!

    Sparkling Red -- Glad to know things are good for you and you are not affected by the inconvenience of having to change an entire week's menu because you can't find all the ingredients you need. I always hate that the most. You certainly had some interesting street names in you last post. The street I mentioned, "Goingsnake" was from a town I lived in called Tahlequah. It is the Capitol of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and "Goingsnake" is a very prominent family name in the area, thus the street name.

    Nancy -- Those things could only be happening in Oklahoma! Maybe that sharp kid was my grandson at OU in Norman:) Thanks for sharing the gossip.

    Merle -- I have not heard of Woolworths in a million years. It is among my most pleasant of childhood memories because I used to walk to Woolworths with my paternal grandmother and she would always buy me the neatest surprises. I did not know there were still any of those stores around. Let the grandchildren think you are cooking and not just stirring. I used to stir up some canned soup and my children would say, "Mama, you're the best cook in the world." They would say that too if I only opened a can of spam and fried it to serve with heated canned beans. LOL

    Snaggle Tooth -- Eye drops being out of stock is a big one for me. I need the eye ointment for night because my eyes get so dry from the sleep machine. I wonder why they let their stock of eye medication get so low? Of course if you can't find it there it doesn't always mean they don't have it. Often they move their shelving so you have to search for products and they hope you will find something new in the process. Your altered photo of the lovely sunset sure brought out some unusual looking critters:)

    Lynn -- Do the natives (you co-workers) get restless when you run out of those cinnamon discs? I used to keep candy on my desk and the employees got so used to it they would badger me until I refilled the dish. Actually I had started buying them for the customers but they rarely got any because the staff gobbled them up. Thanks for coming back to share the cinnamon disc information.

    Cliff -- I know what you mean. I dashed off to Walmart the other day without spending any time on my appearance and just knew I was going to show up on a Walmart photo blog that evening. I wonder sometimes if Walmart doesn't sell shots from their surveillance pictures. Do you guys still have your snow? We got rain and are still getting some light drizzles but our temperatures remain unseasonable warm. After last Winter, we love it.

    Riot Kitty -- Yes the gas prices and the horrible surprise tax hike on commercial tires. That was one of those things that got passed by signature only and no vote or discussion. How any truckers stay in business these days is beyond me. You amazed me with you confession of "shyness". I'm not really all that surprised because am always shocked to hear outgoing, flashy celebrities admit that they are basically shy. In your case shyness must be a sign of greatness:)

    Ancient One -- That doesn't surprise me at Aldi because that is why they are so inexpensive. They only sell products that they were able to buy at reduced prices so we never expect to find the same things twice there. I want to know about the lovely scene of houses on you post. Plus, loved the daffodils, late or not.

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  19. I'm not a WalMart shopper and haven't noticed any empty shelves at my grocery store. But if WalMart has found a way to order less often and restock less often and save operating costs, I'm sure everyone else will soon be doing the same.

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  20. Susan Adcox -- That was what I thought when I posted this but you are not alone in failure to see this happening in other stores yet. Maybe it's just Walmart and won't affect the other places we shop. Usually when the items finally show back up they are at least $1 higher. You sure give grandparents a lot of food for thought at your website. I still can't calm down about the school intruding on the child's lunch from home. And as far as the "gender rolls of infants and toddlers" I saw a program once where two toddlers were put behind a clear glass or plastic border where they could see their mothers but not get to them. The boys immediately began to search every nook and cranny for a way to get out. The girls stood and cried. The girls got out first. LOL

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  21. If my darling MTL shops one would think we were running out of goods but I know that unless it reaches out and hits him on the nose he won't find it.
    That sounds a bit harsh - but you know what I mean.

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  22. Very insightful post and you made some good points that I had not considered. The local Walmart here seems to be constantly low on stock as well, and I figured that it had everything to do with too few employees to actually do the stocking. Like you, I feel it is also time to run out of the "bads"!

    Jane

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  23. We went to Target to buy some Dr. Seuss books that were supposed to be on sale and they were all gone! Wow! Thank goodness they gave rain checks.

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