Its a trend that I've noticed over the last few years where stores have been carrying less and less inventory. Then when you want sometime they offer to order it for you.

Newsflash; If I wanted to wait for it I would have ordered it myself.

I want to support the storefront business and I'm willing to pay a little more so I can touch it, make sure it fits, and have it right away but if they are not going to carry the inventory then there is no reason for me to waste my time going there.

Today it was work boots. A good selection to choose from. Each pair on display has 6 or 7 boxes under them in 2 or 4 sizes. Ask for a pair in my size and I'm told thats all they carry, but they can order any size I want.

I came home and hit up Timberland's website, they should be here Tuesday.

And yes, I understand that carrying inventory can be a huge cost, but thats the only advantage they have over the online retailers.

And with footwear, I want to be able to try it on first.
When I bought my Ariat boots, I was surprised that they're a full size smaller than my regular shoes.
Would've definitely ordered the wrong size without being able to try on first.

I would suggest you reconsider. Usually, when I go to a brick and mortar and they don't have it, they offer to order it for me and ship it to my address.

If you expect the store to have something in your size and you're an outlier, you're going to be paying a premium. For example, when I used to buy shoes, I know regular shoe stores have a limited selection of sizes. But when I go to Nordstrom, they have a whole range of sizes that I can try incrementally on hand at the store. But their prices are significantly higher but, especially with shoes, I have the luxury of being able to zero in on the exact fit.

Nowadays, I buy from Amazon and I can return items for free. So I don't mind ordering several sizes at a time or one at a time. The only cost to me is the time to bring it back to the store and I have plenty of time on my hands these days.

"I can order that for you" must be the motto of my local mower shop. It's supposed to be a pro service shop but they don't stock anything relevant. They sure do have a lot of farm equipment toys though. I should also mention that they sell off-brand parts as OEM.

I go in, ask for a deck belt with the part number. They don’t know how to find the part by the part number so they ask for my mower model number. 20 minutes looking at part diagrams. Then they get a cross reference number for an off-brand part. Then 20 minutes to search through inventory. “We ain’t got one but I can order it for you and have it here for next week sometime”. I just tell them that I can order an OEM belt myself and have it tomorrow at half the quoted price.

I now keep a spare belt for everything and order a new one when I use one from my inventory.

I hate that response from brick and mortar locations. I know you can order the item for me, I can also order the item for me.

The only reason I typically visit a brick and mortar location is for the convenience of being able to immediately take possession of the item I really need or want. If you can't accommodate that, then thanks but no thanks, I'll order it myself at a lower price and without the middle man.

I'm afraid we're already in for a few years worth of this 'no stock but we can order it' stuff while Bidenomics plays itself out.

^^^^I popped in just to post that, but you’ve got it covered.

“Well ain’t this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere.”

If you can order it for me, I can get it off eBay or Amazon for less in two days.

Enjoy your going out of business sale.

"We can order it."

Yeah, so can I. And for less money. I'm here willing to pay more to get it now.

I don't bother expressing that point anymore, they're at the bottom of the totem pole, no point in it.

It's sad how willing businesses are to shit on other peoples time. I understand that businesses cannot offer everything in every size, but dammit. Make an attempt to have a couple/few of everything in multiple sizes and have parts/accessories for stuff that you do sell.

I've posted this in 2019 and will share once again:

Needed a bar, chain, spark plug, air filter, & fuel filter for an Echo CS-271T chainsaw that I bought new from the dealer 20 minutes from me.

Went something like this:
Go in

Wait in line for the parts guy (about 5 minutes while he's busy doing something else.)

Give him the parts numbers so he can get the stuff I need and ring it up

Him) "Nope, don't have that. Or that. Or that." "Let me check and cross reference to make sure they don't have new parts numbers"

Wait another 2-3 minutes while he does what he does...."No sir, we don't have any of those, but I can order them for ya"

ME) "WELL NO SHIT, SO CAN I. Amazon will have it all here in a day or two. Figured I'd give you a chance to make the money first. How long will it take you to get it?"

Him) "We'll have it next Friday."

ME) "A full 10 days. 10. 10 fucking days to get parts to a saw that you sold me? 10 days to get parts to a saw you still stock and sell everyone else!"

Told the guy that I would never be back to spend another dollar there. Bottom line is I wasted an hour trying to do business with someone that didn't want my money

mutedblade, been on both sides of the counter all my working years. Used to be that the counter people and or the managers had a say in what could or could not be stocked. In many cases at least with at least two domestic automakers the manufacturer tells the dealership what and how many of an item to stock and if the dealer goes rogue and disregards the guidelines they are penalized.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
If you can order it for me, I can get it off eBay or Amazon for less in two days.

Enjoy your going out of business sale.

Really?

You guys are just feeding the algorithm machine.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
If you can order it for me, I can get it off eBay or Amazon for less in two days.

Enjoy your going out of business sale.

Really?

You guys are just feeding the algorithm machine.

Literally the only point of having the brick and mortar location is to be able to get the item you need immediately. I'll happily pay the premium if I can walk out with the item I needed immediately. If they don't have what I need, and I'm waiting for shipping either way, why would I pay the "immediate possession" premium rather than ordering myself, saving money, and in some cases getting improved shipping times?

Do people really waste money having the brick and mortar location order an item at a premium price when the item is available cheaper online with either the same or a better shipping window?

In fairness, they probably hate having to lose the sale also.

But what else would they say, "Sorry, we don't have it in stock, now get the fuck out"?

Having been the guy who used to go weeks without pay on occasion just to keep the lights on at the store and said many, many times "we can order that for you," this thread stings.

Simply put: if you don't want brick and mortar stores, then the mindset I see in nearly every post in this thread will get you there. Some stores deserve it, some don't, that's going to be your call. If it's stuff like shoes or lawn mower blades, hey, I get it. My brick and mortar store also had music lessons in the back and we worked on guitars for a few hours every night after we locked the front door, so when we fought hard for business with people saying "I can just order it from Musician's Friend," there was a real impact to the community in terms of product support. That's what you're paying for when you order through a store: product support. If the store sucks or that's not something they offer, then I'm not trying to argue in favor of supporting them.

I can think of more than a couple local stores that I don’t just go into for “stuff”. I also go in there for advice on what I need for a project, advice on how to use said product, advice on what to look out for during said project, and a myriad of other knowledge nuggets.
It’s NOT just about the place having WHAT I need, it’s the knowledge behind it.
Lots of times I’ll gladly wait for the “thing” while soaking up the “know how”.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Having been the guy who used to go weeks without pay on occasion just to keep the lights on at the store and said many, many times "we can order that for you," this thread stings.

I bet it does

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Simply put: if you don't want brick and mortar stores, then the mindset I see in nearly every post in this thread will get you there.

Yup.

I used to think the way some here do: "If you have to order it, anyway, why should I bother with you?"

Not so much, anymore, for two reasons:

1. Most people, when they're talking about ordering it on-line, are talking about Amazon. Amazon is part of the Big Tech Hegemony that's helping destroy this country. That is not an exaggeration. It's a fact. So we no longer have an Amazon Prime account and Amazon has become my vendor-of-nearly-last-resort.

2. ...

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
That's what you're paying for when you order through a store: product support.

Yup, pre- and post-sales. Example: Last year I bought a Jet drill press. I could have bought it off Amazon, but, because I bought it via my local tool store: When a particular part wasn't quite right they got me to their people at Jet and it got taken care of promptly.

About the same time as I ordered that drill press I bought a Delta T-square fence for my table saw. The tool store had to order it, and Amazon was a few bucks cheaper. I bought it from Amazon. I've regretted doing so ever since

Even my local car parts store has reduced inventory to majority oil and filters that are cheaper at WalMart.

When I need a set of brake pads for my car, they have to order them. Shit, I can order them myself and not have to drive to go get them.

I have to order the CVT fluid for my transaxle because the dealer doesn't keep enough in stock to sell.

There's another aspect to this whole stocking vs. ordering thing of which some of you may not be aware: Some states and municipalities tax inventory. Hard to believe--I couldn't believe it when I first heard about it--but true.

So businesses can take a double-whammy on unsold inventory: It's money tied-up that could otherwise be invested and it may incur recurring charges.

quote:

it may incur recurring charges.

ensigmatic -- Are you saying that an item in inventory will be taxed this tax period, and if still in inventory the next tax period it will be taxed again?