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America is doomed
The madness of corporate-thinking -
I want to replace some storm damaged white aluminum facia on my house. So I go to the nearest Lowes to buy some trim coil stock from which to fabricate it. As you may know; facia covering and related white aluminum capping gets installed by nailing it up with small white aluminum nails - typically 1" long. These are called: Trim Nails.
At Lowes I find tons of aluminum coil stock (sometimes called Trim Coil) and a large selection of pre-bent aluminum facia and trim - but no white aluminum trim nails. None in Lumber and none in Hardware. "Sorry; they are out of stock sir."
So I head over to the next nearest Lowes. Tons of coil stock and assorted aluminum pieces - but no trim nails.
At customer service I ask them to find a store where Trim Nails are in stock.
Nowhere within 100 miles sir.
Why is that?
No idea sir.
Where's the manager?
A guy comes out and I ask Him why. He agrees that it makes no sense and goes to his office computer. Zero stock anywhere. Why? Because Lowes had a shelf-space-optimization audit and trim nails were an insufficient-profit item. So Lowes doesn't carry them anymore.
What idiot made that decision?
Somebody in corporate.
So let me get this straight: because Lowes doesn't make enough money on trim nails - they decide to abandon an entire, much needed and sought after range of products?
No; just the nails.
Really? Since the trim nails haven't been being sold - how has your coil stock and facia trim sales numbers been? Anyone want to bet me that they have been in the toilet? I can tell you - Nobody is buying something from You if they have to go somewhere Else to get the nails to install it. I know I'm sure as hell not.
The above method, by the way, is exactly how places like Sam's Club and Walmart determine what to keep in the stores and what not to carry.
The Sam Walton-ization of America has doomed it to failure.
PHM
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When faced with the choice between changing one's mind, and proving that there is no need to do so, most tend to get busy on the proof.
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I avoid Home Cheeto & Blows as much as I can!
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A couple of months ago I went to Ecuador's version of Lowes called Kywi to get some shelf standards and clips to add shelving to the kitchen pantry cabinet. I found the standards and they had at least 100 in stock. I asked where the clips are and the department manager told me they don't have any. So I asked when would be getting some in and he said never, as they don't sell the clips.
I suppose their bean counters went to Harvard Business School too.
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You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
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Accounts agree that lost sales from items not sold due to lack of stock... cannot be traced...
So the bean counters do not care.
So next time the intellectuals think glorifying intellectualism is a good idea...
Remember the bean counters who lower profits by ignoring common sense!
Back when I was finishing basements (before the turn of the century, before HVAC)... HD would run out of basic, high volume items regularly. The excuse I was given... was it has not come in on the truck yet.
After much fussing... I found out they order a specific amount... and do not worry about sales they do not get when they run out of something... not their problem.
Why... because they can sell all they get... and the program is set up to receive a specific amount on a regular basis... so there is no issue with over stocking.
Seems worrying about over-stock is more important than customers needs or under-stocking...
And since the big box store drives everyone else out of business...
Then customer service goes down the toilet.
See what our American obsession with cheap... does to the quality of life... 
GA-HVAC-Tech
Your comfort, Your way, Everyday!
GA's basic rules of home heating and AC upgrades:
*Installation is more important than the brand of equipment
*The duct system keeps the house comfortable; the equipment only heats and cools (and dehumidifies)
*The value of comfort, over the long term; leave economic choices behind!
Choose your contractor wisely!
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Only good thing about the Homeless Despot is that they can get me some stuff far cheaper than any supply house, but only certain things. A couple of things that come to mind are Romex and some of the more expensive filters. Economy of scale!
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Originally Posted by
ga-hvac-tech
Accounts agree that lost sales from items not sold due to lack of stock... cannot be traced...
So the bean counters do not care...
Where I was, Baker was the only major supplier in town so I did most of my trade there, but over the years, more and more they would increase A/C-related stock and slowly delete many of the small refrigeration-related parts that I relied on, like Steveco/RBM Potential Relays, LR copper ells and start capacitors...all deleted due to slow sales. Their policy was if a part hadn't sold in a year, it got tossed out in the trash. Curious though, that they had dust-covered boxes of sheet metal duct fittings out in the warehouse that were older than many of their customers.
I learned that they had a "Lost Sale Report" system that would supposedly give feedback to the main office. Of course, it wasn't well known, whenever I needed a start relay that they used to have on the shelf, even though I had just bought it at the little mom & pop supply house down the street, I requested the counter guy send in a lost sale report for that item...even though I knew full well that nothing would ever come of it. It did make me feel better however. 
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Bean counters are obsessed with inventory turns....something that is easily quantified on a spreadsheet.
As mentioned, they don't understand the sales lost by not having something in stock because it is not easily quantified.
You need a smart manager that understands how this all works.
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Its not sams fault its his greedy kids who took over the companys after he passed away
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One of the Building Supply Houses here in Brown County, Ohio is "Kibler Lumber", & they have the same Mindset. About 20 years ago, I had gotten shorted by a Supplier down in the City, of approx. 15 ft of 30G 7" round pipe, Two 4 x 12 floor registers, Two 4 x 12 x 7" Str. Boots, & 3 90s.
I called Kibler, & asked them if they had the Pipe, & registers & they said yeah, so I thought "HalleluYah!", that saves me a trip down in to the City.
Starting out as a "Happy Shopper", I grabbed a cart, (even though the materials were priced 3 times higher than what I normally could get it for!)(, loaded my pipe, Str. Boots, & registers, but ALAS!!!! I couldn't find the 90s!!!
At first I thought, Whoa Dude they're out of the 30G!! So, I figured All Right, we'll go the extra mile & get 24G from their Wood burner Section, BUT NO!!!
I then went to the "Pro Desk" and asked them if they had any 90s in the back, & the "Manager", that had that "I'm not here." Look in his eyes, tells me, .... "we don't stock 90s". I asked him Why in the Hell do Ya'll sell the Pipe, etc., & yet leave out a Critical Part?
His answer was "It's a Decision that Corporate made." I told him that Corporate could put the materials back in the bins, & on the shelf & left.
I then, the next morning, went down in to the city & got what I paid for, & the Manager at Lute Supply reimbursed me for my time.
But Yeah PHM, ... America is Doomed, in many ways.
Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children.
"You've got to Stand for Something or You'll fall for anything" (A. Tippin)
Mat_15:24 But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
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IMO... (and this may or may not happen)...
As price inflation raises prices... customer service will become more important.
A few shops will realize this and start taking better care of their customers... which, of course, will include stocking what the customer wants. I doubt the big box stores will ever do this though...
The result will be... for a while anyway... we will enjoy the customer service we offer our customers... at the shops we buy from.
Then, as the economy firms up even more and it gets seriously busy... profit motivation (read that greed) will take over again...
And the circle goes around and around and around...
GA-HVAC-Tech
Your comfort, Your way, Everyday!
GA's basic rules of home heating and AC upgrades:
*Installation is more important than the brand of equipment
*The duct system keeps the house comfortable; the equipment only heats and cools (and dehumidifies)
*The value of comfort, over the long term; leave economic choices behind!
Choose your contractor wisely!
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Ga-
"as the economy firms up".
From the Data that I've been looking at, ........ There's gonna be a large "Gasp" of "It's All Good!", & then the Economic Kaka is not only going to hit the Fan, ... It's gonna knock it down & Bury it.
We've got less than Two years to "Gather all of the Toys".
And as far as Our Suppliers meeting Our Needs, ..... This on again/ off again "Trade War", is gonna wreck havoc with Stocking Suppliers, once it kicks in to Full Gear.
America's Industrial Base is not what it was during 1929! Corporate Greed, as well as Government Regulations, has driven Our Industrial Base overseas, as well as many of Our Old time Industrial Resources.
Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children.
"You've got to Stand for Something or You'll fall for anything" (A. Tippin)
Mat_15:24 But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
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GA-HVAC-Tech
Your comfort, Your way, Everyday!
GA's basic rules of home heating and AC upgrades:
*Installation is more important than the brand of equipment
*The duct system keeps the house comfortable; the equipment only heats and cools (and dehumidifies)
*The value of comfort, over the long term; leave economic choices behind!
Choose your contractor wisely!
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Originally Posted by
ga-hvac-tech
Yes...
From what I read... we probably will have a 'soft' recession in 2019...
Then if TPTB get their act together... a sustained growth period...
Not as robust as the Reagan years... lots of different circumstances... however growth.
Gathering toys... in my case... it is stuffing the retirement account...
Would hate to be stuck as a Walmart greeter in my final years...
(Would you guys on ARP come visit me...
)
If we can get this PRNK thingy worked out (get rid of rocketman and turn NK into a prosperous free territory... probably unify Korea)... then the economic sabre rattling may settle down a bit...
Maybe...
But then... the lefties in the USA will probably start attempting (again) to destroy the very freedom that allows them to be the idiots and jerks they are!
Time to go fix a beer cooler...
You guys enjoy the day...
GA out... grin
" 'soft' recession in 2019"?
No Sir, ..... I'm talking Toilet paper being worth more $$$ than the Dollar.
I'm Talking about a Depression that would make the Great Depression of 1929 look like a Mild Recession.
And before that, I'm talking about "Made in China" Parts from Honey-well etc. becoming as hard to find as pulling teeth out of a chicken, because of a coming Trade War.
As far as Banking your $$$$ ? I recommend that You Read up on the "Presidential Executive Orders regarding Martial Law", to see what would happen to your $$$, & Assets that the banks would be holding. (Those Orders are listed at the Libra y of Congress.).
What is now on America's Horizon is Unprecedented, & regarding that "Destruction of Our Freedom"?
Republicans & Democrats have been laying that Foundation since we were in the womb. All of their long term efforts, are now beginning to bear fruit.
Per Mikey's Topic,... Now is the time to find Stocking Suppliers, & purchase in Quantity from them, ...... Then that will enable one to get the work done quickly before the Fan gets buried, & enable one to Stock up on Physical assets that could be used in order to stay out of a FEMA Line.
Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children.
"You've got to Stand for Something or You'll fall for anything" (A. Tippin)
Mat_15:24 But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
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You sure broke a code there!
That is EXACTLY what we all need: Someone who knows their business actually being in management. From the President to the guy who owns two shoeshine stands.
BTW: A fascinating statistic to me is that the average lifespan of a modern corporation is only about 35 years.
Corporations succeed when their originators know their business through and through. But in all companies a small number of employees do the majority of the work. These are the best and the brightest. There is a generally accepted Law in business: 50% of all the work is performed by the square root of the total number of workers. With small companies this isn't as noticeable but in larger companies it is dramatic: if there are 1500 employees - less than 40 of them are going 50% of the work. Each of the remaining 1460 workers is doing about 0.0035% of the total work. But each one of the (about) 40 is doing roughly 1% of the work of the company.
Which means that the top 40 workers each do about 300 Times are much work as each of the 1460 workers do.
So whether by attrition, head hunting, or the restlessness of the uninspired seeking better opportunities, if all or most of those 40 people leave the company - who is there left to do their work? Very few of the existing employees is suddenly going to start doing 300 TIMES as much as they had been doing - so the net result is the total work being done falls.
And that's were companies generally go.
That's what I see starting to happen at Lowes, et al.
PHM
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Originally Posted by
BALloyd
Bean counters are obsessed with inventory turns....something that is easily quantified on a spreadsheet.
As mentioned, they don't understand the sales lost by not having something in stock because it is not easily quantified.
You need a smart manager that understands how this all works.
Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk
PHM
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When faced with the choice between changing one's mind, and proving that there is no need to do so, most tend to get busy on the proof.
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Gresham's law: Bad money chases out good money...
This works for most everything including talent at corporations.
Peter principle: Everyone gets promoted to their level of incompetency and stays there.....
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