[Jackson Brown]

I have problems finding some items at Walmart, too.

However, Target it BY FAR worse...especially — but now limited to — sale items.

70-80% of the time even normally stocked items are out of stock!!

The service desk will say they will be coming soon — confirm they are ordered — and then they take forever or they then drop the brand.

This is true in Washington D.C. area and Florida!

[detective]

I have seen this at all retail stores, not just Walmart.

First, customer service is almost nonexistent. I waited 5 minutes at a Penney's in the mall for some help. I gave up and left without buying anything. Good luck at Target. Shelves are a mess, customer service employees are not to be found.

I now shop mostly on line. I buy few things at retail stores.

Joseph A. Banks has excellent service for men's apparel but only buy things when they are on sale. Dick's Sporting Goods is ok. Other than that I will not walk into a retail store.

[NTHockey]

I stopped shopping at Walmart’s when they stopped selling ammo in DE.

[panaxanax]

“I have problems finding some items at Walmart, too.”

Same here. It’s because they move items around so you can’t find them. It’s the oldest marketing trick in the world. Their research proves that the longer you’re in the store the more you spend on impulse items.

A friend of ours worked there a couple of years ago. Every morning she was handed a ‘map’ of items to be moved from one location to another. Sometimes only a few feet away or down one shelf. That’s all she did, every day.

[old and tired]

I haven’t noticed a problem at our Walmart. We do the vast majority of our shopping at BJ’s and Costco. However, we have 6 specific grocery items that we buy on monthly trips to Walmart. The only item that Walmart ever seems to run out of is our favorite brand of iced tea.

[redgolum]

This is an indication of the economy, not just Walmart.

People aren't buying the same stuff they used to. I have a young child, and we used to shop a lot at Walmart and Target for shoes and clothes. Because of the stocking issues (really, they had no shoes that were girls size 9), we started ordering online.

Once that pattern starts, people don't go back.

[G Larry]

Just think how much better things will be at Walmart once they unionize....../sarc

1. Bump the wages where necessary.

2. Incentivize management to actually do their job. (negative incentives work too)

[Georgia Girl 2]

My fiancee’ was in Wally World the other day and came home and said the same thing. No inventory.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

This is just not a surprise for any of us who dealt with them after Sam's passage. Most of you are too young to remember Sam Walton's "we only sell things made in America." Their success in being a low priced leader was fed by the cuts in profits suppliers had to take. You can do that for a while, but eventually there is no profit left for you and you factory is open only to supply them. The result was bankruptcy for many suppliers. And when the suppliers died off, or cut quality to maintain profits, the folks in Bentonville turned to China so they could keep prices low. Many of my supplier friends will not sell to them, and for good reason.

They give you a nice, big, profitable contract. Business is good, you even expand your manufacturing facilities to cover the increased volume. Once you are financially committed to the volume, they offer more, but DEMAND a discount, or your present business is threatened. So you cave on the discount, and this commits you to more volume. Each year you re-negotiate your contract with some "child" MBA sitting in a cubicle in Bentonville. These people want one thing, more discounts, and if you don't give them, your business is threatened yearly.

The uninformed think this is great, that is what keeps prices low at WalMart...but it is done at the expense of losing profits for USA manufacturers. And for those that think that is good, take a cut in salary yearly...that is what it is like selling to them. And in the end they abandon you and buy a knockoff from China. The result is less inventory on the shelves ...there is no rational reason to sell to them to grow your company. Much safer to sell to Target and Cosco. You cannot run a business that lives off the profits of its suppliers...they will eventually be sucked dry financially. It is like a parasite that kills the host. And WalMart, big as it is, is dying. It had to happen now we are seeing it.