I can not get freaking product in to our store anymore

[TwixVoy]

This year so far has been a joke. I work at a multi-billion dollar retailer and I can not even get product from our distribution centers anymore for the departments I manage. I am talking the little product that we KNOW will sell at least some what. I try to order more on the PDA every day because 50% of electronics, toys, sporting goods, seasonal is blown. Distribution center sends a date saying I'll get the product on the 11th. It's now the 14th and I've gotten 5% of what I tried to get in.

I send an email up to corporate escalating the instock issue. The response? Essentially "you are shit out of luck because the distribution centers can't get it to send to you".

To make it even more nuts... we just set our new line of seasonal product this last week. The company just sent direction to EVERY STORE to immediately activate clerance prices of 30% on all of it. I have never EVER EVER EVER EVER in my years working retail at this company seen that happen before. We NEVER do that. The product was already marked down a HUGE percentage from what it was last year.

To make matters worse all that mark down has resulted in ZERO sales increase. Wonderful.

--------------------------------------------------------

I am posting this up here to better explain things:


Basically every major retailer uses what are called planograms. Every aisle is on a planogram. This specifies exactly what product we will carry and where it will go. This is planned usually months ahead of time by the folks at corporate.

These planograms have set dates. They HAVE to be set by the set date. So for example you can have a planogram with a set date of 1-1-09 for baby food. Corporate expects 100% of stores to have that aisle ready for that product by that date. Therefore the distribution centers are expected to get that product to us by that date. Corporate will ALWAYS purchase this product because it is product that every store will have to carry and is expected to carry by those dates.

What is going on now is after christmas planograms are being set all over the store, but the product from the DCs is NOT flowing in to fill them. So the result is half empty aisles all over the store. This is a major problem because the "system" of doing things is NOT supposed to work that way. If we have half empty aisles something is wrong in the logistics process.

Now what can we do about that? As a work center manager part of my job is to correct such problems. I have three ways the company makes available to me to do that. They are the following

1. I can wait and hope the computer system is aware of the issue through our automatic replenishment system.

2. I can attempt to force the issue and use the PDA to order more product manually.

3. If solution number two is failing in large numbers I can email up to corporate and request they do something about it. Option number 3 is usually EXTREMELY RARE, and usually gets results damn fast. The problem is option number 3 is no longer extremely rare - it is extremely common. And instead of getting results quickly corporate is writing back telling us we are shit out of luck which is unheard of.

The distribution centers have something called Z dates. This is the movement of product from point A to point Z in the logistics process. Point A is the manufacture of the product all the way to point Z when it hits the shelf of the store. These Z dates are NOT being met. For example, say we have a planogram that needs to be set 1-1-09. The Z date on that product is 1-2-09. Problem is 1-2-09 rolls around and the product is no where to be found. Why? At some point along point A to point Z something unexpected happened. Either the product never came in to the country as expected, enough of it wasn't produced, etc.

So these Z dates are being missed all over the place and half the aisles in the store are empty. Something is seriously wrong with the logistics process outside of the store. WHY we can not get this product is the question, and this is a problem stores all over the company are dealing with. But this points to factors OUTSIDE of the company. The company logistics process is working the same way it always has. The problem is the product we need is NOT entering the company logistics process at some point.

As far as your question about waiting for other product to sell first. In theory according to how we do things that will NEVER result in us not being sent product on time. Why? Let me give you a scenario that we are dealing with right now.

Let's say sales are really bad and christmas toys, for example, didn't sell well at all. They are on a planogram dated 12-1-08. All those toys went clearance, but that planogram is not empty by the time the new planogram dated 1-1-09 needs to be set. What we do is move that clearance product elsewhere. Say in sporting goods we have a planogram that is setting 1-30-09. GREAT! We have 15 days of time to use there. So we move it to that location and hope it sells by 1-30-09. If not, we move it to another planogram location that is setting two weeks out.

Right now we are moving around 5 aisles worth of clerance toys to compensate for planograms that need to set where it is. The damn product just isn't selling and this is making dealing with it a head ache because normally it would all be gone right now. But does that clerance make it so we can't set new product? No because we move it around based on plaogram dates.

[Dennis Donovan]

1. It's a very scary time...

:(

[Deja Q]

2. I'll keep an eye on that 30% value. Then I'll know who you work for.

:P

Don't you mean "products"?

[xxqqqzme]

31. I was just in Target and noticed the 'garden' section had

spring gardening stuff 30% off. I had to look twice to make certain I was seeing it right.

My dad died on New Year's Eve and I went to Target, thinking I could find a spring colored scarf to wear w/ my black dress for his memorial service. Nothing had been re-stocked after Christmas. All the shelves were half empty w/ picked over merchandise. I had to go to 4 stores before I finally found scarves (TJ Maxx) for something other than 20 below weather and I live in southern California where we don't need wool scarves anyway. So it isn't just Target. It appears stores are slow to re-stock until they know how people are going to spend what little money they have.

[The Straight Story]

3. My pot sales are suffering because of this too, just can't get any

Thank goodness my beer supply and regular smokes are doing fine :)

btw - what kind of product are you talking about?

[TwixVoy]

4. Regular seasonal GM product

Dishes, furniture, domestics items, etc. All this product classified as seasonal is getting signifigant mark downs.

In addition to that product in just about every other department with the exception of consumables is EXTREMEY light on instocks. Can barely get most things in stock. Either it is an extremely long wait, or it never comes at all.

[teknomanzer]

6. Thats too bad... you know what they say...

Weed will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no weed.

[Beausoleil]

52. Tell me about it

But the big problem is times of no money AND no weed. It sucks!

[teknomanzer]

95. Then you need to get by...

with a little help from your friends. :smoke:

[NMDemDist2]

5. so the buyers stocked up on the wrong stuff? and didn't buy enough "bread and butter" product?

is that what I'm hearing? or that the distro centers don't have staff?

what is going on exactly?

aren't you the poster who was talking about having your storage areas stacked to the rafters pre Xmas with crap that wasn't selling?

give me a clue here......

[rvablue]

8. I have the same exact questions about this post ... I hope we hear back from the OP

because I am very curious and like to read first hand accounts of stuff like this.

But, as you wrote, the first part seemed to be a complaint about not getting stock and the second part seemed to be a lament that stock that arrived had to immediately be marked down because it was not selling.

I don't get it either?

[TwixVoy]

9. Yes that's correct

Prior to Xmas we had a TON of toy crap. In fact we still have 5 aisles full of toys clearance that hasn't moved yet from Xmas. We still have two pallets of toys clearance left in the backroom waiting to go to the floor. The thing is that product was at least several times less the quanitity of toys we would normally get for Christmas. We were full of it and it wouldn't move. We still have 5 aisles full of it. 5 aisles we can't even reset the planograms on until the damn stuff moves.

The problem is we can not get regular active year round product in stock now. The distribution centers have enough people that is not the problem. The problem is the distribution centers can not get the product. Why that is I don't know. Either the product is not coming in to the country (because once it comes in to the country it generally goes straight to the distribution centers) OR the company just isn't buying it. However, the problem is more than likely it's not coming in to the country because the company can definitely buy it. The company is being cautious on it's purchases and buying far less, but when I can't get 3 freaking stereo systems in stock or two freaking TVs, for example, and this is a company that does billions in sales every year, there is a problem.

[midnight]

47. Are products sitting in containers at docks because our

dollar is so unsafe, and no one will take it for payment of products?

[originalpckelly]

68. They probably can't get the money to buy the stuff that goes into the distribution center!

That doesn't bode well, your company may be going out of business soon, I'd start looking for another job.

[specimenfred1984]

86. Most retailers are corporations that don't give a shit about "consumers"

Fuck them, their TV sets and their Made In China crap too. When "consumers" are once again referred to as "customers", we'll see the needed shift in thinking that needs to occur in anyone's mind that wants to sell anything. That shift entails one easy thing, providing customers with what they need, not what some greedy corporofucks are trying to ram down "consumer's" throats.

[Ghost Dog]

99. Asia shipping slowdown - means buyers not buying.

Shipping rates hit zero as trade sinks

Freight rates for containers shipped from Asia to Europe have fallen to zero for the first time since records began, underscoring the dramatic collapse in trade since the world economy buckled in October.


By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor
Last Updated: 3:39PM GMT 14 Jan 2009

"They have already hit zero," said Charles de Trenck, a broker at Transport Trackers in Hong Kong. "We have seen trade activity fall off a cliff. Asia-Europe is an unmit­igated disaster."

Shipping journal Lloyd's List said brokers in Singapore are now waiving fees for containers travelling from South China, charging only for the minimal "bunker" costs. Container fees from North Asia have dropped $200, taking them below operating cost.

Industry sources said they have never seen rates fall so low. "This is a whole new ball game," said one trader.

...

Trade data from Asia's export tigers has been disastrous over recent weeks, reflecting the collapse in US, UK and European markets.

Korea's exports fell 30pc in January compared to a year earlier. Exports have slumped 42pc in Taiwan and 27pc in Japan, according to the most recent monthly data. Even China has now started to see an outright contraction in shipments, led by steel, electronics and textiles.

...

Idle ships are now stretched in rows outside Singapore's harbour, creating an eerie silhouette like a vast naval fleet at anchor. Shipping experts note the number of vessels moving around seem unusually high in the water, indicating low cargoes.

/... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/4229198/Shipping-rates-hit-zero-as-trade-sinks.html

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

7. Target?

Sounds like it. I was at one yesterday and what you describe sounds very familiar...

[trashcanistanista]

11. I was at Target a few days ago.

There was nothing new in the store since before Christmas, the shelves looked empty. and what I was looking for they didn't have. Also very few people were in the store and only three check outs were being used. This was the same day I took my car in for maintenance at the Honda dealer, which usually requires an appointment. I went in at 12:00 late in the day and there were only two people ahead of me. I was out in less than an hour. I heard an employee remark it was just like a Saturday. It was Monday. Scary times indeed.

[Lorien]

58. Our Targets are well stocked and as busy as usual

but then, there's no Walmart close to where I live.

[NightWatcher]

13. I thought we deduced that it was Target a few months ago

Target = Walmart Without the Guilt

[gollygee]

50. I was at Target yesterday and almost all the toys were 30% off

Including the one I was looking for! And there were other things I needed that weren't available on the shelves - the shelves were just empty.

So now I'm going to order what I need online I guess.

[Lorien]

57. Yeah, he posted about working at Target a year or so ago. nt

[originalpckelly]

79. I went back and looked, no he did not. People surmised he (or she) did.

But actually, the information given in his/her post from last year does not match the results of Target. Target supposedly increased its sales last during April, right about the time the poster claimed the unknown sales at the unknown store were dramatically down.

[Ioo]

10. Walmart? It is okay we will forgive you.. and what is on sale at 30%?

I may need something...

[formercia]

45. Walmart example

I went in the other day. Didn't buy anything but just to look around. What normally would be the garden section out back was stuffed with leftover Xmas decorations and odd items. They had thousands of strings of the miniature tree lights at 75% off. My wife had been thinking of getting a new artificial tree because the one we hat was about 20 years old and getting ratty. They had them marked down to $17. By the time she got to the store a few days later, they were $5. Now, there's deflation for you.
I should go back, just to see if they will pay me to haul another one off.

[CoffeeCat]

56. I bought a Christmas tree at Target...

...a couple of weeks ago. Six foot tall artificial tree--for $2.49.

Unbelievable!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

106. got a 10 ft one for $10 at Home Depot

IS Home Depot going down?

[queenjane]

65. I can top that

My local Walmart had hundreds of potted poinsettias left after xmas--I don't think they sold more than a dozen during the season. Went in last Saturday (Jan 10), and they had marked the poinsettias down to 2 cents. (Yes, you read that right--2 pennies.) Normally, they trash stuff like that. And people were buying them; I even picked one up, a scraggly little thing that reminded me of Charlie Brown's tree.

The fact that they did that is frightening, indeed.

[formercia]

67. It's cheaper than paying someone to haul them to the dump.

Besides that, someone would have to spend time taking them off the books so they don't show up as missing inventory.

[On the Road]

12. Seems Strange

but I work in telecommunications and don't know retail, distribution, transport, or manufacturing.

Could these delays be due to downsizing or financial troubles further up in the distribution chain? Could it be that corporate will not purchase new product until more of the old product is sold, even if it's the wrong kind?

[TwixVoy]

16. Yes no

Basically every major retailer uses what are called planograms. Every aisle is on a planogram. This specifies exactly what product we will carry and where it will go. This is planned usually months ahead of time by the folks at corporate.

These planograms have set dates. They HAVE to be set by the set date. So for example you can have a planogram with a set date of 1-1-09 for baby food. Corporate expects 100% of stores to have that aisle ready for that product by that date. Therefore the distribution centers are expected to get that product to us by that date. Corporate will ALWAYS purchase this product because it is product that every store will have to carry and is expected to carry by those dates.

What is going on now is after christmas planograms are being set all over the store, but the product from the DCs is NOT flowing in to fill them. So the result is half empty aisles all over the store. This is a major problem because the "system" of doing things is NOT supposed to work that way. If we have half empty aisles something is wrong in the logistics process.

Now what can we do about that? As a work center manager part of my job is to correct such problems. I have three ways the company makes available to me to do that. They are the following

1. I can wait and hope the computer system is aware of the issue through our automatic replenishment system.

2. I can attempt to force the issue and use the PDA to order more product manually.

3. If solution number two is failing in large numbers I can email up to corporate and request they do something about it. Option number 3 is usually EXTREMELY RARE, and usually gets results damn fast. The problem is option number 3 is no longer extremely rare - it is extremely common. And instead of getting results quickly corporate is writing back telling us we are shit out of luck which is unheard of.

The distribution centers have something called Z dates. This is the movement of product from point A to point Z in the logistics process. Point A is the manufacture of the product all the way to point Z when it hits the shelf of the store. These Z dates are NOT being met. For example, say we have a planogram that needs to be set 1-1-09. The Z date on that product is 1-2-09. Problem is 1-2-09 rolls around and the product is no where to be found. Why? At some point along point A to point Z something unexpected happened. Either the product never came in to the country as expected, enough of it wasn't produced, etc.

So these Z dates are being missed all over the place and half the aisles in the store are empty. Something is seriously wrong with the logistics process outside of the store. WHY we can not get this product is the question, and this is a problem stores all over the company are dealing with.

As far as your question about waiting for other product to sell first. In theory according to how we do things that will NEVER result in us not being sent product on time. Why? Let me give you a scenario that we are dealing with right now. But this points to factors OUTSIDE of the company. The company logistics process is working the same way it always has. The problem is the product we need is NOT entering the company logistics process at some point.

Let's say sales are really bad and christmas toys, for example, didn't sell well at all. They are on a planogram dated 12-1-08. All those toys went clearance, but that planogram is not empty by the time the new planogram dated 1-1-09 needs to be set. What we do is move that clearance product elsewhere. Say in sporting goods we have a planogram that is setting 1-30-09. GREAT! We have 15 days of time to use there. So we move it to that location and hope it sells by 1-30-09. If not, we move it to another planogram location that is setting two weeks out.

Right now we are moving around 5 aisles worth of clerance toys to compensate for planograms that need to set where it is. The damn product just isn't selling and this is making dealing with it a head ache because normally it would all be gone right now. But does that clerance make it so we can't set new product? No because we move it around based on plaogram dates.

[On the Road]

17. Thank You -- That is Very Informative

It's a really different industry.

Do you know at what points in the A-Z chain the product is being held up and the reasons?

Normally in a period of economic decline I would think that the opposite would be true -- there's too much product to go around, providers would be anxious to unload and ship product, and orders would be filled quickly.

Are manufacturers not producing, shippers not shipping, the retailer not distributing, or are orders perhaps not being placed due to lack of funds?

[TwixVoy]

20. Unfortunately I don't know

I'd have to be further up the logistics ladder. The reason I typically get back is that the DC doesn't have anything to send us. So for whatever reason the product is simply not reaching DCs. Could be it's not being shipped to the united states. Could be they aren't shipping enough to go around. Could be it's not being produced. But something is going on at a point in the process before product comes in to the possession of the company.

[NashVegas]

69. Sounds Like Someone's Making Decisions

Without filling in the left hand.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

14. A question and an assertion:

1) What's the excuse given by the distribution centers for failure to deliver product?

2) Corporate blaming distribution centers is sort of like a foot blaming the sock for the way the foot smells.

[ThomWV]

15. I am not surprised. Maybe I can coin a phrase here, how does "anticipatory deflation" sound?

Production and distribution companies cutting back the expense of providing service in anticipation of a national downturn in demand. Smart move to be the first to cut back, makes for good stockholder relations in bad times to at least be on the forefront of adventurous moves all intent on 'saving the company'. However the result is that as prices drop in price they also drop from the shelves; during the Great Depression common items were scarce. Think about pots and pans. It was hard to find any place that sold them and it wasn't just because of the cost of keeping inventory but more because anyone who could make one wouldn't, thinking that nobody could pay for one rather than because there was no demand for them. A fine example of a self fulfilling prophecy.

[yardwork]

18. So you are saying that you can't get the product?

You're not sure where the problem is - whether it is your company's buyers, the distribution centers, or the manufacturers - but for whatever reason, the pipeline is slowing down or going empty and you can't get product? And this is new?

I was in TJ Maxx the other day and noticed two things. One was that many of the shelves were half-empty, with much poorer selection than usual, and two, I noticed that there were a lot more than the usual numbers of shopping looking. In other words, more people looking for deep discounts, and fewer items from which to choose.

[beltanefauve]

32. I have had the same experience with food stores

There are certain vegetarian and organic products that I get from Whole Foods (if I must; not my favorite) and Trader Joe's that have been scarce. I'm finding gaps on the shelves that weren't there before, and I'm fortunate to live in an urban area where I have choices and can simply try another store. Unfortunately, I'm finding that food shopping is taking two or three stops to get everything I need, if in fact I do manage to get everything I need. All of the stores seem to be having this problem; it's not just one or two stores in a chain not being able to keep things stocked. I asked a clerk what was going on, and he replied that they were having trouble with their distributors. He said it quietly, and his tone sounded spooked.

[Kansas Wyatt]

19. So we are are going to start looking like a communist country...

Where we have stores stocked with shit we don't need or want, but can't get what we really need?

Clothing has been gradually moving toward the 'one size fits all' business model. I guess executives running retail stores have determined that shoppers just need to buy what they have and not what people need or want.

Why are these idiots who keep shouting 'unregulated capitalism' still allowed any voice whatsoever?

[conscious evolution]

21. A sign of the times I noticed the other day

This may sound wierd but I think it is rather ominous.

Behind the co-op house I live in is a nieghborhood land trust.One of the things we do every year is collect christmas trees after the holidays are over for burning in bonfires at our drum circles and for other events.
Normally we collect a hundred or more trees every year.This year we have only gotten a couple of dozen.
We have even stepped up the number of tree runs to find them but have had little luck.Even the Lowes around the corner has few trees in its recycle location.

Its almost as if a lot of people did not buy christmas trees this year.And,frankly,that scares the crap out of me.You know things are bad when people are not buying christmas trees.

[SoCalDem]

22. The empty lot near us that always sells trees, had only a few "empty"

spaces...on DEC 24.. We went out to dinner and drove past it, and were amazed at how few they sold this year.. Usually, by Dec23, there are only a few scraggly ones left, but this year, I'd bet that there were about 90% still there..chopped down for nothing:(

[beltanefauve]

33. Just after Christmas

while watching the local news, they showed elephants at the zoo being fed leftover trees.

[janet118]

59. Elephants eat Christmas trees?

Who knew.

[beltanefauve]

84. They do at the Oakland Zoo, apparently

[janet118]

91. And in Germany, too . . .

Hold the tinsel. Mmmmmm-m-m-m . . . That's good eatin'

Elephant calf Thabo-Umasai at Germany's Zoo Dresden joined camels, deer, and sheep in a traditional new-year feast of Christmas trees yesterday.

"Elephants around the country will enjoy a delicious lunch today consisting of about five Christmas trees each," Ragnar Kuehne of Zoo Berlin told the Reuters news service on January 3.

[Theres-a]

105. Awwww

Thanks for the image.

[undeterred]

54. There were trees left over in the lots near me.

We didn't buy a tree this year, but I have an artificial one. Usually live trees are gone within a few days before Christmas.

[ipfilter]

23. So, do you think your employer is having problems

getting product due to lack of shipments from China or lack of credit to buy the stuff?

[Bluenorthwest]

24. Yeah times are hard all over...but your post explains much

All that talk of planograms and 'set dates' and such sound so spiffy, and I'm sure in lavish times it works out fine. But you know what I learned? That the way retail is run explains why they never have what I need, only what they are anticipating I will need next season. When I want warm socks, they are selling spring shorts. When I want shorts, they are selling 'back to school'. Planograms. Set dates. Explains it all, and frankly makes me hopeful that hard times might put some thought back into the pipe about what will sell when and where.
I think the rigid, national planning is a problem.

[originalpckelly]

70. That is exactly how I feel about this, we call ourselves a free market, but don't act like it.

I've been saying this for months now, I think this is the reason we've got problems. We have a planned economy, but unlike what we call "socialism" or "communism" the government doesn't control/plan production, these corporations do. We're no better off with this faux-capitalism than with socialism.

[tomreedtoon]

25. Chinese crap isn't coming into the country.

I think that's basically it. And you may not like the identification of your goods as "Chinese crap," but I think we can be honest here. Americans don't manufacture anything any more; everything sold in our stores is made by Chinese slave labor.

The Chinese are having problems of their own. Their workers are being thrown out of jobs. Those workers are getting angry. As always in China, those who rebel must be shot and thrown into mass graves. That is taking a lot of man-hours, and keeping things from being shipped.

Also, as our retailer has learned along with the rest of the country, nobody's buying the Chinese crap any more. They are worried about their own jobs. They are no longer worried about decorating their homes for spring, because they are being evicted from those homes.

The American consumer, for years now, has been the great savior of the American economy. Through thick and thin, our ability to buy Chinese crap in every season (especially Christmas) has saved the retail industry from its sins and stupidity. Not this year. This year we failed.

So don't blame Bush, or Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates, or Halliburton, for the failed economy. We are the ones who failed. Our inability to find the spare change to buy more cheap Chinese crap has doomed us all. We are guilty.

[anigbrowl]

26. Please spare us your anti-Chinese bigotry

The post above is a gross mischaracterization of how things are over there. The country is far from perfect but is nothing like the concentration camp you describe.

[tomreedtoon]

28. Hard to face the truth, isn't it? Americans no longer make crap.

I would love to say "cheap American crap." But Americans don't make anything any more.

And I hope you're not denying that Chinese labor, and any country's labor force that makes junk for American stores, are slave labor camps. Do you think they get forty hour weeks, two weeks' vacation, and free Internet to criticize the government? Maybe they do on your planet, but not on Earth.

[anigbrowl]

30. Bullshit

This is unworthy of further reply.

[Lorien]

60. Not bullshit, actually

I work for an American company that outsources manufacturing to China. It is cheap crap, and the working conditions there are absolutely deplorable. A human rights, health and environmental nightmare. But the CEO and stockholders ONLY care about the bottom line-profits. I wish I could work with a company that manufactured items here, but very few do.

[treestar]

62. We make weapons

Stuff for war.

We don't have to make the crap to be economically successful though. Does the economy really hinge on toys and household goods?

[tomreedtoon]

104. Yes, the economy relies on household goods.

We make weapons. But we don't make them very well, do we? The tinfoil Hummers we sent to Iraq, the easily hackable military computers and computer-operated drones, the depleted-uranium shells and bullets that kill our troops as they're killing the enemy.

Remember when the can openers from Swing-A-Way were branded with the city they were made in? They aren't any more. You can't pronounce the name of the Chinese waste dump where they are now made, even if the Chinese government wanted that area identified.

It's worse than the fact that Americans can't be proud of making American goods. You can't even be proud to make American dog food in Rolla, Missouri any more. Drive along I-75 from Orlando to Saint Louis; you'll see dozens of little towns with rusting, destroyed industrial plants that used to be the pride of this nation. Those towns have nothing to be proud of any more.

[wickerwoman]

107. I worked for Chinese companies for five years.

You're completely full of shit.

They get three weeks mandatory vacation (two weeks for national holidays, one week of annual leave), paid overtime, universal health care and most companies also provide free lunches for their workers. By far the best company I ever worked for in terms of workers' rights was a Chinese one.

There are obvious abuses of workers, but those occur everywhere in the world and are not systematic or state-sanctioned. To describe all Chinese manufacturing as "slave labor camps" is totally ignorant BS.

[earth mom]

34. How can you even defend the crap that comes out of China?

It is a FACT that most American manufacturing jobs have gone to China.

So not only are Americans screwed over by that ugly fact, we are all subjected to inferior and disposable junk as a result.

I, for one, am sick and tired of being ripped off by "Globalization" that massively screws over the people of the United States.

The entire concept of "Globalization" is rotten to the core and this thread proves it. :puke:

[greguganus]

36. Someone gave us Christmas candy from China. Are they kidding? Check your candy before eating it.

We threw that crap away as soon as we saw the label. Like we are going to eat anything coming out of China.

[rucky]

43. Those were decisions by mostly American corporations.

Who cut corners on quality control - which is part of the incentive of moving production to China.

Please don't forget that.

[gollygee]

51. It certainly isn't the fault of the people of China

They're living in poverty and being taken advantage of. By us so we can get cheap crap.

But it's true that the stuff coming out of China is crap. It isn't their fault - you're right that it's the fault of US corporations - but it's still crap.

[Marr]

83. No, it's their fault.

A lot of Chinese manufacturers suck. It's not as if all their manufacturing is going to the United States-- our corporations are clients, like any others. But the Chinese have very unregulated manufacturing processes that allow the people in charge to cut all kinds of corners. And many, if not most, do.

I'm not saying it's the Chinese workers' fault, but it is China's fault at least as much as it's their clients' faults.

[gollygee]

89. I can see it being the fault of the Chinese Gov't

as well as US corporations. The government could have fair laws to protect workers and the environment, and they don't. Because they want to make the cheap crap.

But I was thinking of the general population of China. So I think we're in agreement here.

[XemaSab]

87. Damn you to hell!

You know why! x(

[CoffeeCat]

100. Anti Chinese bigotry?

Chinese bigotry against what? China's oppressive, slave-labor practices?

Yes, I'm "bigoted" against that. It's disgusting.

Haven't you ever seen an expose on "60 Minutes" or "Frontline" that reveals what is happening there?
The Chinese people, who work in these factories--live in small, disgusting single rooms that are attached
to these factories. Usually, there are seven or eight Chinese women and children in each, small room.
They work 15 hour days and the food they are served, is taken out of their paycheck. So is their
rent on the small room. They are paid cents an hour.

They are slaves.

Do you have absolutely no knowledge about what is happening over there? How in the
world do you think Target and Walmart can sell kids tennis shoes for $6?

America's entire economy has been based on this dynamic for the past few decades. Are you seriously
unaware of this? They make it cheap and pay their workers a few bucks a day. We buy it cheap
and sell it cheap.

Wake up, please.

[BelgianMadCow]

27. When considering logistics, also consider the Baltic Dry shipping index. The ships aren't moving.

simple as that.

From the wiki on the BDI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Dry_Index

"So the index indirectly measures global supply and demand for the commodities shipped aboard dry bulk carriers, such as building materials, coal, crude oil, metallic ores, and grains.
...the index is also seen as an efficient economic indicator of future economic growth and production..."

Of course, you don't stack ore on your shelves - but it is a precursor to finished products of course.

a chart:


Why? Because people in charge don't want to end up like the car companies, making an unsold pile on a shore.

Also, I understood the letters of credit that govern a lot of these huge import/export deals are very very hard to get nowadays...who still trusts who?

bmc

PS: my neighbour drives trucks for one of the largest in my region. They have 50 reserved trucks sitting at a dealership but they won't buy 'em. They have 200 trucks and 88 are driving (and often for short small trips).

I think we will see de-globalisation. Think global, act local...

[ColbertWatcher]

29. Wow. n/t

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

37. That's a heart stopping graph. Good God. nt

[Delphinus]

39. I need to spend some time

coming to understand what the Baltic Dry Shipping Index is. This is the second time I've run across it.

[Hannah Bell]

41. That graph follows the oil price graph pretty well. So if the situation

is now back to e.g. 2003, i don't see why it would result in empty spaces, since demand is probably down too. shouldn't result in empty spaces unless producers/shippers etc, couldn't make profit.

[glitch]

63. That's the nutshell.

"Also, I understood the letters of credit that govern a lot of these huge import/export deals are very very hard to get nowadays...who still trusts who?"

I doubt anything will improve until confidence is restored, and confidence won't be restored with hoarded bailouts to the criminals who caused the crisis.

[BelgianMadCow]

75. Right, the secrecy around the bailing out...

was for people not to lose confidence completely in the named companies.
But the non-disclosure makes every company suspect. I think it is counterproductive in restoring confidence.

However, if you goal is to disburse all the money to your corporate friends, so they have some dough when times are rough enough to scoop up assets on the cheap, it's brilliant..

:sarcasm:

[glitch]

76. Indeed. The mega-scam of the new american century. Sack and Loot, with a whole lotta Salt the Earth

for good measure.
I am looking forward to the time when people no longer put up with this bushit.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

35. the greed of the corporate masters is infinite.

And now it's making the whole system crash down.

They fired everyone; they wouldn't hire skilled people; they refused to give people decent wages; they refused to give COLAs; and now they've destroyed the formerly middle class. People have no disposable income. So it's all crashing down.

Even with two people working at minimum wage, they can't buy cars, they can't buy durable goods of any kind.

The politicians dance in circles and refuse to give people jobs so they can pay their bills and buy things.

[XemaSab]

82. Even with two people working WELL ABOVE minimum wage times are tough

I don't know how minimum wage employees do it. :shrug:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

103. The minimum wage should be $25/hour.

To keep up with inflation.

The greedy corporate masters have finally ruined themselves by firing everybody who could buy their products.

[seemslikeadream]

38. I work for a international company

our shipping orders would always be around 600 every morning, the last couple of months it has been 150. We laid off 3% worldwide, so far.

[radfringe]

40. company that I work for

makes large manufacturing equipment for pelleting (yeah machines that makes wood pellets, or pelleted food for pets/livestock, wood-fiber-plastic composite pellets etc.)

we also do plant design and engineering for new companies or those that are retro-fitting for pelleting production

ennywhoooo-we have the customers, we have the orders, but our customers can't get the bank financing to finalize the orders.

we have had more than a few customers orders sitting in shipping hoping for the financing to come through. Company big-wigs are contemplating working out something akin to "lay-away" or "time payments" for the short term with some customers until banks thaw.

[annabanana]

42. This whole thread is a fascinating peek under the skirts of Capitalism..

Things are looking bleak indeed. Systemic problems at the very base of everything make it unlikely that any kind of last minute fix is going to be able to forestall a very very hard landing for millions of people...

(edit: can we rec it up for more input?)

[xchrom]

44. recommend -- very very interesting OP.

and having worked in retail and owned a store -- i have issues with things being continuously on sale.

it doesn't really HELP!

it devalues everything around it.

oh well -- i could go on -- but thanks for your update.

[Celebration]

46. shippers need letters of credit

Couldn't get them for awhile, I know. There were full ships not allowed to leave port. This was back in October and November. This may be slightly better now but there is a lag time before the effects would hit the retail stores.

I am not sure how it works logistically. It could be that some retailers have more clout to get the good shipped than others. Or, maybe they stepped up to the plate and guaranteed further up the chain. Others weren't able to.

Consider that for awhile major universities could not meet their short term funding needs. We had all those government credit interventions for a reason, people.

[crazylikafox]

72. Bingo. Correct answer. It's the credit crises folks.

I remember reading a few months ago that importers, shippers, etc. (small businesses, large businesses) couldn't get the letters of credit they needed to finalize their orders, and as a result goods were just sitting on the docks. I guess this is the result.

It's the banks. I guess this is what a credit freeze really looks like. When we can't even get food shipped, it's really scary.

[Sanity Claws]

48. Is it possible shippers are not sending stuff because the store

is behind in payments to either the shipper or the producer?
The company sounds like it is having big cash flow problems, if it fails to stock currently needed items.

[enuegii]

49. The poster's comment in #24 above...

really struck a chord with me: "I think the rigid, national planning is a problem."
Isn't that what laissez-faire capitalists have preached all these years as the main reason Communism is not a viable economic system?
I mean, does it really make a difference if it's the government or huge multi-national corporations that dictate what is sold and when?
Or, is supply-side economics just Marxism with a heapin' helpin' o' Jeebus?
Sorry... eight years of the Bushbaby may have driven me mad.

[NashVegas]

71. Yes, I've Been Saying For Some Time

That we may call ourselves capitalists, but the hyper-specialized economy and education system we've gradually come to is more parallel to Soviet-style communism than anyone imagines.

I learned this playing web-based MMO games, of all things!

[originalpckelly]

73. EXACTLY! I have been saying the same thing!

I couldn't agree more with you. I'm so fucking glad and amazed that I'm not the only one thinking this! There is something wrong with this nation, to hear the OP's description of what's going on, it sounds like the fucking Borg from Star Trek. They keep trying to robotically order something, and when it doesn't work out as planned, they have no fucking clue what to do!

LET'S PUT AN END TO BEING A FUCKING COG IN SOME LARGE INHUMAN MACHINE!

[undeterred]

53. I am amazed to see clearance items hanging around for weeks.

PetSmart had a lot of Christmas items for cats and dogs that didn't sell. They were 50% off for the first 2 weeks after the holiday, which made them more reasonable. Now its the 15th and the stuff is 75% off. I can't believe its still there.

[NNN0LHI]

55. For years I have been going to Sears to purchase enough HE laundry detergent to last the year

Its usually half price right after the holidays so I stock up. This year there were only two containers left and they were 75% off. I needed ten of them to get me through until next year.

Don

[CoffeeCat]

80. I hear ya...

We recently bought an HE machine, and I hate that I have to buy the special soap. I used to use my $1/1 Tide coupons,
and I'd buy the trial/travel size Tides for $1. Free laundry detergent! I didn't pay a dime for laundry detergent
for five years!

The best I did was two weeks ago. Cub Foods had a "Buy $30 worth of P & G products, get $15 on your next order" deal.
The Tide was $10. So, I just kept buying 30, getting the $15. I ended up paying $5 for a giant-sized HE tide.

It's better than paying full price, but I miss free!

Sorry you didn't get the Sears detergent. Do you have another Sears within 100 miles? If you can find a store that has what
you need, it might be worth it to ask them to hold them for you, and to make the trip. Can you purchase that HE soap online?

If I spot any HE deals, I'll let you know.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

61. The best thing companies could do to keep sales up

would NOT TO FIRE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AT A TIME. Cut executive perks, cut hours, but every day's newspaper brings news of mass firings. Who is going to buy anything but groceries and other necessities in such an economic climate? Even the people who still have jobs will be thinking, "I may have a job at a well-established company, but look, that well-established company over there just fired 5,000 people."

As I learned when I was poor, when you're really strapped, even a 75% reduction is not enough.

American consumers are scared, and that's not going to change until some major companies think of ways to economize other than mass firings.

[JHB]

64. Seems to me like Corporate needs to give the local stores more flexibility...

...to arrange their stock based on reality, rather than on the now-faulty (over)centralized plan.

[GreenPartyVoter]

66. I think the issue maybe be bulk purchasing? If they buy less of things from the

distributors it makes the products more expensive?

I dunno. But you are very right. The one size fits all plan doesn't seem to be working.

[myrna minx]

74. This has been a fascinating thread to read. K&R n/t

[Javaman]

77. when the US manufacturing base is located in another country...

and that other country is cutting back it's manufacturing base because the US economy is in the shitter, this is what you get. empty warehouses.

[jobendorfer]

78. My guess:

Next week, after the next blizzard drops a vertical yard of snow on top of you, you'll get 704 pieces of outdoor patio furniture to move. And fifty lawnmowers and a box of brightly colored bird feeders.

Only advice I can offer is: find new and different buttons to push, beacause the buttons you're pressing don't seem to do much.
If there aren't any other buttons, I don't know what to tell you. Finding your own purchasing channels might help your individual store, but it's a dead certainty they'll fire you for it, especially if it works and therefore demonstrates that the entire upstream bureaucracy isn't really needed.

What you are describing is exactly what I mean when I say that American business survives in spite of itself, not because of itself.

As others have pointed out: what do mega-corporations give us, exactly, that's an improvement over Soviet-era centralized planning?

Good luck,

J.

[CoffeeCat]

81. I just started a thread about Target's...

...additional 30 percent off clearance kid's clothes and shoes.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4831232

I've read your posts and I'm wondering if Target is having a cash-flow problem? If sales are sluggish,
they might not be able to purchase the product that you need. I'm wondering if Corporate is keeping
this info from employees, to avoid a panic.

On the other hand, there have been quite a few stories out about trade grinding to a halt.

Here's one that was posted on DU: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/4229198/Shipping-rates-hit-zero-as-trade-sinks.html

"Shipping Rates Hit Zero As Trade Sinks"

"Freight rates for containers shipped from Asia to Europe have fallen to zero for the first
time since records began, underscoring the dramatic collapse in trade since the world economy
buckled in October."

It also could be possible, that there is a real crisis in obtaining product. Possibly China or other
countries aren't willing to extend credit to any US-based companies.

I find it impossible to believe that Corporate doesn't know why this is happening. They know. Most likely,
whatever the reason is for the product glut--they're keeping the information at the top, to avoid panic
with the employees (who may fear for their jobs and quit) and the general public (who may view the company
as in deep trouble and stop shopping their) and also with investors.

Just my 2 cents.

[originalpckelly]

90. I don't think it's Target, last year in April when the poster claimed the company they work for was

doing poorly, Target had fairly good sales, that were year over year higher.

Wal-Mart did marginally better throughout the holiday season, so I don't think it's them.

That leaves K-Mart/Sears, and they just paid back their revolver, though their sales were down, it was only like 1%, while Sears did even worse, it's not a general merchandise store.

They do know the terms of art for retail, so that means they either looked it up on the net to fake it really good, or they are actually working for a company, but the public isn't being fully informed of the companies performance, which would seem to violate the law.

[CoffeeCat]

98. This is just my opinion, but...

...the store procedures--how they display product and move product around the store--is exactly Target.

Plus, he talked about how they just instilled a "30 percent off clearance" program, and that just went into
effect at Target. This person said that they had never done that before. Target has never done an extra
30 percent off before.

I guess it could be any store, but it seems pretty clear to me, that this person is describing Target--even
down to the Toy clearance, and how they're discounting it, etc.

[XemaSab]

85. Too late to R

but I'm happy to give this thread a K. :)

[crimsonblue]

88. long live deflation....

Prices across the board in retail, food, and energy are crashing. This recession is far from over.

[spinbaby]

92. Something's coming apart at the seams, that's for sure

Lately I've noticed that when I go into a store looking for a particular useful object such as a wicker laundry basket or a pair of size 36 x 32 jeans, they usually don't have it. What they DO have is piles of useless crap at a deep discount.

[madmom]

93. After reading all these in depth analogies of what the problem could be I have a

more simple answer. The store I used to work in had a similar problem for about a month, we found out eventually that our product was simply being sent to the wrong store. Could it possibly be something that simple? Just another thought.

[Hannah Bell]

94. truck traffic doesn't seem to have decreased noticeably, though.

[Ikonoklast]

96. Truckload freight has declined dramatically.

The dropoff has been precipitous. Don't assume those trucks are full; contract carriers for retail distribution centers, LTL shipments are all way down in both volume and tonnage.

Trucking companies are going bankrupt at a rate never ever seen in this country. Ever.

[Hannah Bell]

97. just going by traffic, no idea how full the trucks are, kind of a waste of gas

if they're running empty or half-full, then.

if they're running empty, i wonder why.

if they're running half-full, it would indicate deliveries are occurring, just of less product - which would make sense when there's less demand.

op says deliveries aren't happening, so if that's a wide-spread phenomenon, i'd expect to see less truck traffic - but not really seeing it.

[Skip Intro]

101. Is it possible your company doesn't have the funds, or credit, to purchase the new stock?

:shrug:

[WinkyDink]

102. Even "my" Wegman's has reduced its space for meats and seafood.

Case glass simply covered up.