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Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy

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On 28-Jul-15 09:19, Joe Pfeiffer wrote:
> Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> writes:
>> I have several supermarkets around, and they all seem
>> significantly larger than necessary.  You could easily toss half to
>> three quarters of what they stock and nobody would miss it; if
>> anything, I'd appreciate not having to choose between fifty
>> varieties of ketchup.  I'd bet that a handful account for most
>> sales, so why waste space on the rest?
> 
> In my case, because there's a high likelihood that the one I want is
> one of the bottom 40 of those 50, so if they only carried the top ten
> they wouldn't carry mine.  How many people put Beau Monde seasoning
> on their mashed potatoes?  How many people like Stubb's mesquite
> smoke barbecue sauce?  Myers's rum?

If _you_ want those items, then your local store should carry a few
bottles--but that doesn't mean every store needs to, or that your store
needs to carry items only wanted by people elsewhere.  And smaller
stores implies _more_ stores, so each store gets highly tuned to the
specific customers living nearby rather than one big box store trying to
satisfy customers over a much larger area.

This also exposes a big problem with poorly-run chains: they don't stock
different items in different stores; they stock the exact same things
everywhere, regardless of what customers actually want.  One of the
perceived advantages of family-run stores is that they are better at
adapting to keep their specific customers happy, but a chain could do
the same if they cared to _and_ offer better prices.

For example, stores in my area (grocery stores, department stores, and
even gas stations) are frequently out of Diet Coke, sometimes running
out within hours of delivery.  Yet they devote two or three times as
much shelf space to Coke Classic, which barely moves, and many other
brands that never move at all.  If _any_ of them were competently run,
they'd allocate most of the shelf space to Diet Coke.

Yes, I know about shelf rental fees, but I have a hard time believing
that the fees for items customers hate are enough to make up for lost
sales of what customers actually want to buy because they don't have
enough space left to keep the latter in stock.

I'm also pretty sure my grocery store doesn't need an entire aisle of
nothing but toilet paper, with dozens of varieties in several sizes.

S

-- 
Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS        dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

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OT:  A&P supermarket bankruptcy hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2015-07-21 08:08 -0700
  Re: OT:  A&P supermarket bankruptcy Howard S Shubs <howard@shubs.net> - 2015-07-22 01:00 +0000
  Re: OT:  A&P supermarket bankruptcy "Kerr Mudd-John" <admin@127.0.0.1> - 2015-07-24 13:42 +0100
  Re: OT:  A&P supermarket bankruptcy Mike Albanese <allegrippus@gmail.com> - 2015-07-26 13:42 -0700
    Re: OT:  A&P supermarket bankruptcy hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2015-07-26 20:15 -0700
      Re: OT:  A&P supermarket bankruptcy jmreno <none@nowhere.com> - 2015-07-27 00:22 -0700
      Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2015-07-27 14:08 +0000
        Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-07-27 10:00 -0500
        Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-07-27 15:08 +0000
          Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> - 2015-07-27 17:41 +0000
            Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2015-07-28 00:21 +0000
              Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-07-27 21:42 -0600
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-07-27 23:17 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2015-07-28 03:30 -0300
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-07-28 08:19 -0600
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-07-28 09:40 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-07-28 12:09 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2015-07-28 10:43 -0700
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2015-07-29 10:45 -0700
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-07-30 12:29 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2015-08-01 23:05 -0700
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2015-07-29 10:56 -0700
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy lawrence@cluon.com - 2015-07-29 02:35 +0200
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-07-28 20:17 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-07-28 12:34 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2015-07-28 13:35 -0700
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2015-07-29 11:18 -0400
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2015-07-29 11:01 -0700
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com> - 2015-07-28 14:24 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2015-07-28 19:47 +0000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2015-07-28 13:16 -0700
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2015-07-28 15:57 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2015-07-30 11:58 -0700
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-07-30 14:36 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2015-07-30 19:42 -0700
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-07-30 22:06 -0600
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2015-07-31 12:14 +0000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-07-31 07:10 -0600
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2015-08-01 12:36 +0000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2015-08-02 05:55 +1000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Tom Dadey <tomdzip1@gmail.com> - 2015-08-02 13:10 -0700
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2015-08-03 09:24 +1000
                Re: OT: franchises, was A&P supermarket bankruptcy John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> - 2015-08-03 00:42 +0000
                Re: OT: franchises, was A&P supermarket bankruptcy "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2015-08-03 14:54 +1000
                Re: OT: franchises, was A&P supermarket bankruptcy hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2015-08-03 19:43 -0700
                Re: OT: franchises, was A&P supermarket bankruptcy Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2015-08-04 13:38 +0000
                Re: OT: franchises, was A&P supermarket bankruptcy hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2015-08-04 08:10 -0700
                Re: OT: franchises, was A&P supermarket bankruptcy JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> - 2015-08-04 18:45 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-08-01 15:22 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy "JHY" <JHY5566@nospam.com> - 2015-08-02 09:14 +1000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2015-08-01 14:24 -0700
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-08-03 13:36 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy "JHY" <JHY5566@nospam.com> - 2015-08-02 07:59 +1000
                toilet paper, was: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> - 2015-07-30 20:23 +0000
                Re: toilet paper, was: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-07-31 09:14 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-07-30 14:56 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2015-07-30 23:18 +0000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy "JHY" <JHY5566@nospam.com> - 2015-07-31 14:05 +1000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-07-31 09:48 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2015-07-31 18:00 +0000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2015-07-31 17:47 -0700
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy "JHY" <JHY5566@nospam.com> - 2015-07-30 16:20 +1000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2015-07-30 16:31 +1000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2015-07-30 11:50 +0000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2015-07-31 06:40 +1000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com> - 2015-07-30 16:57 -0500
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy "Rod Speed" <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> - 2015-07-31 13:56 +1000
                Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2015-07-31 12:13 +0000
          Re: OT: A&P supermarket bankruptcy Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2015-07-27 23:01 -0400
    Re: OT:  A&P supermarket bankruptcy sidd@situ.com (sidd) - 2015-07-28 02:27 -0400
  Re: OT:  A&P supermarket bankruptcy Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2015-07-27 07:40 -0700
    Re: OT:  A&P supermarket bankruptcy Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2015-07-27 07:45 -0700
      Re: OT:  A&P supermarket bankruptcy Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2015-07-27 07:54 -0700

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