Sam Walton is long gone, and, his vision has certainly changed over the years. I think the problem with WM is their inventory control methods. They need to do an on site inventory count of what they actually have. Ealch store should do the same, it will be time consuming, but, this is the only way that they actually know what they have. And, I bet that their numbers will be quite different than those generated by their computer ordering system.

As far as more rocketry product, they either had stock in inventory, or, they are geaing up for Christmas, I was told by a assistant manager, that, WM could bring in more product for the holiday selling season.

What WM needs, is someone to educate them as to what their customers want and have those items available for purchase.

As I said before, I spoke to the manager of the toy dept, and told her that the !10-3T's aren't going to sell, because they have sat there for months (14 packages) and that they should get a better mix of motors. Unless they carry what the customer wants, they WONT have sales. And, without sales, WM assumes that the items don't sell.

It's a vicious cycle that needs to be broken.

I was thinking about this in light of my comments about using their POS data to understand what really sells and what doesn't, then it occurred to me that in all likelihood the computer inventory doesn't differentiate what's on the shelf at eye level and what's up high, out of reach or in the warehouse still in the box.

If they did actually run a report which depicted what's in stock and how fast it moved, and they saw 10 Launchable Orbital Transports, for example, sitting in stock for a month without moving, they would logically conclude it's a slow mover. Only if they know for sure it was on the shelf and not in the back would this be reliable.

The key is getting the stockers to correctly enter the data into the computer when they place items on the shelf. And I'm doubtful the inventory software out there is that detailed.

If it's Charmin, and they have half an aisle, you can get a good idea of the run rates without knowing this type of info, but when it's Estes and they have 2 linear feet of shelf, even with very detail oriented inventory software, any mis-care of placing items on the shelf will throw the run-rate numbers out of whack.

Doug

As a former retail manager (books) , I am leaning towards the actual inventory vs system inventory discrepancy. It is simply unbelieveable how many items grow legs and simply 'walk away' even in one year. Rocket motors are small, and easily fit into the pocket of any unscrupulous cad who chooses the five finger discount plan.

I bet that Walmart's computer system thinks that they have more motors which actually have been swiped.

Why won't these darned motors sell? Well, it is because they are not really here.....

Phred

__________________
Just some guy.....

GET GOONY!!

As I have mentioned, they need to do a full physical inventory, and compare the figures to the computer records to see how far they are off.

As far as motors go, with WM, they purchase a master shelf pack with X motors in it, it really doesn't tell them the individual coding on the motors because all the motors sell for the same price.

So, this is why my WM ends up with 14 packs of A10-3T's that haven't sold in months, and, the motors that everyone needs just don't exist.

Like I mentioned before, WM should be able to purchase individual packs of motors to resupply their master packs with the needed motors.

WM should be able to select motors for their master packs instead of having no choice in the matter.

And like I said, WM gets upset that rockets don't sell, well, if you have the same old, same old, they won't sell................Duh !!!!!!!

Inventory system comment: Ever actually buy a quantity of items at Wal-Mart and watch how the expert cashier handles it? EXAMPLE: 24 cans of assorted flavors of cat food cans - they scan one flavor and type in "24" for the qty. The computer now thinks that one flavor is the most popular and sends a pull signal to have more of that one flavor delivered to re-stock the store.

Nothing can go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, go wrong.....

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070909...play-E13052-310

__________________
-Fred Shecter NAR 20117 (L2)
Southern California Rocket Association, NAR Section 430

Who's that?

Does anybody know the address of WM headquarters?

Sam['s Club] Wal[-Mart]ton

__________________
Carl McLawhorn
NAR#4717 L2
semroc.com

Bentonville, Arkansas

Doubt that you need anything more precise than that, unless you're going to drive up to the front door of the corporate offices.

__________________
Roy
nar12605

Mr. Lee Scott,CEO
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
702 South West Eighth Street
Bentonville Arkansas 72716

I sent an email and haven't received any comments yet.

Goo luck...

Just got back from my local WM, all decked out in it's holiday flair, went to the infamous toy aisle to see if anything has changed in the rocket selection. Here is what I found.

MOTORS
15 packs A10-3& mini's

1 pack A8-3

1 pack C6-3

6 packs C6-5

2 packs C6-7

STARTER SETS

3 Patriot

3 Launchables twin pack

ONe more packs of A10-3T's and a couple more kit, both, side by side now............WOW