Does anyone remember that word?

Does anyone miss that word?

If I have any opinion this morning, its that more and more “brick and mortar” retailers can’t seem to get a clue about merchandising their establishments. Case in point –

I walk in to a location of a pet food supplies store that is convenient to my evening commute home. My goal was to pick up some additional food, as well as some other food/treats we had seen the previous Sunday at another location of the same store that my wife and I typically go to. We had seen the additional items there and had decided to try them. Simple enough task, right?

Wrong.

Task Number One was to pick up more cans of a food they carry, as well as a few cans of a different flavor (for variety.) They had the cans of the first flavor we needed, but any of the other flavors we wanted were nowhere to be found. I asked an employee if they carried the other flavors (like our usual location did.) It took ten minutes of hushed conversations with other (indifferent) employees, computer searches, trips to the back room and asking me “Are you sure it’s this brand?” to get a “no.” That’s ten minutes down the drain.

Task Number Two was to pick u a packet of some treats that I had purchased there before. I looked and looked – no treats. Again, I asked the same employee. Repeat Task Number One search process. Except this time, Indifferent Employee #2 said “Oh, we don’t carry that one any more.”

WTF?

This is kind of a hot button with me.

I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of retailers putting a great product on the shelves for a brief time, getting their customers hooked on it, then pulling it with no notice, substituting it for something of higher profit margins and lower quality. One local organic grocer even pulls numerous products from the shelves because someone has a philosophical bug up their ass about it. So people that depend on that product (because it’s one of the few things that is safe for them to eat) get screwed.

What ever spastic form of product merchandising totally neglects the loyalty of their customers. IMHO, every time they do this, they lose massive amounts of credibility with me.

Am I the only one who feels this way? At times like this, when you hope that you can count on something, it’s taken away. I would think that given the tenuous situation of “brick and mortar” stores, they would pay more attention to the customer experience.

I guess that degree intelligence hasn’t occurred at those businesses.

Thoughts?