Shelf Space
May. 11th, 2007 03:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drewkittyIn a World Without Oil . . .
After a long, hard day of recruiting replacements for my service workers who can no longer afford to commute to work thanks to gasoline prices, I took a tour of my local Bullseye Store today.
Some changes as I tour the store. The biggest is about a 20% increase in price on all items, more on those which are bulky or heavy.
Lawn & Garden: a lot of fertilizer is out of stock. People have bought quite a bit of it, some of the remaining stock is marked up. A major ingredient of many fertilizers: petroleum products. There is a big sign saying "We are sorry, for the duration of the crisis Bullseye will not be restocking outdoor furnitures." They are out of charcoal and of lighter fluid. A few forlorn BBQ stoves remain.
Health & Beauty: the first aid and medical supplies section has approximately doubled. First aid kits, N-95 protective masks, a wide selection of gloves, bandages including hospital point-of-care items. Makeup items still available but again, signs of selective restocking. Price increases are greater here.
Electronics: one of the most popular items is a push-step generator-charger. Rushed into production in only six (6) weeks, it looks like a stair-stepper had an unfortunate encounter with a jump-starter battery pack. For only $150, you too can charge small appliances and power your radios and lights. Other items are carried, even including games, with one notable exception. There are no non-LCD televisions any more.
Clothes: a sudden emphasis on sensible shoes for women. Warm clothing. A lot less plastics. No plastic cosmetic jewelry.
Grocery: the big missing staple is milk. There is a notation: "We have been forced by market pressures to stop carrying milk. Please visit the nearest supermarket at (location) or choose from our powdered milk products. Bullseye management."
Lots of basic foodstuffs. Even a display with cookbooks. Canned goods are in rich supply. The display is shallow, however . . . designed to look overflowing, it is frequently and carefully restocked by two dedicated stockers who work the grocery department. With a podium. They seem to load the restock cart and travel back and forth with it as a pair. Interesting. The careful appearance of lots of stock . . . but the restockers are like hens with one chick. Some of the shelf spaces are only three cans deep.
Housewares: all of a sudden, it is impossible to buy an electric heater. The shelves where they used to be are bare. On close examination, there is a small label "Bullseye has chosen to voluntarily withdraw resistance heater products from the marketplace in advance of government regulation." Air conditioners are well stocked but on deep discount.
Automotive: special on locking gas caps, wide selection. One even hooks up wirelessly to the car's alarm system. Deeper special on siphons. Same selection of gas cans, but a lot more of them. I wonder if Bullseye's buyers have a sense of humor.
Books: the book section has shrunk a bit. A pallet of canned goods is more important than a pallet of books. Magazines are still fully stocked.
Baby Products: special discount on car seats, of which there are many. Shelves bare of any item that can be used to carry an infant by hand or on back. Huge new display advertising rewashable diapers. Small note at the bottom: "Bullseye cannot guarantee the availability of disposable diapers past May 31, 2007."
Bicycles: display bicycles are now thoughtfully locked down. There is a sign: "Bicycle riding clinic daily at 2 / 4 / 6 PM courtesy of Silicon Valley Eco Alliance." The tools and parts section has been expanded.
Sporting goods: sterno and propane stoves are sold out. A lot of other supplies too. But not tents.
Back of store: there is now a guard podium at the back of the store to be certain that unauthorized persons do not enter the back area. When I drive around the back, a second guard is checking in and out trucks and keeping an eye on loading and unloading. This is despite an enclosed loading dock. Both guards are Bullseye employees, not contractors. They carry handcuffs and flashlights. Looking more closely, I see that they are carrying a black plastic shape in a angle holster and wearing radios with earpieces. They are listening to radio traffic on the store net. I infer a dispatcher watching cameras and with a telephone for the police ready to hand. Armed guards have come to Bullseye. I look again. M26 Taser. Still scary.
Bullseye is dead serious about preventing cargo and store theft. They could care less about retail shoplifting by comparison.
Parking lot: fewer vehicles. But the people who have come to shop, are SHOPPING. Buying quite a lot, a few hundred dollars for each item. Often Latino families, in cash.
Cashiering: there is a little sign which chills my blood at each register. "We are sorry, Bullseye credit cards have a maximum authorization limit of $200 per day for grocery / health & beauty. Thank you for shopping at Bullseye."
Cashiers are checking not only $100 bills, but $20 dollar bills for counterfeits. There are more cashier supervisors on the floor, and they are sharply alert for problems. As I watch, a customer starts to get upset over a pricing mistake. All of a sudden, there are six Bullseye employees falling all over themselves to help and be friendly and supportive and fix the pricing error. And one of the store security discreetly floats nearby. He has a Taser too. The potential retail riot is snuffed out like a candle in a windstorm.
Employees: Bullseye has always prided itself on good customer service. But these employees are wired up tighter than a drum. They are more like soldiers on the front lines of a war. They are friendly like it's life and death. Effuse apologizes when an item is not in stock. Freely referring people to competitors when regretfully an item is unavailable. But never any rain checks.
I wonder what Bullseye Corporate knows that my Corporate does not. Or is not willing to share with me.
After a long, hard day of recruiting replacements for my service workers who can no longer afford to commute to work thanks to gasoline prices, I took a tour of my local Bullseye Store today.
Some changes as I tour the store. The biggest is about a 20% increase in price on all items, more on those which are bulky or heavy.
Lawn & Garden: a lot of fertilizer is out of stock. People have bought quite a bit of it, some of the remaining stock is marked up. A major ingredient of many fertilizers: petroleum products. There is a big sign saying "We are sorry, for the duration of the crisis Bullseye will not be restocking outdoor furnitures." They are out of charcoal and of lighter fluid. A few forlorn BBQ stoves remain.
Health & Beauty: the first aid and medical supplies section has approximately doubled. First aid kits, N-95 protective masks, a wide selection of gloves, bandages including hospital point-of-care items. Makeup items still available but again, signs of selective restocking. Price increases are greater here.
Electronics: one of the most popular items is a push-step generator-charger. Rushed into production in only six (6) weeks, it looks like a stair-stepper had an unfortunate encounter with a jump-starter battery pack. For only $150, you too can charge small appliances and power your radios and lights. Other items are carried, even including games, with one notable exception. There are no non-LCD televisions any more.
Clothes: a sudden emphasis on sensible shoes for women. Warm clothing. A lot less plastics. No plastic cosmetic jewelry.
Grocery: the big missing staple is milk. There is a notation: "We have been forced by market pressures to stop carrying milk. Please visit the nearest supermarket at (location) or choose from our powdered milk products. Bullseye management."
Lots of basic foodstuffs. Even a display with cookbooks. Canned goods are in rich supply. The display is shallow, however . . . designed to look overflowing, it is frequently and carefully restocked by two dedicated stockers who work the grocery department. With a podium. They seem to load the restock cart and travel back and forth with it as a pair. Interesting. The careful appearance of lots of stock . . . but the restockers are like hens with one chick. Some of the shelf spaces are only three cans deep.
Housewares: all of a sudden, it is impossible to buy an electric heater. The shelves where they used to be are bare. On close examination, there is a small label "Bullseye has chosen to voluntarily withdraw resistance heater products from the marketplace in advance of government regulation." Air conditioners are well stocked but on deep discount.
Automotive: special on locking gas caps, wide selection. One even hooks up wirelessly to the car's alarm system. Deeper special on siphons. Same selection of gas cans, but a lot more of them. I wonder if Bullseye's buyers have a sense of humor.
Books: the book section has shrunk a bit. A pallet of canned goods is more important than a pallet of books. Magazines are still fully stocked.
Baby Products: special discount on car seats, of which there are many. Shelves bare of any item that can be used to carry an infant by hand or on back. Huge new display advertising rewashable diapers. Small note at the bottom: "Bullseye cannot guarantee the availability of disposable diapers past May 31, 2007."
Bicycles: display bicycles are now thoughtfully locked down. There is a sign: "Bicycle riding clinic daily at 2 / 4 / 6 PM courtesy of Silicon Valley Eco Alliance." The tools and parts section has been expanded.
Sporting goods: sterno and propane stoves are sold out. A lot of other supplies too. But not tents.
Back of store: there is now a guard podium at the back of the store to be certain that unauthorized persons do not enter the back area. When I drive around the back, a second guard is checking in and out trucks and keeping an eye on loading and unloading. This is despite an enclosed loading dock. Both guards are Bullseye employees, not contractors. They carry handcuffs and flashlights. Looking more closely, I see that they are carrying a black plastic shape in a angle holster and wearing radios with earpieces. They are listening to radio traffic on the store net. I infer a dispatcher watching cameras and with a telephone for the police ready to hand. Armed guards have come to Bullseye. I look again. M26 Taser. Still scary.
Bullseye is dead serious about preventing cargo and store theft. They could care less about retail shoplifting by comparison.
Parking lot: fewer vehicles. But the people who have come to shop, are SHOPPING. Buying quite a lot, a few hundred dollars for each item. Often Latino families, in cash.
Cashiering: there is a little sign which chills my blood at each register. "We are sorry, Bullseye credit cards have a maximum authorization limit of $200 per day for grocery / health & beauty. Thank you for shopping at Bullseye."
Cashiers are checking not only $100 bills, but $20 dollar bills for counterfeits. There are more cashier supervisors on the floor, and they are sharply alert for problems. As I watch, a customer starts to get upset over a pricing mistake. All of a sudden, there are six Bullseye employees falling all over themselves to help and be friendly and supportive and fix the pricing error. And one of the store security discreetly floats nearby. He has a Taser too. The potential retail riot is snuffed out like a candle in a windstorm.
Employees: Bullseye has always prided itself on good customer service. But these employees are wired up tighter than a drum. They are more like soldiers on the front lines of a war. They are friendly like it's life and death. Effuse apologizes when an item is not in stock. Freely referring people to competitors when regretfully an item is unavailable. But never any rain checks.
I wonder what Bullseye Corporate knows that my Corporate does not. Or is not willing to share with me.
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-12 06:48 am (UTC)Only two brands of bottled water, both from local suppliers and with prices as much as 50% higher. (Arrowhead is one of them.) Coke and Pepsi brand products mostly in 2-liter bottles, and not much of it. Desultory offerings of house brands, but not much.
Lots of the typical mixes, punches, tea bags, etc. But not pre-mixed. Fluids are heavy and shipping cases of premixed fluids just stopped being cost-effective.