[MarkJerling]

Perhaps these clubs close to you whose members would have had that knowledge or they will put you in touch with someone..
https://www.nzart.org.nz/contact/branches/46
https://www.nzart.org.nz/contact/branches/82

Thank you Bob!
Much appreciated.

[Wheatfield]

Although Kroger is a major company, I notice that they have some specialty items that Walmart grocery doesn't carry.
For example, Sushi.

It's certainly a way that small mom and pop stores, like hardware stores, can make a niche for themselves and compete with big box stores.

---------- Post added 03-16-22 at 07:48 PM ----------




With the retro crowd seeking out vinyl, some vinyl record stores have popped up here and there.
Then I see Walmart sells more vinyl, at my location, than they sell CD's....
Darn Walmart won't even let these small vinyl record stores have the vinyl niche all to themselves

If Walmart can make a buck on a trend, they will, and they will murder whatever competitor is out there in order to dominate the market. When the trend dies down, they will drop it like a hot turd.
The only way to deal with rapacious companies like that is to stay away from them when they decide to kill a category.

[bobD]

If Walmart can make a buck on a trend, they will, and they will murder whatever competitor is out there in order to dominate the market. When the trend dies down, they will drop it like a hot turd.

Surely you mean an Iced Turd.....hot turds tend to fritter away all by themselves whereas...oh never mind..

[usn ret]

The last camera store I was in was Samy's on Fairfax in Los Angeles, I walked up to the Pentax display hoping to get my hands on the, then new K7, stood there for about 15 minutes watching a group, including sale staff hover around the newest Canon release. Yes I was ready to buy. On the way out I voiced my intentions that I HAD been ready to buy. You only get one chance to make a "first impression", nope I have not been back. Yes I would prefer to touch and feel but being ignored by the staff insures that I will not be back. Nuff said!!

---

Last edited by usn ret; 03-28-2022 at 09:54 PM. Reason: Grammer

[RobA_Oz]

We have one camera store left in this little (pop. 200k) outpost, and that’s a national franchise participant. They still seem to be doing well, as they’re on the main shopping strip in the centre of town, where the rents would be the highest. I recently shopped there for a Cokin filter holder. with no great expectation of their being able to fulfil my request, but a sales assistant opened a drawer full of such things, and handed one to me. The price was actually better than I could do online, too.

Similarly, the larger and some specialty stores in town seem to be faring well at the moment, but the diversity of smaller stores has shrunk over the years, to be replaced by hairdressers, nail painters and fast food sellers, particularly Asian-based cuisine (no bad thing in itself, if only because it’s a good, arguably healthier counter to the McDonalds and KFC operations). We also have three good, medium-sized book stores here, with dedicated customer bases and similarly for electronic components. I don’t think we’ll see the end of high-street shopping just yet, but anything out of the ordinary will be relegated to the online space for the foreseeable future.

[VSTAR]

We have one camera store left in this little (pop. 200k) outpost,

Similarly, the larger and some specialty stores in town seem to be faring well at the moment, but the diversity of smaller stores has shrunk over the years, to be replaced by hairdressers, nail painters and fast food sellers, particularly Asian-based cuisine (no bad thing in itself, if only because it’s a good, arguably healthier counter to the McDonalds and KFC operations). We also have three good, medium-sized book stores here, with dedicated customer bases and similarly for electronic components. I don’t think we’ll see the end of high-street shopping just yet, but anything out of the ordinary will be relegated to the online space for the foreseeable future.

Over 2 mil people in our Toronto, Ontario area. In the last 3 years the number 1 type of store to open up everywhere is….cannabis stores. It got to the point that the stores were dividing up the pie so much that they asked the city to stop issuing new licences! So it sounds like u guys are still doing ok with the variety of stores/businesses .

[Wheatfield]

Over 2 mil people in our Toronto, Ontario area. In the last 3 years the number 1 type of store to open up everywhere is….cannabis stores. It got to the point that the stores were dividing up the pie so much that they asked the city to stop issuing new licences! So it sounds like u guys are still doing ok with the variety of stores/businesses .

I've found since the cannabis stores have opened that I haven't missed the loss of the other stores quite as much. We have a grocery store within a few minutes walk, and that seems to satisfy most of our needs.
I'm my neck of the woods, which is a small city perhaps as many as 225k population, we are down to two camera stores one of which is in the middle of a seniors apartment complex and does a decent trade in developing and printing film for the locals.
The other is my goto camera pusher.

[Michael Piziak]

If Walmart can make a buck on a trend, they will, and they will murder whatever competitor is out there in order to dominate the market. When the trend dies down, they will drop it like a hot turd.
The only way to deal with rapacious companies like that is to stay away from them when they decide to kill a category.

I heard a story that Walmart basically strong armed the knife company Schrade that makes Ole Timer knives. To make a long story short, Walmart basically gave the company an ultimatum. Either start mass producing your knives in China, to increase Walmarts profit on the knives, or your knives will no longer be on our shelves. So now, many, if not all, of their knives are made in China.

[reeftool]

Like most of us, I mourn the loss of brick and mortar stores but in many cases, the stores are sometimes their own worse enemy. We are in need of a new dishwasher. I'm well aware of the supply chain issues concerning home appliances so I first went online searching the big box home centers and appliance stores. I actually found the model I was looking for, a Bosch 100 with top controls and the store claimed it was in stock. I wasn't too concerned because if they didn't have it, it was also listed as "delivered by April 7". So I stopped in only to be told that "all Bosch dishwashers are backordered for at least 6 months. I then showed the sales guy their ad saying it can be delivered by 4/7 and he laughed and said it was BS just to get me in the store and so I could buy something else.

Well I was really pissed and was heading out and planning to go 1/4 mile away to Best Buy who had it but it was $100 more. I did stop at customer service before leaving to rant. The lady there was actually helpful. She looked on the computer and indeed, there was one in stock but a display model which wasn't for sale. She said I could buy it online and get it shipped but suggested I go to another of their stores 15 miles away which had 2 available, which I did yesterday. When I arrived, the appliance dept guy gave me the same run around, no Bosch. I explained that I called ahead and was told there were 2 available. This guy was a little better and he actually spent 30 seconds checking his stock and lo and behold, it was in stock and I got what I wanted at the sale price.

I wonder how many people looking for this advertised item, which was on sale, just walked away and shopped elsewhere or bought something else. I could have just ordered it online but that sale would have been one more statistic to add to the decision to close more stores. The current state of customer service in brick and mortar stores is horrible and is actually driving customers online and adding to the demise of retail stores. Why would a company advertise an item on sale that you can't get for 6 months? Worse yet, why wouldn't their employees know what's in stock and it the case of the first store, wouldn't take the time to even check. It's also really bad for Bosch who is loosing sales because of lazy and incompetent retail employees. The end of my rant for now!

[c.a.m]

The current state of customer service in brick and mortar stores is horrible and is actually driving customers online and adding to the demise of retail stores.

I imagine most of us have had similar experiences, particularly with the larger retail stores. Perhaps the decline in customer service is caused by the churn in employees -- there are fewer long-term staff who regard their employment in retail as a career. And it applies to services other than retail. I'm currently trying to resolve an issue involving two financial institutions -- hoops and runarounds abound.

Still, there are shining stars. Several years ago, we wanted to replace our aging clothes washer and dryer. We settled on a pair of Speed Queen models (made in Wisconsin, high quality, mostly DIY repairable). A couple of places could have ordered in and delivered within a reasonable time. However, we found a family-owned business in a small village about 45 minutes from here. They had a new washer in stock and were happy to sell the floor-model dryer at a slight discount (they had kept the packing crate and all the papers). They had the lowest prices of all the places we looked.

When I showed up to complete the sale, they invited me to pop a balloon on the ceiling (celebrating a store anniversary), so I got another 5% off. Then, they asked me whether I'd like a couple of complimentary beef steaks from their butcher's case (co-located appliance store and village butcher shop -- go figure). Delivery was exactly on time to the hour. What a wonderful experience with good old-fashioned customer service. I'll look there again, for sure.

Anyways, I'm not surprised by your dishwasher adventure. I've had similar experiences with a local large home improvement retailer. Their online inventory check is not always what it says and some of the staff are less than helpful.

At the Customer UnService Counter:
"Hi, I'm looking for this item (on printout), online says you've got 23 in stock"
"Oh, they're located in Aisle 18"
"I looked there already."
"I guess we're out of stock."
"Would you mind checking your in-store inventory?"
Tap tap tap. "Oh, I guess that product has been moved to aisle 22" OR "Sorry, the online stock is wrong...it happens" OR "They're still in the warehouse. Can you come back tomorrow?"

Sigh.

The plumbing guy at that store is pretty helpful.

- Craig

[lesmore49]

I imagine most of us have had similar experiences, particularly with the larger retail stores. Perhaps the decline in customer service is caused by the churn in employees -- there are fewer long-term staff who regard their employment in retail as a career. And it applies to services other than retail. I'm currently trying to resolve an issue involving two financial institutions -- hoops and runarounds abound.

Still, there are shining stars. Several years ago, we wanted to replace our aging clothes washer and dryer. We settled on a pair of Speed Queen models (made in Wisconsin, high quality, mostly DIY repairable). A couple of places could have ordered in and delivered within a reasonable time. However, we found a family-owned business in a small village about 45 minutes from here. They had a new washer in stock and were happy to sell the floor-model dryer at a slight discount (they had kept the packing crate and all the papers). They had the lowest prices of all the places we looked.

When I showed up to complete the sale, they invited me to pop a balloon on the ceiling (celebrating a store anniversary), so I got another 5% off. Then, they asked me whether I'd like a couple of complimentary beef steaks from their butcher's case (co-located appliance store and village butcher shop -- go figure). Delivery was exactly on time to the hour. What a wonderful experience with good old-fashioned customer service. I'll look there again, for sure.

Anyways, I'm not surprised by your dishwasher adventure. I've had similar experiences with a local large home improvement retailer. Their online inventory check is not always what it says and some of the staff are less than helpful.

At the Customer UnService Counter:
"Hi, I'm looking for this item (on printout), online says you've got 23 in stock"
"Oh, they're located in Aisle 18"
"I looked there already."
"I guess we're out of stock."
"Would you mind checking your in-store inventory?"
Tap tap tap. "Oh, I guess that product has been moved to aisle 22" OR "Sorry, the online stock is wrong...it happens" OR "They're still in the warehouse. Can you come back tomorrow?"

Sigh.

The plumbing guy at that store is pretty helpful.

- Craig

We used to go to local stores in our city, buy local was our motto. We're older and during Covid we started to go local, but get it delivered curbside. But we started to notice ...and this was true, even pre covid...that many times at different local stores we couldn't get exactly what was needed or required...

So we went online, during covid. Online for the most part has been very good. We get exactly what we want or need and get it relatively quickly. But again, not always. There is no perfect system in anything.

Now for camera equipment, I still go to our local Henry's...the sales associate I use is exceptionally knowledgeable, talented and has got me, exactly what I want. Also I can get a Henry's extended warranty, which I've used a couple of times over the years and they deliver, in terms of good repair. Yep, Henry's doesn't have any Pentax stock anymore, but the do order from the manufacturer (Pentax-Ricoh Canada) and I get Henry's discount. Last lens I bought, the 24-70 F 2.8...I was able to get a very good discount on this fine lens.

I also personally visit the Mr. Big & Tall store in my burg, for most of my clothes. I'm quite tall and have broad shoulders, long legs...and most men's shops do not carry my size. Mr. B & T always has a variety of clothes options that actually fit me.

But overall I do feel myself and my wife are in a period of transition in how we do our shopping for almost everything. If five years ago someone suggested we would change our life long shopping habits, I wouldn't of believed it....

And as mentioned before part of it is our particular aging process. I'm not up to visiting 4-5 stores in my burg, in the hopes of finding exactly what I need. I don't have the energy.

[reeftool]

I imagine most of us have had similar experiences, particularly with the larger retail stores. Perhaps the decline in customer service is caused by the churn in employees -- there are fewer long-term staff who regard their employment in retail as a career. And it applies to services other than retail. I'm currently trying to resolve an issue involving two financial institutions -- hoops and runarounds abound.

Still, there are shining stars. Several years ago, we wanted to replace our aging clothes washer and dryer. We settled on a pair of Speed Queen models (made in Wisconsin, high quality, mostly DIY repairable). A couple of places could have ordered in and delivered within a reasonable time. However, we found a family-owned business in a small village about 45 minutes from here. They had a new washer in stock and were happy to sell the floor-model dryer at a slight discount (they had kept the packing crate and all the papers). They had the lowest prices of all the places we looked.

When I showed up to complete the sale, they invited me to pop a balloon on the ceiling (celebrating a store anniversary), so I got another 5% off. Then, they asked me whether I'd like a couple of complimentary beef steaks from their butcher's case (co-located appliance store and village butcher shop -- go figure). Delivery was exactly on time to the hour. What a wonderful experience with good old-fashioned customer service. I'll look there again, for sure.

Anyways, I'm not surprised by your dishwasher adventure. I've had similar experiences with a local large home improvement retailer. Their online inventory check is not always what it says and some of the staff are less than helpful.

At the Customer UnService Counter:
"Hi, I'm looking for this item (on printout), online says you've got 23 in stock"
"Oh, they're located in Aisle 18"
"I looked there already."
"I guess we're out of stock."
"Would you mind checking your in-store inventory?"
Tap tap tap. "Oh, I guess that product has been moved to aisle 22" OR "Sorry, the online stock is wrong...it happens" OR "They're still in the warehouse. Can you come back tomorrow?"

Sigh.

The plumbing guy at that store is pretty helpful.

- Craig

I have to say, in the end it worked out for us. I got the dishwasher I wanted and at a pretty good discount, even lower than the sale price. I had been to the gym earlier and I had not eaten in several hours as I don't usually eat much before a hard workout and I was getting pretty cranky at that point but it does pay to be persistent and go higher up the chain and complain. I didn't want to travel too far either. My pickup gets 16MPG going downhill on a good day so I only went to places that their websites said it was available.

[VSTAR]

Reeftool.....don't feel too upset....this is happening everywhere. I do not believe they tried to get u in the store by deception. Covid has caused factory closures, unpredictable manufacturing times, shipping delays, orders placed and not fulfilled, and warehouse/store computer stock errors. How do I know, same thing happened to me. Also needed a new dishwasher. Did the internet research, looked at what's available and called the stores. Found out all the stores will only deliver to my house as there is no stock kept in all the big box stores. So they wanted to deliver to my home, but I am at work! So I called every Lowes and was told by some of them, we have to check stock and will call u back. Guess what, no return call. Finally called one store and spoke to the manager. Explained about the phone calls and I had even been to one store and told they would get back to me. The manager called me back one hour after closing and explained that tractor trailers are coming in but are usually only delivering half the store is expecting so he could not promise when the dishwasher stock is really coming in. He did get a salesperson to call me who was able to track one down at another store. Called the store, they had one, I said great, let me pay on the internet site or over the phone...not allowed! Have to come in person. So next day got lucky, they still had one, and salesperson got it for me and helped load into my car. In the meantime another customer was asking the same salesperson to place an order for a kitchen fume hood that would need to be ordered from the manufacturer. The salesperson tried over and over again to explain to the customer that if it is not in stock then delivery times on websites mean nothing.

2 years into Covid and the supply chains are still broken. Only thing worse is trying to buy a car right now.

[reeftool]

Reeftool.....don't feel too upset....this is happening everywhere. I do not believe they tried to get u in the store by deception. Covid has caused factory closures, unpredictable manufacturing times, shipping delays, orders placed and not fulfilled, and warehouse/store computer stock errors. How do I know, same thing happened to me. Also needed a new dishwasher. Did the internet research, looked at what's available and called the stores. Found out all the stores will only deliver to my house as there is no stock kept in all the big box stores. So they wanted to deliver to my home, but I am at work! So I called every Lowes and was told by some of them, we have to check stock and will call u back. Guess what, no return call. Finally called one store and spoke to the manager. Explained about the phone calls and I had even been to one store and told they would get back to me. The manager called me back one hour after closing and explained that tractor trailers are coming in but are usually only delivering half the store is expecting so he could not promise when the dishwasher stock is really coming in. He did get a salesperson to call me who was able to track one down at another store. Called the store, they had one, I said great, let me pay on the internet site or over the phone...not allowed! Have to come in person. So next day got lucky, they still had one, and salesperson got it for me and helped load into my car. In the meantime another customer was asking the same salesperson to place an order for a kitchen fume hood that would need to be ordered from the manufacturer. The salesperson tried over and over again to explain to the customer that if it is not in stock then delivery times on websites mean nothing.

2 years into Covid and the supply chains are still broken. Only thing worse is trying to buy a car right now.

My experience had nothing to do with supply chains. They have these dishwashers. If not in stock at the store, they can be delivered in a week. What happened to me was an employee who just dismissed me, didn't bother to even check and said to buy another brand or look elsewhere. A delivery would have been perfectly acceptable and I wanted that option but the salesman said I couldn't do that either. That's why I complained to management.

I hate "mail-order"; I do the opposite of what so many seem to be doing - doing the "touch and feel" at local shops and then seeking out the best online prices. I shop the online stuff first to figure out what it is I really want and what it ought to cost, then go buy it at some local shop. It's not just "support local business", it's also "have someone local whose feet you can hold to the fire when what you bought explodes in your kitchen". Also, how do you pay cash in an Amazon transaction?