Retail giants are reducing the variety of brands and models stocked to reduce costs.

[jody]

Just attempted to buy a specific item from a retail home improvement store and discovered that the item was no longer stocked.

I looked throughout the store and noted the practice in every area.

I discussed the situation with the store’s area managers who said the chain was drastically reducing brands and models stocked to cut costs.

I assume that is common among most home improvement chains but is it also common in other types of stores in your area?

[w4rma]

1. Good to know that. Will have to shop on the internet more. (nt)

[Jackpine Radical]

2. And the cheapening of products goes on.

Not long ago I bought a Craftsman garden tractor to replace my old one, which had given good service. The new one, nominally a "better" model, was in many ways inferior to the old one. I discovered that these days there are only about 3 major manufacturers of garden tractors, and that all the various brands carried in the big-box stores are made by these 3. Soon I am sure that one will buy out the other 2, and there will be only one left, which will then just keep cheapening its stuff.

[ThomWV]

7. they have held prices relatively steady by constantly reducing quality

And the company that makes all of those big box tractors is MTD. Even the low end Deere's are made by them.

[nevergiveup]

3. This is true of many small retailers also.

I have a small retail store and mail order business (3 employees). We have cut inventory 30 to 40% this year mostly liquidating slower moving items. All, without exception, of our suppliers have also drastically reduced inventory. These are mostly very small companies. We are all in survival mode.

[LiberalLoner]

4. I've noticed at grocery stores, it's getting harder and harder to buy

the old regular brands I used to get. They are being replaced by store brands - e.g. "Wegman's canned tomatoes" instead of "Hunts canned tomatoes." I find the store brands are almost always vastly inferior to the old brands. Really bugs me.

[Recursion]

15. Isn't vertical integration fun? NT

[emilyg]

5. It's true at my Macy's which

stays empty most of the time.

[Bitwit1234]

6. And they are stocking their own brands more in

super markets. You can't get a lot of national products. The meat counter used to be loaded with beef. Now you are lucky to find a variety of cuts.

[dogday]

8. I thought it was because it was my small neighborhood store

which I prefer to the larger superstores because of health reasons, and I like the convenience of knowing where everything is. I hate to wander endlessly through the market looking for groceries.

[Tesha]

9. Our local supermarket has been doing this for years.

About every fourth trip, we shop a different supermarket chain
that still carries many of the products we like.

Tesha

[izquierdista]

10. Some places have good variety

I like shopping at Big Lots, they have all sorts of new and interesting products. It's the only place I have been able to find super-pasturized milk in the 1L boxes. I also make the rounds at Ross, Stein Mart, and Burlington Coat Factory to see what closeout or deal they got from a supplier that couldn't "move the merch". That's where you'll find those brands and models that were unstocked to cut costs. When you do find what you are looking for, stock up on it, because with them, it's here today, gone tomorrow.

[KT2000]

11. Yes - drug store chains

Everyone seems to want to sell their store brand so they are stocking that and one or two other brands of some products I have looked for.

[madrchsod]

12. walmart is doing the same thing in their grocery dept.

[AnArmyVeteran]

13. What's sad are all the useless slightly different products.

There are dozens of different plumbing, electrical and other products that could all be reduced to a handful of standardized parts. When you try to do a do it yourself plumbing job you are faced with trying to locate just the right size out of dozens of fittings when one or two would suffice. If there was a standardization of parts it would not only be cheaper for the company but it would also be easier for the homeowner to fix things himself.

But the reason why there are dozens of widgets than do just one thing is so companies can soak you for more and more money. Look at the hundreds of sizes and shapes of screws. It's madness. A handful of sizes would work on almost every task. But again. it's all marketing and trying to gouge the customer.

The VW bug lasted for decades and the parts were interchangeable from one year to the next and they were a snap to work on. Now if you try to work on a car you need dozens or hundreds of tools when just a handful were needed in the past. It's all about screwing the consumer and forcing them to either have someone else do the work or trying to find and then pay for rare, hard to find or expensive parts. There are hundreds of different screws and bolts on a car, all with different heads, shapes and unique sizes. They could all be replaced with a dozen, but that would take too much common sense and it would mean manufacturers couldn't gouge you.

I would like to see a reduction in the number of brands and parts. Just maybe something good will come out of this and we will return to the days when standardization was widespread and people could do most of the work on their houses and cars by themselves. But I'm sure that will never happen because companies will continue their assaults against the consumer.

Greed is destroying this country...

[Recursion]

16. And don't get me started on power cable connectors

In what universe is it sane that manufacturers are making power cables whose connectors are mechanically compatible but electrically incompatible?

[RubyDuby in GA]

14. I have noticed this a lot at Target

[nilram]

17. I noticed a contraction three years ago

in the number of brands at an upscale grocery store here. More space in-between special displays means fewer products need to be on the floor. The last time I was there, I noticed they're displaying fewer bottles of wine. Hadn't noticed this so much at the hardware stores though -- I'll keep an eye out.