Expect to have less variety of product available soon

[TwixVoy]

So I logged on to the corporate intranet today at work to find a notice that there will be a mass reduction in SKUs at stores later this year. The notice even acknowledged that this was highly unexpected, but that is a necessary move to help counteract the issues we are having with product not selling and going clearance, and the on going difficulty to get product in stock. This is completely off the wall because the company has never had to do this chain wide before.

Basically what SKU reduction means is that we will carry less variety of product. So instead of having 10 different kinds of soap to choose from you now have 4 different kinds. Instead of 40 different kinds of cereal you now have 20 different kinds.

This is a multi-billion dollar general merchandise retailer so if we are feeling the need to do this I can only imagine others will. Expect to have less choices in products this year. In all the years I have been in retail I have never ever seen us have to do a chain wide SKU reduction.

[NYC_SKP]

1. Glad to hear it, there was waaaay too much shit before.

Too many flavors, versions, sizes, variations, of practically any item you can name.

[cynatnite]

3. I prefer the wider variety thank you very much n/t

[Taverner]

7. Second for that! N/T

[NYC_SKP]

12. OK, since resources and energy are utterly endless, I guess that's fine.

Tons of unsold crap go unsold, thrown away, overproduction is a wasteful component of our crazy consumer culture, about which, interestingly, Americans become VERY defensive.

Travel to most other countries reveals fewer malls, fewer choices, often less packaging and I could go on forever on this.

Over time the pendulum will swing back, it may be swinging now.

Stock up on variety.

[cynatnite]

17. Having a sense of responsibility in what you make or buy should go hand in hand...

I don't want my freedom to choose to buy what I want taken away, but I also recognize that I have a responsibility in how I handle the products I purchase.

In an ideal world that's how it should be, IMO. Unfortunately, many don't feel the same.

[NYC_SKP]

24. I think manufacturers may have overestimated our interest in how many versions

of a particular product are made available.

I don't want to take by force away anything, but if market forces narrow down the choices, there are ways that it can be seen as a good thing.

As you suggest, a really, really well informed citizenry might well change the whole spectrum of products, what's sold, how they're packaged, etc.

:toast:

[cynatnite]

26. Right on! n/t

[Runcible Spoon]

28. I think the market reached saturation and we all got variety fatigue...

There IS a point where even the dumbest, most conditioned consumers will see through the "TOTALLY NEW! ZOMG WOW!" on every box and label and see that it is just clever packaging. I think the reticence to embrace new kinds of soft drinks is a good way to gauge that kind of thing; the market is extremely sensitive although ironically the big brands don't really intend you to develop a fondness for the new variety, they want to reestablish and ingrain loyalty to the "original formula" more deeply; THEN we saw SAME GREAT TASTE NEW LOOK. I think they're running out of angles.

[cynatnite]

30. I also think consumers are getting smarter...at least a little...

I think that is also having an impact.

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. Try a Mexico City Store....

Less variety, MY DYING ASS

[NYC_SKP]

38. Hay muchas cosas, no?

I was thinking more of Akumal, Valladolid, etc.

Mexico City is another story...

[nadinbrzezinski]

42. Tijuana had the same problem when I was a medic down there

I get your point but globalization has led to shit galore all over the place

Now here is the scary part.

It is not local shit, but mostly imported shit.

Now this crisis is the end of globalization as we know it, so PERHAPS we will see the rise of new local industries... which means less fuel to transport the crap

by the way, the crap in Mexico City... Made in Mexico? NOPE, made in China

[NYC_SKP]

48. I was thinking that the large cities in Asia might put Tijuana to shame.

I totally agree with you on globalization and I meant to compare simpler places abroad to typical suburban America.

Isn't it sad the way China's trying to be all Western in their consumeristic ways? Seriously, more automobiles, fewer bikes, coal fired plants going up every day.

Meanwhile, we're finally talking about buying locally, I'm looking for the return of our general merchandise store that sold many items in bulk and featured local produce only, every day.

[nadinbrzezinski]

49. I'm not sure the local general store is coming back

but there are some things that amaze me

Today I bought some Mexican Papaya, parents are coming to visit.. and price wise it wasn't cheap.

There was a time that Americans who went to visit my family in Mexico City were AMAZED at the variety of fruit, especially in the winter

And you knew when in the year was, by what was available. Papaya is in season in Mexico, but in the states has never ever been in season

Yet, I can get it at the local store... something very wrong with that picture

[Tangerine LaBamba]

15. That's an interesting take on the situation,

and, strangely, I find myself agreeing with you.

Simpler times, simpler lives, perhaps?

[NYC_SKP]

21. Precisely, thank you.

Simpler times and simpler lives, indeed.

I'm old enough at 51 to remember buying tennis shoes in JC Penneys before college and there were just a few brands in just a few styles, something for everyone I thought.
Now there are hundreds, no, thousands of styles and colors, it's harder to find your size than it used to be.

But, as you suggest, I don't think people were anywhere near as obsessed with "shopping" as they used to be.

Add in marketing to children, and, well...

Again, thanks. :thumbsup:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

23. I'm older than you,

and, yes, I remember when you got your sneakers at "the Penney store," as my mother called it, and you had your choice of dark blue or red. Every summer, we got one color or the other. That was that. And we were happy.

Ever see a little kid on Xmas morning, surrounded by tons of gifts (too many gifts), and the kid looks around and starts crying?

Yep.

Back atcha, pal.

:toast:

[NYC_SKP]

27. Yeah, that XMAS comparison problem is sad beyond words.

I was at an airport last week that had an interesting display of toys from the 20's through 40's, maybe a bit older.

These were really well made, that's one interesting point, you could pass them down a generation or two.

Another feature that they were almost all related to adult roles or jobs--mini cash registers, working garden tools, ride-on tractors.

Many toys today are just disturbing.

Bratz, for example..

Ah, the good old days of wooden toys, tinkertoys, kid-size tool sets! I don't remember what my sister liked, I think girls may have had fewer fun choices.

[cynatnite]

33. I wanted lincoln logs and tinker toys when I was a kid...

My cousins, who were boys, got them. :(

Instead, I got barbie and ken. They had lots of pretend sex.

[NYC_SKP]

34. "pretend sex"

Yeah, I have a lot of that, too! :evilgrin:

Damn cousins! My second cousins were always getting "the good stuff".

I wish you'd gotten the good things, eBay has the original items! (hint) :hi:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

35. I had remarkably progressive parents.......

It was the early fifties.

I got an Erector set.



And a chemistry set.

[tabbycat31]

46. I had a doll as a child

that used to be my mother's. (1950's era)

Try finding a toy today (any toy) that a child could pass down to their children.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

50. My mother collected

Madame Alexander dolls for me. They were exquisite, and went to my daughters, who loved them and still have them.

The Madame Alexander dolls made today are garish and rickety. Trash. I haven't looked closely, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they're now "Made In China."

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. Cross Pens, I was looking at getting one the other day

my bad habit, pens

I put it back on the shelf, when I read, made in china

[Tangerine LaBamba]

54. CROSS??????????

Are you kidding me?

I have a fine stash of their old wares. That's what happens when you graduate from law school in 1976. I even have a gold Cross fountain pen.

Jesus, that really bites.

Cross Pens.

[nadinbrzezinski]

57. I had the same reaction

Why I put it back

[DoctorMyEyes]

53. spinning tops

Sorry for going off topic, but your post reminded me of my three year old granddaughter over Christmas. I collect old tin toys from the 30's and 40's mostly - and mostly the old spinning tops with the wooden handles. For all the money we spent on toys for my granddaughters this year all the three year old was interested in the whole week she was here were the same old stand-by tin toys she always plays with here. She LOVES the spinning tops and the wind up chicken that pecks. Elmo has nothing on a 60 year old top. Plus they're practically indestructible.

[Fire1]

47. Or ends up playing with the gift box?

[nadinbrzezinski]

51. My nephews, they got so MUCH crap for birthday from parents

that they were both overwhelmed and on the edge of tears.

They got from me A BOOK... that's it.. A BOOK

I ain't playing that game... not healthy for starters

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Why is the depression coming to mind?

Thanks for the heads up

[L0oniX]

4. Can't find any non-high fructose corn syrup drinks anywhere anymore.

Sucks!

[notadmblnd]

20. Trader Joe's have soda made with pure cane sugar

[Wiley50]

37. Trader Joe's parent Corp, ALDI has gotten me used to less brand variety

and I don't mind it a bit anymore

as long as the quality of what they have is good

and at ALDI it always is.

[FedUpWithIt All]

56. I love ALDI. I did not know they owned Trader Joe.

:hi:

[NYC_SKP]

55. I know, the FDA failed us big time. I used to like 7up, tastes like shit now.

AND, they are allowed to call it "all natural" with HFCS.

Fuck.

Salad dressing, soups, catsup, you name it, they've ruined it.

[lonestarnot]

5. "All I need is this lamp."

Steve Martin

[DJ13]

6. I dont mind, but why does it always happen with products I like?

I saw several empty spaces on the shelf at our local discount big box store yesterday.

They probably lost $30 worth of sales because they didnt have items I regularly buy.

[noamnety]

13. Maybe the secret shopping police have you on their list.

My mom and I are on their list. They follow us around, and whenever they figure out a specific product we like, they pull it from the shelves at all the local stores. ;)

[DJ13]

25. You're probably right!

:hi:

[NOW tense]

8. It will be like our media.

[noamnety]

9. About 15 years ago

I hosted an exchange student from Poland. I remember going to a big supermarket with her for the first time; I tried to sort of warn her what it would be like. She mocked me and said, you know, we have stores in Poland, we pretty much have everything. After we were in the store, she looked around and said they have everything in Poland, but not 20 kinds of everything.

I don't know that their way is the perfect model. :)

But our way looks like extreme excess once you've lived someplace else.

[Runcible Spoon]

10. People really need to live in just about ANY foreign country and come back

I lived in Buenos Aires a year and a half, not exactly "Third World", and when I first got there I got into a snit about not being able to find certain things, like plastic wrap with the little strip of ripping teeth on the carton. THEN I came back to the US, 20 pounds lighter, and walked into a Wal-Mart and truly saw how sick our culture was.

[Pale Blue Dot]

11. Less variety is the least of the problems.

This will continue and accelerate the downward spiral that our economy's in. I'm positive that your company will not be the only one to do this. But when they cut back from 10 kinds of soap to 4, that means the manufacturers of the other 6 brands will have a huge source of revenue cut off. That means more layoffs and bankruptcies, which means people will have less money to spend, etc, etc.

Nearly 100,000 jobs were lost today alone. I really, really wish people would wake up and stop deceiving themselves about what is happening and what's about to happen.

[Runcible Spoon]

14. yes well if we can focus production of those remaining 4 brands domestically

and cut off our addiction to Chinese production, then those jobs and tens of millions MORE, would be there.

[screembloodymurder]

41. I agree. This quickening of our downward spiral is an ominous sign.

This is not about having 20 brands to choose from ... it's about having any choice at all.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

16. Do you think the same thing will happen with specialty products?

I'm thinking health food, which is a niche market. The health food stores and co-ops I frequent do not appear to have any fewer brands of product than before.

[Runcible Spoon]

18. the co-op in my hometown started out in the 70's as very bare-bones...

designed to offer whole foods cheap to poverty-stricken rural residents. Well, competing with even cheaper big ag goods forced them to market to people who would pay a premium for miniature organic watermelons and frozen dinners.

[Ichingcarpenter]

19. Victory cigarettes and vodka help support our war on terror.

[Runcible Spoon]

22. If things get really bad, I'm going back upstate to my parents' farm..

and growing all the weed and distilling all the moonshine I can to barter with. I'm only 25% joking.

[NNN0LHI]

29. Hasn't anyone already noticed this in the vegetable section of grocery stores?

I have.

A handful of apples and some dried up oranges. Three or four little bunches of asparagus. Reminds me of the movie Soylent Green.

Don

[screembloodymurder]

44. I noticed this tonight!

I was shocked at the lack of some items. Whole sections of my grocery store appeared to be deliberately left understocked.

[rug]

31. Thank God. Going to the supermarket has been bewildering.

[Warpy]

36. I'm already seeing that at the grocery store

in terms of sharply reduced variety in the produce aisle. I find myself buying veggies at the organic place more often because they've got something besides iceberg lettuce, cardboard tomatoes and squash.

[screembloodymurder]

39. I was going to post on this issue.

Everywhere I go it's the same. I hear talk of lower prices, but what I see is fewer choices, not lower prices. Is this a deliberate attempt to eliminate competition?

[TwixVoy]

40. Not competition

it's an effort to reduce having to mark so much different product down to clearance levels more and more. Also it is very difficult recently to get product in stock. I suppose the company feels carrying less kinds of product will help logistics focus on getting what we will still carry in stock.

[4 t 4]

43. You know what less is more

enough already I don't need 100 types of pasta or 100 types of soap. Enough already I just need some good pure products with good prices Made In America.

[undeterred]

45. Well, that makes sense.

I've been walking my dog in pet stores because its so cold out. One major chain has a lot of stuff on sale, and it looks like they will be having less product. The two other ones had nothing on sale and an infinite choice of product... with hardly anyone in the store shopping. I think the chain that is marking things down will still be open for business later this year, but I don't know about the other two.

[janx]

58. Dude, all I need is some Ivory soap, toilet paper, and teeth.

I don't need variety; I need necessities.