Are stores by you getting emptier??

[Rosemary2205]

I have a power wheelchair. 3 years ago when I first started getting out in this thing any shopping was a total pain - especially for clothing. The racks were always jammed so close together I couldn't manuvuer at all. We went to Sears this morning because the butt of my black pants is about worn out (2 goodwills turned up nothing suitable) -- so I'm really enjoying the browsing and then I realize the clothing racks are at least 7 feet from each other.

Next is Walgreens to pick up meds and some bathroom items. Going down the aisle for shampoo I realize they are carrying less styles and of those they have a couple bottles of each, not a shelf packed full.

Retailers have cut back on stock because of slower sales -- even on shampoo???

Wow.

Edit to add I'm south metro Atlanta

[kdmorris]

1. Nope.

I haven't noticed anything like what you are saying. Everything seems to be pretty much normal as far as I can tell.

[DJ13]

2. Im finding that even our local Walmart has a lot of empty spaces on shelves

It pisses me off too, as its usually something I specifically went there to buy!

[Miss Carly]

37. I have noticed that at our walmart

less inventory, I chalked it up to crappy management here, but I guess it's all over.
Carly

[LibDemAlways]

3. Even the grocery stores near me are like ghost towns. And

last weekend I went out to dinner at a local place that in the past was always packed on Saturday night. It was about 80% empty. Very bad times.

[alfredo]

4. Not only is there less congestion, there's less stores. There's a lot of

closed stores in the three strip malls near me.

[Kali]

5. I have noticed but not sure if cause and effect are correct.

Walmart invaded our little town fairly recently and I assumed Safeway was starting to struggle because I have experienced the same thing there. I don't shop much anywhere else so my experience is limited.

So far we've lost a dollar store and a small town dept/variety store (Alco).

And two of the town council members are facing recall elections in part because they were against walmart coming in. Yep that was good for business. I swear the way a big chunk of this country thinks and then votes against its own interests...

[haele]

6. yes- both in drug-store and smaller grocery stores.

Especially the "seconds" stores for chains (Food for Less being the "seconds" for Ralphs and Krogers, etc). From what I can see, it's a situation where deliveries are not as regular as they were before; an co-worker who's kid works part time stocking at a local Albertson's says the kid's hours were cut by between 1/3 and 1/2 nightly because he had fewer shipments to check, scan and stock.


Haele

[napi21]

8. My hubby works for a large SE supermarket chain. He's a FT meat cutter,

but he told me they cut hours for all the PT people. Sales are DOWN by quite a bit in every area.

[Warpy]

7. Yes!

Everybody is carrying less inventory, from hardware to computers to clothing to food.

My mother told me that in the Depression, even when she had a little money to spend, there wasn't anyplace to spend it. That was in NEW YORK CITY.

[fight4my3sons]

9. not around me

I have to use the big carts because my twins like to sit in those that have the two seats in the front (if they are available) and they are difficult to navigate around the merchandise. When I go to stores like Walgreens, grocery store or Goodwill and Salvation Army I still use their double stroller and because they like to run and fool around and even though it is supposed to be the same width as a wheelchair it is very difficult to get around all of the aisles and stacks of stuff in the grocery store.

[murray hill farm]

10. i have noticed it everywhere I shop.

The local grocery stores and the one local walmart...even big lots and other discounts. In walmart items are not restocked until they are completely sold out of an iitem...and then it takes a while for that order to be filled again. One of the signs that I have always noticed is that when a store is in trouble, the lighting in the store is the first to go down...they do not burn as many lights to save money. I am seeing it now in most of the stores in my area. Brunswick, GA.

[rusty fender]

11. I can see why they are empty--we have no money!

I wanted desperately to pay off my credit card debt, so I did, and now I have $627 in my checking account. I can't buy anything except the bare neccesities. I thought I was doing okay, but here I am. I'm grateful that my dial-up is only $9.95/month because the internet is almost a neccesity for many of us.

[Rosemary2205]

12. I was "lucky" to get internet free.

I found out Bellsouth ran a program for free 56K dialup with email for people who are disabled. I got signed up right before they merged with ATT. -- ATT does not offer the program anymore but since I got in under Bellsouth they grandfathered me in, but changed my service to their lowest level of DSL - which is just a little faster than the dialup.

[kestrel91316]

13. I remember when I was young, talking to my grandmother who had lived

through the Great Depression. I aksed why things had been so bad then - wasn't there work for people to do?

She said there was NO MONEY. I couldn't even wrap my mind around the concept - what do you mean there was no money, I asked? She reiterated there was NO MONEY. NOBODY had any money to spend. Period.

As I sit here, having just had the slowest week since I opened my doors 17 years ago, I finally get it.

THERE IS NO MONEY.

[ThomWV]

14. Now ask yourself this

If there is no money, and I agree with you there is none, then what happened to all that labor that so many millions of us give and have been giving for so long? What happened to the fruits of our labor?

How can it be that a person can work so hard, earn what appears to be substantial amounts of money, and come out of it with nothing but debt; and upside down loans at that?

[kestrel91316]

15. Look in the pockets of Big Oil and Big Pharma and Walmart

and the Military-Industrial Complex. They are sitting on trillions.

Money only functions if you SPEND it.........

Methinks it might be time to return to the old ways of barter and shut the uber-wealthy out.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

16. The shelves in my 2 major supermarkets are full.

[spinbaby]

17. A nearby grocery is out of flour

We have an independent grocery nearby that opened right before Christmas. I'm not sure who's got the money to open a grocery nowadays, but this place was making a good effort towards catering to upscale shoppers--lots of organics, a real butcher, unusual vegetables, gourmet olive oil. In early February I noticed they were out of flour. Annoying, but I knew there was a run on flour, so I didn't think much of it. Then the organic vegetable section shrank dramatically. Now I'm noticing lots of space in the freezer case as they spread stuff out to make it look full. They still don't have flour.

[orangerevolution]

18. Yes they are emptier

around closing time.

[Cleita]

19. Yes, and during the week the stores are quite empty of customers.

In one big box store last week, in which I was window shopping only thinking about a future purchase, I had a about five employees accost me in the first five minutes. Then I looked around and noticed there were barely any customers in there besides me.

[coriolis]

20. Not around here...shelves are jammed with stuff. Including rice.

Walgreens is building a brand new store right across the street from a Walmart supercenter...it looks like it will be done in a couple weeks.

[recoveringrepublican]

21. well I work at a Walgreens in FL

I basically do inventory all day long, and just because it's not on the shelf doesn't mean that there isn't loads of it somewhere else in the store. Also, your store may just have an awesome person who does my job, meaning that there won't be much more on the shelf than what will sell that week. We don't like overstock, it's a pain the rear to everyone. We have been told to push consumables. Our overstock consists of mostly paper products, detergents, and food.

Also they are getting very strict about hours. We are bare bones right now, meaning less people to stock those shelves unless the product is completely out. I haven't noticed any real concerning decrease in our truck size, or an increase in discontinued products (either by the manufacturer or because Walgreens decided to stop selling it). But then I just started working at a store that had a riduculous amount of inventory, and with the help of one other manager we have been working our tails off to correct this, so smaller trucks are good news to us.

I have noticed our sales are getting awesome though! Tons of BOGO free type stuff on major products to lure in customers, hoping they will buy more than that. I've also noticed many more customers just sticking to the sales. Just yesterday I ended up being a personal shopper to nice elderly lady who was ONLY buying either the BOGO free things, or "free with mail in rebate".

[Danmel]

22. Yes

There was very little flour on the shelves today and there was a sign limiting rice purchases. I have noticed sparser shelf stocking.

[Midlodemocrat]

23. Not even close. If anything the exact opposite.

Trying to find a parking space at Kroger's on a Saturday is next to friggin' impossible. And, the carts are barely maneuverable around the merchandise.

[Zywiec]

24. Nope, and you still need to wait 30 minutes to get a table at most restaurants. n/t

[iamthebandfanman]

25. malls are definitely taking a hit

you go into any mall around my area and theres bound to atleast be a few closed up stores... heck, i know of 2 or 3 entire shopping malls that completely closed their doors in the last 8 years.

as far as my local grocery store(not the large chain one) , yes, there are empty shelves very often.

[LibDemAlways]

26. Even the upscale market in my neighborhood is

suffering. The $25.00 steaks are sitting there untouched. Apparently there's a limit to what even the well-to-do will pay - or fewer of them to pay it these days.

[hack89]

27. No nt

[hatredisnotavalue]

28. Shopping hint...

If you go shopping in the morning, a lot of the meat is marked down by a dollar or two. I am stocking up and freezing it. Definitely they are cutting and prepping too much meat and discounting it because of lack of sales. Also high end stuff at the front of the store is now non-existant...this week on sale was elbow macaroni and canned beans and store brand soup. Stores aren't going to carry stuff they can't sell.

[Pastiche423]

29. Stores in my neck of the woods

are more empty of shoppers than merchandise. It's been like this for over a month now.

I use a manual w/c and got so tired of sale tag cuts, that I quit going into stores that pack the racks close together, making it hard to maneuver. I dread the day when it comes time to move to a powerchair. Too many doors are not large enough to get through.

[Maggie_May]

30. Yes sales are bad I work for a grocery chain

and yes sales are down and keep going down. The only time we are busy is during the first of the month because of social security checks and government assistance payments. The first couple days after the first it slows down. I work in half the state so I do go into a lot of the stores see sale figs and I can tell you we have even cut down on deliveries.

[uppityperson]

31. I find lots of stuff but wayyyyy less people. nt

[Lorien]

32. I've noticed fewer shoppers, but no empty shelves

I do live in one of the few areas of the country that's still growing, though-so that could have something to do with it.

[KoKo]

33. Yep....Research Triangle, NC here...and we are supposedly doing well in Recession

but drug stores not fully stocked...and stores in Shopping Malls have very few customers. Who knew those aisles were so wide until the Recession and gas prices cut out the "shop 'til you drop' crowd.

Also...some of the lBig Chain grocery stores aren't restocking their shelves like they used to. Check out lines are long because of staff cuts...and I guess the stocking folks have been cut back, too. BUT...every day I see new construction going up. Somehow they can still get the loans to build more shopping even as stores go out of business. It's the Bush Economy....don't believe your lying eyes...things are great.. :crazy:

[tammywammy]

34. No, I haven't noticed anything like that here

The grocery store was fully stocked and there were plenty of people in there last week.

[AlCzervik]

35. not where i live, i went to the market tonight after the movies and there was plenty of

stiff and the produce was awesome.

[Stuart G]

36. Yes, absolutely yes..yes.. Please read my short report.

Yesterday I bought two items in stores I rarely go into. Too crowded on Saturday..Don't like to buy stuff anyway...So, when my computer screen went blank..well, I needed a new screen. So, my computer friend and I went to Best Buy..always crowded on Sat. always a mad house..So I said to Gary.."You know, the place may be much less crowded. He said, no, not possible..Sat afternoon all the computer fans are buying stuff.
..We get a parking place right in front of the store in a crowded strip mall. Ok ...We look around, and there are several parking places up front. Walk into the store. He says it was the least crowded he has ever seen on a weekend afternoon..
We buy a new screen on sale, then check out..no lines.

..Later, at my place, I got to talking to another friend about the apparent demise of my 21 year old refrigerator.(freezer don't work, but the rest does.)
...She convinces me that it might be a good idea to go to the appliance store and get another..ok, I don't want to go, but I go anyway..
Huge appliance store in north Chicago suburb...(ABT)..great reputation for service, follow up, and very good prices..Anyway we go in, again a parking place up front, and look around. Doesn't look too busy..find one, buy one, and talk to the sales person..So, "I ask, busy today." He says very light for a Saturday.
.
.On the way back, we pass a Wall Mart. Parking lot full to the brim...Now. what is going on here?.Need to have a PHD to know this country is in trouble?

..........Hardly...........