What's up with the Walmart storage trailers thing?

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There have been several recent postings about unusually large numbers of storage trailers at local Walmarts. There's a Supercenter near me in the Shenandoah Valley. Happened to be across the street at the Home Depot and noticed huge number of trailers at Walmart. Counted between 30-40 but many of them were the smaller type which were without axles and sitting on the ground. Smaller number were the regular ones. Wife says they are probably storing Christmas inventory given the JIT issue we all know about. Friday after Thanksgiving she noted large number of shoppers carrying TV's like crazy out of the store. Makes sense that these trailers are full of inventory. Anyone have a contrary opinion?

-- Rancherdick (angusdude@yahoo.com), November 28, 1999

Answers

Rancherdick:

At present we have about 1 Wal-Mart per 15,000 people. Haven't seen a trailer at any one of them. Must be a regional thing.

Best wishes,,,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), November 28, 1999.


We have 1 WalMart for about 40,000+ people and no trailers in sight. Was in WalMart today and very few people shopping. I guess the crowd shopped on Friday and spent what they had.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), November 28, 1999.

C'mon Rancherdick, that's old news. Get with the program!

Here is the latest TB2000 scheduling guide:

Nov 20 - Nov 27... Walmart trailer conspiracy & Mysterious "Mr. CEO"

Nov 28 - Dec 3 ... Contrails & "Chowbabe's" shopping adventures

Dec 4 - Dec 11 ... Solar flares & Nostradomus

Dec 12 - Dec 19 ... Andy returns & Buy gold, embrace gold, love gold

-- CD (not@here.com), November 28, 1999.


Somebody mentioned two or three weeks ago that there's a huge surplus of shipping containers because not much has been going to Asia since the economic crisis there--so these things are being rented out. I saw one at a Hess station recently, being used to store something, with a sign on it advertising that these were available for rent. I also drove past Port Newark recently and they were piled higher than I've ever seen them. Maybe Wal-Mart is using them in lieu of more expensive warehouse space to store extra seasonal merchandise.

-- Thinman (thinman38@hotmail.com), November 28, 1999.

Why doesn't someone just walk in the store and *ask* the manager???

-- Joe (paraflyr@cybernet1.com), November 28, 1999.


i live in west texas small population, but there is plenty of everything here nice wood stoves. canners, u name it we got it wish i had the bucks to buy some of it. but when i bought my canner a few weeks ago they had to order it...got it in 2 days but what does that mean? Looks to me that the distribution is bad lots of things here and not much in the cities. Is not good!!!

-- sandy (rstyree@overland.net), November 29, 1999.

"Looks to me that the distribution is bad lots of things here and not much in the cities. Is not good!!! "

I had the same thought looking at generators being sold in SoCA when other states fall below zero in temperatures. The allocation and almost communist "fairness" has a lot of cracks and faults to itself.

I'd like the Feds to send the Costco's and Home Building type stores a maessage, they are to transfer those generators to the worst winter states within their chains.

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 29, 1999.


Walmort stores now average 30-40 trailers per store, regardless of population density around the store. Same with Walmart's "home center" stores - they get the containers too, but not as many. Store manager ain't talking, at least not to me. These have NOT been used in this number before -ever.

My guess is Bentonville Ark. expects distribution problems from China and other overseas - where they get 40% of their products, and so they are stocking up ahead of time for January ....

Sear's is now placing a smaller number (8-15 usually) trailers and the shipping containers around their mall stores - regretably these are now taking up mall parking spaces. Again, never done before is this number.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 29, 1999.


Anyone who went near a Walmart from 6-11am on Friday Morning will tell you why there were so many extra trucks. Didn't you see their after Thanksgiving sale....it was a nightmare...

-- bmart (bmart@walmart.com), November 29, 1999.

All of the trailers are 'temporary storage' for layaways!! Nothing more. They run out of room in their normal layaway storage around Christmas time.

-- It's ME! (ILoveCouponing@aol.com), November 29, 1999.


Robert:

Your information may be correct, but we have 5 [I think] Walmarts in town. I haven't seen any trailers or containers on the lots [I can verify for the 4 that I drove past this weekend]. The Sears store has none. It is not because people aren't shopping; our county has the lowest unemployment rate [for counties] in the US. It seems to me that this is regional; for reasons that I don't understand.

Best wishes,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), November 29, 1999.


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