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Re: [Shop-talk] Bare shelves at Harbor Freight

To: "Shop Talk List" <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Bare shelves at Harbor Freight
From: "Karl Vacek" <kvacek@ameritech.net>
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:06:54 -0600
I saw the same thing at one of the Chicago area stores a couple of days 
before Christmas - it was very obvious in several areas, although I wouldn't 
by any means say the store was low on inventory overall.  A decent amount of 
stuff still in the back, too, and workers promising customers that this or 
that would be in in a few days.  While I wondered about store closings, in 
fact they only recently opened another one here.  Like Wayne, I then assumed 
it was a drawdown before the end of their fiscal year, presumably January 
1st.

FWIW, their stores here (4 in the Chicago suburbs now) are always very busy 
whenever I go into one.  Lots of people buying decent carts full of that 
Chinese crap.  Ahem...  me too.....

ANyway, I bet HF's sales levels year-to-year are better percentage-wise than 
most of the major retailers here.  I'm not a big shopper, but I know that in 
every recent year, you couldn't park at ANY general shopping center here for 
the whole week before Christmas, and a few days afterwards.  This year the 
lots didn't look anywhere near crowded.

For years Jill and I have watched shopping center after shopping center and 
warehouse after warehouse being built, and asked each other who's going to 
buy all that stuff.  Maybe this is the answer - nobody.

Karl




> Jim Stone wrote:
>> The shelves at my local Harbor Freight (one of two in the St. Louis area) 
>> are
>> looking a little bare.  They have been that way for weeks.  In today's
>> economic climate that makes me wonder about the health of the company. 
>> Has
>> anyone else noticed this at their local store?
>
> Hmm, combo of crap, I'd guess.  They try to load up on hot items for xmas. 
> But then they usually owe property / inventory tax on it Jan 1. So they 
> have to balance meeting holiday demand with not carrying excess inventory. 
> Plus they normally need to do a physical inventory and count all the 
> garbage.  And, many people's budgets are exhausted from the xmas spending, 
> so Jan / Feb may be slow.
>   -Wayne
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