On Mar 23, 10:04 am, "Percival P. Cassidy"
wrote:
A year or two back I took a piece of ceiling panel to our local Lowe's
trying to find a match for it, but nobody could identify it. They said,
"One of the reps. is here now. We can ask him." He looked at it and made
a suggestion about the manufacturer (which I no longer recall, but I did
not find it when I looked at that manufacturer's Web site).

I decided to put up with the few beat-up panels I had intended to replace.

Time passed, then I took down a panel and found a sticker on the back
indicating that it was Armstrong #420. Armstrong's Web site showed that
it is still manufactured and that it should be available at HD, Lowe's
and Menard's (this last a Midwest chain). I knew from experience that
Menard's Web site does not have an on-line catalog: all it does is show
store locations and current ads and allows one to track special orders,
so I checked out the HD and Lowe's Web sites, but no matter what I
searched for I couldn't find this item, so I concluded that, no matter
what Armstrong told me, HD and Lowe's did *not* sell this product.

Menard's was happy to do a special order for me and had it in a couple
of weeks.

Yesterday at Lowe's I happened to walk down the aisle with the ceiling
panels and saw a stack of packages of Armstrong #420 panels, so I went
to the appropriate desk and told the guy what had happened. He told me
that they had always stocked this item, so I asked how come I had not
been able to find it on the Web site. He then looked at the Web site
himself and said, "There's a whole bunch of stuff that we stock that
doesn't show up on the Web site!" I suggested that he report the
deficiency back up the line, but I wonder whether he will.

Maybe I'll find that HD actually has it on the shelf too.

I wonder how many sales these companies (and perhaps many others too)
lose because people cannot discover that they actually sell particular
items.

Perce

Many corporations (not just home improvement stores) have different
inventories for local store and their only catalogs. Some companies
almost treat the online business as a separate business.

Many times a local HD or Lowes will sell and item that is not listed
on the website as well as the website having items not in the store. I
realized this recently when I purchased a new lawn mower. What may
have happened in this case is a rep for Armstrong spoke with a
regional manager who agreed to carry the product, but the corporate
office didn't want to stock it in all stores. Its possible that if
you go to a lowes in California the product selection might be similar
(in terms of products) but you will find some differences (in terms of
brands). this is normal with most retail stores that are national
chains.

john