On Apr 20, 6:05*pm, Tegger wrote:
Evan wrote :

At a Home Depot 80% of what is in the store is inaccessible to the
customers wandering about inside... *The racks in the "aisles" are
4 or 5 shelves high and require an order picker or forklift to access
the customers can only access the items at the sales floor level...

Yeah, that's common in the Big Box format. Except Walmart.


We aren't talking about the sales display shelves here, the racks
which take full size unbroken down cargo on pallets go up 3 or 4
levels above the floor level sales stocked product displays... That
is like two plus stories tall... The only retailers I have seen which
use a similar format are Sam's Club, BJ's, HD, Lowes, etc...
Where a forklift to move whole pallets around multiple storage levels
rather than ladders to move individual boxes on a single level of
storage is used...

BTW: the most accidents in a Home Depot usually involve the lumber
aisle (bands breaking on a bundle of lumber due to someone's previous
mistake with the forklift loading it onto the rack), the aisle where
the
bathtubs and shower stalls are stored up on the rack (one small slip
there can set off a cascade of noise followed by one or two of the
items
on the end of the aisle falling down off the end of the open rack used
there), and in the garden center area where UV light and weather
cycling
can deteriorate the packaging and banding on a pallet and make it
spill
its load when it is being moved... This is why HD closes the aisles
in
and adjacent to where pallets are being loaded to/unloaded from the
racks... Safety first...


Most of what gets stolen out of HD are the small expensive items
which are then returned by the thieves who stole it so they can get
a quick buck or feed their drug habit... * HD realized this was a
widespread problem about 10 years ago and started locking the
small products which were commonly stolen and similar items
in each product category inside of cabinets which you must see
an associate to be able to obtain the product from...

And consumers HATE that. Even Walmart has felt the sting of consumer
backlash against lockups. I understand retailers are always looking for
ways to avoid having to lock stuff up.


Its either lock up all the products or make inspection of purchases
and screening the customer prior to exiting the store more invasive
that it is now... Remember the locking up the merchandise is only
because of the 1% of the customers who are shoplifting and it is
much less invasive than having someone check your purchases and
wand/pat you down prior to leaving the store...


The first category which was recognized as a true shrink issue
in HD was the expensive circuit breakers which could easily be
hidden on a person and were worth more than a few bucks...

Cosmetics are a big one for Walmart. The security tag is often on the
packaging. Rip that mascara off the blister card, and... But you can't
lock up cosmetics...


Wal*Mart can usually find out who is stealing what items from which
departments by reviewing the recorded footage on the CCTV system
which blankets just about all of the interior of the store...

In HD they use a "monitor the perimeter and cash register areas only"
approach because it would require many more cameras than Wal*Mart
uses in their CCTV systems to cover each and every aisle between the
"mountains" made by the racking systems...


--
Tegger

~~ Evan