In article ,
jkn writes:
A sort-of upmarket competitor to Henry's etc. was 'Home Radio' - very much the
Waitrose end of things. I had one of their catalogues as well (with an artistic
Barbara Hepworth scuplure on the front, you'd never get that with Henrys).

I never bought anything from Home Radio but the MD used to have an occasional
column in one of the hobby magazines. I remember him writing, only
semi-jokingly I presume, about their stock control methods. He said that each
stock item was stored in a cardboard box, and every so often they'd look at
each box:

- if it was nearly empty, they'd order some more
- if it was empty and tatty, they'd order a lot more
- it the box had dust on it, they'd order a few more
- if it was full and had dust on it they'd think about discontinuing it
ect.

As the years have gone by I have occasionally considered that there are
worse methods...

Reminds me of buying some cable in Maplin in Luton many years ago.
They check the computer, yes they have plenty.
Go and find it - only 1 metre on the drum.

When will you get some more in?
We can't get any more because the computer says we have lots.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]