Buying Local Is Hard
 

Last week I set out to buy a Kitchen Aid stand mixer for my wife’s birthday. Yes I can actually get away with buying kitchen appliances for my wife and it makes her happy.:) I’m boycotting Amazon and trying to buy locally so away I went.

Checked the local specialty stores, none had it in stock. Then I moved to the chains, one Walmart had them in stock so I went to buy one. Nada. Then I found them at Dillons (Kroger) went to two that showed them in stock. Nada. I wised up and called #3 Dillons that showed in stock, but their kitchen goods manager wasn’t there and nobody else could tell me if they were in stock. So I went anyway, nada. “We haven’t had those in months”.....FML. By now it’s my wife birthday and I still only have flowers and a card. Finally I found one at Kohl’s and all was well. But it took four local trips to find a relatively common item. FML.

Yep, sometimes it's tough to buy local. And I'm not sure how much purchasing from Walmart is an improvement over purchasing from Amazon.

Many years ago I was a manager of a retail parts store for a year. When we did inventory, they wanted as close to 100% in stock as possible because if you don't have stuff, you can't sell stuff. Of course, it's entirely possible that most of that stuff is run by computers and algorithms that maximize profit and minimize the amount of money tied up in inventory that doesn't sell these days and the managers have less choice about what they do and don't get into the store.

Those stand mixers are in high demand. With COVID - everyone is baking sourdough bread from home - so there has been a run on them.

Decided to drive to HD to pick up some tile levelling clips vs order online, local store did not show stock, drove 35 min to HD that showed they had stock, drive home without parts and ordered online, arriving today. I am ordering way more online these days, driving around not worth my time and fuel.

My 10 year old Garmin GPS is dying, and not something I will trust for a road trip so I needed a newer version. 10 years in GPS is like 10 years with smart phones. It has lots more features.

I bought, the old Garmin 1490 at a local store. Their web site says they are still there, but the phone numbers are all out of service. Another victim of Amazon. So I started looking for model information to see what was perfect for me. Of course is is hard to ignore Amazon for that type of item. I figured out what I wanted from Amazon but it was going to take a week to get it from a third party reseller. So I checked with the local Best Buy. They had it in stock and had free shipping. I could drive the 8 miles and fight the Best Buy buying experience, or have it shipped to me. Free shipping was the clincher. I order it at 11:30 and it was delivered at 3:30 the same day. In the end it was 10 bucks more than the Amazon price, but I had it now and on my recent trip to Montgomery, Al and back it worked great and it has many features that are way better then the old one. It connects via Bluetooth to my phone so Waze and GPS info is added to the GPS.

Got a Kohl's around? That's where my wife bought her KitchenAid mixer.. Plus she got Kohl's cash! Oh Joy!! AND she had a coupon!!
BTW... love the mixer.

If you've got a Kohl's around, odds are your wife has a Kohl's card, Kohl's cash and a coupon somewhere. Ask her. But don't tell her why!

Tried to buy a new high-end hot tub lately? Four to six month backlog.

_

I didn't know people still bought Garmin and TomTom. I haven't used one in several years. I just say "okay google" and tell my phone what I'm looking for. Then the all knowing google takes me where I want to go.

So confused. You bought a stand-alone GPS for driving somewhere?

Right, if you're hiking, hunting, off-roading, etc..., then I can see using one, but for driving directions, I don't get it unless you're using a dumb phone.

He beat you to it.

Agree that buying from a local big box isn’t much better, but I figure at least they provide local jobs.

What really gets me is that the only advantage of a retail store is the ability to get your item RIGHT NOW. Otherwise why bother with driving there, traffic, waiting in line, etc. So without stocking...what’s the point?

I am waiting three months for a Thermador stove, hood and dish washer. 2 month for drawer microwave. Need them to finish and get pay. No suchh luck. Why is there such back logged across the board?

I , like you, try to keep my money local , but Covid, has really made me appreciate , not having to wear pants, and go out ,into the public, and stand in line with a mask on .

I agree OWP, but I have learned now to call first and ask them to put it aside and I will come and pick it up. If they balk I say I am coming in from out of town.

The GPS connects to my cell phone and uses the information from the phone, and the internal database. I only use a GPS on road trips. I was in one city and tried to get back to my motel and figured my iPhone could do that. It took me to some very ritzy neighborhood, but not even close to my motel. I had to get the GPS to out to get to my motel and that was the old GPS with no Buletooth.

In Boca Raton in 2019 on the way back to the motel the road back to the motel had construction. That was the first time the old GPS had a brain freeze and it would not reboot. My brother got out his Android cell phone and punched in the hotel address and I did the same with my iPhone. We suddenly had two women telling us where to go, and neither was correct. It had been 10 minutes so I tried the GPS again and then we had three women *itching at us to go different ways. I would not believe it if I was not there. We pulled up to one intersection and the iPhone said turn left, the GPS said to go straight, and his Android said to turn right. The GPS was the right one. We tried right and left and they just went around a block right back to where we were. We went straight as the GPS said and finally got there.

The old GPS is flaky, so it will get recycled.

You'll need one to drive in a foreign country like Canada (or Alabama, ha ha!).

Update, parts were supposed to arrive guaranteed today, well they just updated that, now it will be two days from now. WTF is Amazon guaranteed delivery?

Dang it! I don't know how I missed that!

But did he use a coupon and Kohl's cash? That's where it's at man! They sucker you in with the Kohl's cash!!

Not so sure about the "local jobs" angle since there is an Amazon fulfillment center near you that probably provides more local jobs than those other places you shopped combined, not to mention all the delivery and logistics jobs in every city.