[widebody911]

Another example of how the FLAPS brick-and-mortar paradigm is dying:

I recently re-did the brakes on one of my buses; all new master cylinder, wheel cylinders, lines, shoes - the works. I decided to switch to Dot 5 brake fluid, so I hit O'Reilly on my way home from work the next day. They had one single solitary bottle of Dot 5 on the shelf. The counter jockey tells me "We can order it and have it here tomorrow" I told him "I can order it on Amazon and have it on my doorstep tomorrow." For S&G, I had him check other stores; all of the other stores in an n-mile radius only had 1 or 2 bottles on-hand as well.

But seriously: you're an auto parts store - this is the kind of stuff you should have in stock. I can understand if you have to order a flux capacitor for a Model-A, but consumables should be an automatic have-it-on-the-shelf.

Furthermore, I don't think B&M retailers understand that if a customer walks out empty-handed, he's probably less likely to come back the next time he needs something; once a customer figures out he can order it online and bypass the smelly tat'd counter-jockey, he'll get everything online and cut you out of the loop completely. The other part that irks me is they don't have a staple like brake fluid, but the store is stocked to the gills with useless kitsch. Home Depot and Lowe's are the same way.