Stock is low at Walmart?

I am posting this to see if anyone else has noticed this. My girlfriend and I went to Walmart this past Friday and noticed the produce section was a little thin. We went to check out and kinda questioned the cashier. I asked her if they were waiting on a truck to come and she said that she didn't keep up with that stuff. I didn't think much about it. Today my girlfriend is at the same Walmart and just sent me a picture and said there are now whole sections emptied. I had her take pictures and I will upload them when she gets home. I have never seen Walmart with such a low stock. What are you guys seeing?

Maybe the shelves just need to be restocked.

When do Universities start in America?

Here it was today (UK) so the shops were very busy and things did run out by evening time.

reply to post by wardk28


I think it's more like clearing aisles to make room for Halloween, they'll take that down and make room for Christmas and the cycle will continue, they'll just clear different sections accordingly to what season it is.


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Thats why I didn't think much about it last Friday. I thought maybe they haven't gotten their truck in yet. The problem I have is that stores like Walmart don't let their shelves get this bare unless a major storm is coming through or something. The one picture she sent me has the shelves completely empty.

shelves are more than likely going to stay that way for a while.
and prices are gonna go up.
the weather was bad for most of the growing season, from drought to floods.
and the price of oil has gone up. in turn the cost of fuel has gone up.

reply to post by mytheroy


No this is the produce section. They have their Halloween section already up.

reply to post by hounddoghowlie


See that is what I'm thinking but the media is very quiet about it. On one hand I can see they do not want to cause panic but on the other hand, people have no idea how bad it is about to get.

There is no universal law in this world that guarantees that Walmart is stocked 100% at all times. It's amazing though that some people start perceiving it this way. It's some kind of magic Walmart reality, and God forbid it's broken.

Here are things typical of Walmart:
a) as someone said, when they are switching from one seasonal merchandise to another, they move a lot of stuff and it often becomes removed till the next cycle

b) in our local store, there is no way to buy milk after 5 or 6 pm. They are always out. I guess it prevents them from losing money due to milk spoilage, so they choose to under-stock milk

c) in the beginning of the school year, there is no way in hell to buy most of the supplies for the kids. It takes them weeks to get the stuff back on shelves, they never have enough

d) and indeed, college students are back from the summer and may be emptying the produce section to stock up on food

here is a USDA report.

U.S. Drought 2012: Farm and Food Impacts

and if the drought affected the crops in the report you know it affected everything else

reply to post by hounddoghowlie


Mix that report and what the FED just did last week with QE3. Add a spike in fuel costs and things will go south pretty fast.

I wouldn't think there was anything to worry about unless there are similar reports from others around the country.

But it does raise an interesting discussion... as the cost of fuel increases and the costs of production too, how would a company like that manage? They already pressure their suppliers down to the lowest price, which means there is even less wiggle room when economics go down the toilet.

If we imagine a farmer is already making little because Walmart pays them as little as they can get away with, when his costs go up, Walmart has to pay more or go somewhere else. Even if they go somewhere else the costs are still going to be rising because all growers in the US are experiencing the same thing. That means the price they charge has to go up to. Can people afford to pay more? If they can't, where do they go?

It used to be that a store would pay a "fair" price for their stock, and the farmer would be making a healthy living. He was the one with the power, in which case he has to accept less money when the economy sinks, but that's okay because he's got his own buffer zone of savings. But now, companies like Walmart have already driven the costs so far down, the farmer is one crop away from going bust.

In a kind of related way...

I don't think many people realize that the average store has only three days of normal sales when it comes to stock. And that doesn't take into account perishables. In a chaos situation where panic buying and looting is happening, you can cut that three day supply level down to hours depending on the population served by a specific store.

If this is happening elsewhere too (which I doubt, as there would probably have been more discussion about it) then it could be a sign that Walmart is struggling to justify paying more to suppliers, and that's not a good sign. It means either farmers will be going out of business across the country, or Walmart is going to be forced into dramatically increasing their prices - which a lot of people will not appreciate.

Edited to add - seeing the posts added while I was writing mine seems to suggest a few of us are thinking in the same direction. I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees the precarious nature of supply and demand in our modern world of corporate dominance.

reply to post by wardk28


yes it will and i think times are going to get real bad.
i tell everybody i know to buy what ever extra can goods and frozen foods they can.

reply to post by detachedindividual


And thats why I started this thread. Since the media tends to be quiet on stuff like this, I wanted to see if anyone else is seeing the same thing.

reply to post by hounddoghowlie


Exactly, I've been going through my inventory and seeing what I need to add. Even if this turns out to be nothing, its always best to have and not need than need it and not have it.

I am surprised nobody has said anything about you shopping at the evil Walmart.

Personally though I do shop at a local produce market that I pass coming into town. It is pretty convenient. But at any rate, I haven't noticed anything in my area as far as shortages in produce. I do shop at a Wades though. Can't really speak for Walmart.

Just wanted to point out that the local stuff is there, be it Wades or the market. No shortages that I have noticed yet.

reply to post by wardk28


my thoughts exactly, and if you find you didn't need it.
you can always donate it to your local food bank.
i don't mind helping others who can't do for themselves.
it's the ones who are as healthy as i am or healthier that pisses me off.

reply to post by Terminal1


Lol, yeah but the local businesses have all closed their doors. Finding really good produce is difficult so I'm at the point that I will start growing my own food.

Originally posted by Terminal1
I am surprised nobody has said anything about you shopping at the evil Walmart.

Personally though I do shop at a local produce market that I pass coming into town. It is pretty convenient. But at any rate, I haven't noticed anything in my area as far as shortages in produce. I do shop at a Wades though. Can't really speak for Walmart.

Just wanted to point out that the local stuff is there, be it Wades or the market. No shortages that I have noticed yet.

I didn't want to go on the attack for someone shopping with Walmart, even though I always feel the need to say "what do you expect?" lol

Buying local is ALWAYS better in my opinion. Clever people right now are reading what's happening with agriculture and planning ahead - either growing what they can themselves or finding alternative suppliers locally.

The best thing people can do right now is stop shopping with the chains and take a little more time and effort to find and support the growers directly.

Go to markets more, talk to neighbors and find out if you can all arrange a weekly collection from one place - saving fuel and maybe getting a better deal from a local farmer for buying more.

We do this with my family. There's a farmers market outside of town and one of my nephews goes there once a week to stock up for his mom, aunt and me, and all the kids too. My sis has neighbors involved and one goes to a proper butcher and buys for everyone on his list at the same time. These are all single mothers and busy people who cant really afford to all be spending on fuel to all drive out to the same place...

All it takes is a little sense of community and a little discussion, before you know it everyone is eating more healthily, saving a little money too, and supporting the farmers instead of some giant corporation funneling wealth out of communities and into tax havens for an already bloated elitist family.

reply to post by hounddoghowlie


I use to blame those that didn't want to work but its not their fault. Our government has molded our society to expect to be taken care of. When parents spoil their children, thats all that child will know.