I was in our nearest Wal-Mart a couple of days ago, and it was odd. The shelves were not fully stocked. In particular, there was not much rice, and in the automotive dept., there was only one container of Sta-Bil, an additive that  you mix with gasoline to store it for a year or more. There were also other gaps here and there. Nothing terribly important. Just a bit surprising.

I mentioned this to my wife, and she said the store where we get most of our food also had gaps on the shelves.

You know that on our home page I talk about the ‘just in time ordering‘ that most stores do now, to decrease their inventory costs. The things I’m seeing after the holiday season make me wonder if they are starting to be even more frugal about inventory. It would make sense, in our increasing fragile economy. The less inventory, the less credit needed and the more profits. Yes, it makes sense for them.

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