Wife saw some wooden Adirondack chairs on Brickseek for $17, and said she wanted to look at them. Several different Walmarts were supposed to have them, so we took a little road trip yesterday. Went to three different ones that showed a total of 12 available........found none, zero, zip, nada. It's hard to hide something as big as a chair, so they didn't have them stuck away under the counter, holding them for a friend. Maybe they were there, somewhere, but no one knew a thing, so that sucked.
Did get a trail camera for a good price, but no guns. Sporting goods guy at one store looked like he needed to be in the nursing home, rather than out working in public. I knew more about what the store had than he did.
The wood Adirondack chairs are, "Some Assembly Required", so other than maybe a already assembled display example(s?), the rest would probably still be in their original shipping boxes, which, although likely a bit heavy, I'd imagine really wouldn't take up all that much storage space, and likely as not, may be mixed in with something else.
The problem is in finding a Walmart employee that will go look for them. Last year, during the hunt for the Weatherby Vanguards, Brickseek showed a couple at a store in Lawrenceburg. I was up that way, so I stopped in to check. It took forever to find a clerk, but when I finally did, he flat told me that they were sold out and he should know, and furthermore, wasn't going to go and look in the gun room. He then walked off, leaving me standing there. Several days later, Brickseek was still showing them, so I called and got a lady on the phone. She went and looked, called me back, and verified they still had the ones that Brickseek showed. I told her what had happened with the other clerk, and she apologized profusely, and told me that if I wanted to come back and get them, she would hold them for me...........something that was against store policy, but she felt bad about what had happened.
At another Walmart in Nicholasville, the clerk said they did have some Vanguards, but he was told not to sell them at that price, because he felt a mistake had been made, and he was waiting for clarification from higher up......lol,lol, a bullchit story if I ever heard one. He was holding them for himself and his friends. I went online and turned him in, not that it did any good, but I wanted corporate to know what an azzhole they had working for them.
My point is that if you're looking for something, whether or not you find it is most likely up to the employees finding it for you. The trail camera I bought yesterday was locked away in a cabinet that no one could see, along with other stuff that the clerk claimed was things that were easily shoplifted. So....go figure.
The base model gas grill I found last year via Brickseek at a local Lowe's priced at $26 was no where to be found in floor inventory, although computer inventory had 1 still listed. Two different store associates really did try their best for well over a half hour to find it (one young man even postponed his lunch break he was about to start to help search) but with no luck. I had decided to give up, go back home and forget about it but as I was leaving the store I happened to notice a bunch of assembled 'display' grills of all sizes and brands lined up in rows outside with padlocked chains running through them. I thought, what the heck, as long as I'm here I might as well check them out too. Low and behold the 1 remaining grill I was searching for was right there. Went and got a store clerk again, he got keys for padlock, I paid and left with my new $26 gas grill.
