-=> JIM WELLER wrote to DAVE DRUM <=-

 DD> You do know how retail works, don't you? It's only stocked if
 DD> there is a market for it ...  If an item does not "turn
 DD> over" enough times and just sits on the shelves collecting dust it is
 DD> recalled to the warehouse and replaced with a new (hopefully) better
 DD> selling product.

 JW> In this computerised age bit is really easy to track turnover,
 JW> have automated reordering  and when factoring in mark-ups as well as
 JW> turnover and unit prices calculate how many dollars per square foot
 JW> every shelf spot in the store makes.

All of our sales are reported via confuser to the company headquarters
and their confuser generates fill in orders from our hub store (three
daily deliveries) as well as determining what we need to re-stock the
store to be sent with the weekly semi from the distribution centre.

They also send out "Plan-O-Gram" merchandising plans ... adding some 
items and removing others. Any item not on a Plan-O-Gram is then recalled
to the D.C. to await "special order" sales.

 JW> Sadly some of my favourite old school liquors and liqueurs like
 JW> Benedictine and Chartreuse have disappeared locally to make way for
 JW> kiddy alco-pops, silly flavoured vodkas and cheap artificially
 JW> flavoured "schnapps" such as "Dr. McGillicuddy's Intense Butterscotch
 JW> Schnapps".

No matter what they're talking about, they're talking about the money.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. World without
end. Amen.

 JW> Some old fashioned merchandising:

 JW> Way back when I was an IGA shelf stocker and bag boy I noticed at
 JW> Easter that a case of green tea disappeared in a week and mentioned
 JW> to the store owner that he should probably order lots more. He said,
 JW> "No way. It'll sit for a year. The only time people around here
 JW> drink green tea is at wakes when the pot is on the back of the stove
 JW> all night long. It doesn't get bitter like black tea does.  One case
 JW> is plenty. I only stock it once a year and everybody knows to come
 JW> and get some at Easter if they want any."

 JW> Another one: The only seafood farm people ate back then was canned
 JW> salmon and sardines. And not much of that. Dad asked the IGA to

Mackeral, too.

 JW> special order a case of canned lobster. The smallest box was 12 cans.
 JW> Dad promised to buy 6 of them, cajoled the owner into trying one
 JW> (he had never tasted lobster or crab his whole life) and putting 5
 JW> cans on the shelf to see if anyone wanted it. That was when I was 5
 JW> so 1954. I went to work there in 1964 and one day when "facing up"
 JW> shelves I found 5 dusty cans of lobster behind and under the salmon!
 JW> They weren't salable any more of course and when the owner said to
 JW> throw them out, I said I'd make them my next five lunches instead.
 JW> He was afraid they'd kill me; they didn't. Canned goods can last a
 JW> century if not more.

Yet they put a "drop dead" date on them. If the can isn't rusted through
or bulged - I'll use whatever is in it as needed.   Bv)=

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Mersey Point Smoked Mackerel Log
 Categories: Seafood, Appetisers, Vegetables, Cheese, Nuts
      Yield: 1 Batch
 
      2    Smoked mackerel filets
      8 oz Cream cheese (227g)
      2 ts Lemon juice (10ml)
      1 ts Onion; fine chopped (5ml)
      1 tb Celery; fine chopped (5ml)
      1 ts Horseradish (5ml)
           Salt & pepper
      1 c  Almonds; crushed (250ml)
    1/4 c  Parsley; fresh, chopped fine
 
  Remove skin and bones from smoked mackerel. Mix and
  blend smoked mackerel, cream cheese, lemon juice,
  onion, celery, and horseradish. Add salt and pepper to
  taste. Spread mixture on plastic wrap and form into a
  log.
  
  Refrigerate until firm. Combine almonds and parsley.
  Roll log in this mixture. Serve with Ritz crackers.
  
  Or -- slice log and serve on pieces of English cucumber.
  
  From: http://www.merseypointfish.ca
  
  Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives
 
MMMMM

... I believe professional wrestling is clean and eveything else is "fixed".
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