I'm not buying it...

[ultrarunner]

My best guess is inventory is ramping up and the rush is on...

Have not bought anything from Sears in a very long time and at least several years from Harbor Freight and Northern Tool...

Now it seems they collectively put marketing in overdrive.

During the last 2 years it was a struggle to secure hospital supplies for work.

In my opinion the best supply chain model was to to give everyone a portion of past business...

I might order my usual order of 1000 N95 and receive 100... totally understandable.

Lots of new players soliciting my hospital business... but no where to be found when I needed them...

I realize the pandemic is not over... still waiting for city hall to open!

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Mostly companies I have ordered from in the past either for work or home…
Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, My Pillow, Zoro, plus many more…

I sign up for things I am interested in, so get appropriate offers. One of the companies I discovered was Banggood, a direct-from-China discount outfit. I started by ordering small stuff, and found it exactly as advertised, so bought a small CNC router and an oscilloscope from them, cheaper than I could find anywhere else. They ship orders air freight, so avoid the backlog at the ocean shipping ports. Recommended, if you are a little bit of a techno-nerd.

banggood.com

 

[ultrarunner]

Always been more of a brick and mortar but times change..

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Always been more of a brick and mortar but times change..

When the closest town within an hour and a half is population 24,000, brick and mortar is not a great option. It does have the largest tool store in the state, but otherwise we are stuck with Walmart, Costco, the Farmer's Co-Op, Coastal Farm and Tractor Supply. And of course, Kubota and John Deere dealerships. There are three NAPA stores in easy driving distance. Consumer goods are everywhere, and farm supplies, feed, fertilizer, etc. Oh, and there are a couple welding supply stores in town, two independent lumber yards, Lowes, Home Depot, and a decent steel supplier.

When I was looking for an oscilloscope, there wasn't one, even though Tektronics is an Oregon company. Radio Shack was the last outfit to sell electronics components, and they are long gone, so resistors, transistors, ICs, printed circuit boards, etc. are internet only. I wear size 15EEE shoes. If I walk into a shoe store, they will offer to order for me off the internet, but have nothing in stock that will fit me. The last bookstore in town closed a decade ago. There are, however, about 15 brick and mortar burger joints that I don't patronize. I'm pretty resigned to being out of step with local rural culture. The upscale sorts like the local wineries, but I think wine is just rotten grape juice.

 

[bunyip]

I sign up for things I am interested in, so get appropriate offers. One of the companies I discovered was Banggood, a direct-from-China discount outfit. I started by ordering small stuff, and found it exactly as advertised, so bought a small CNC router and an oscilloscope from them, cheaper than I could find anywhere else. They ship orders air freight, so avoid the backlog at the ocean shipping ports. Recommended, if you are a little bit of a techno-nerd.

banggood.com

I use them too, they have quirky but functional woodwork clamps that are very well made and strong, I declined the mens sex toys though