pular size. The sales associate told her that they were out of stock confirming that it was a popular style and size. Jane asked whether the sales associate could please phone a store nearby to establish whether they may perhaps have the garment in stock. What followed surprised Jane and her husband. A telephone number was scribbled on a piece of scrap paper and thrust into her hand. Jane called the number to find that they too were out of stock. Undaunted, they moved on to prominent chain number two. Unbelievably a similar situation took place. Again the sales associate simply wrote down a telephone number. The couple decided not to phone, but rather visit the nearby store. On enquiring, they were told that the item was out of stock. Not to be deterred Jane went to the rack and, surprise surprise, found the garment and purchased it! I have struggled with the notion of naming and shaming the two chains, but have decided this would be unfair without giving them an opportunity to respond. I will therefore copy this article to the two CEOs and depending on their responses, will publish the outcome. I suspect the CEOs will be mortified and take the appropriate action and you will hear no more. Incidentally it is not only the sales folk who are guilty here. The merchandise planners and allocators need a rocket. They are highly paid to ensure this kind of situation does not arise, and if they don’t have the right tools to do the job (which quite often is the case), management and the IT department also need a rocket. Stuart Bennie is a retail consultant at Impact Retailing and can be contacted at stuart@impactretailing.com.au or 0414 631 702.