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I caused a scene at CVS...

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goodcow

Member
I was at a shitty CVS notorious for long lines trying to get some stuff, and at checkout, it was even worse than usual... two registers open, and about fifteen of us on line. So after waiting a few minutes, and being fed up, I walked to the front, threw my basket of items on the floor, and yelled out, "These lines are pathetic. You can afford to renovate the whole damn store, but you can't have more than two registers open?"

Then I ended up buying most of the items from Amazon, for cheaper.

But my order, for example, was $29 with free shipping, and weighs 18 pounds. How does Amazon make a profit? They have $1.18 bottles of shampoo, that weigh two pounds. Taking into account shipping costs, doesn't that make their profit margin on the item razor thin, or even negative?
 

Fatalah

Member
CVS's are popping up all over the place. They've replaced grocery stores here in Whitestone. GROCERY STORES. Like we already dont' have enough GENOVESE's (Eckerds). These stores are essentially 'general stores', but we need food not snacks goddamnit
 
Anyone notice that wherever there is a CVS there is a Walgreens right across the road? Thats how it is in my town, and we have at least 3 or 4.
 

Otaking

Member
Never been in a CVS before, but this sounds similar to my local Wal-Mart. In an attempt to save money by not hiring enough cashiers, they keep only a minimum of the cash registers open. When I go in to buy only 1 or 2 items I think I'll just use the express register. Well, folks with more than 20 items are in the line and they're not supposed to do that. But the store can't say anything because customer is always right. Yes, I'm impatient, but why are half the registers closed? Keep them open.
 

Seth C

Member
Otaking said:
Never been in a CVS before, but this sounds similar to my local Wal-Mart. In an attempt to save money by not hiring enough cashiers, they keep only a minimum of the cash registers open. When I go in to buy only 1 or 2 items I think I'll just use the express register. Well, folks with more than 20 items are in the line and they're not supposed to do that. But the store can't say anything because customer is always right. Yes, I'm impatient, but why are half the registers closed? Keep them open.

The best part is that the stores NEVER user all the registers, not even at Christmas, so why waste money building them? The local store has something over 40 registers, and only about 12 are ever open. Huh?

It's funny though. Wal-Mart used to have a policy that if more than 3 people were in a line they'd open a new register. They've since got rid of the signs stating such. Oh well.
 
goodcow said:
I was at a shitty CVS notorious for long lines trying to get some stuff, and at checkout, it was even worse than usual... two registers open, and about fifteen of us on line. So after waiting a few minutes, and being fed up, I walked to the front, threw my basket of items on the floor, and yelled out, "These lines are pathetic. You can afford to renovate the whole damn store, but you can't have more than two registers open?"

Then I ended up buying most of the items from Amazon, for cheaper.

But my order, for example, was $29 with free shipping, and weighs 18 pounds. How does Amazon make a profit? They have $1.18 bottles of shampoo, that weigh two pounds. Taking into account shipping costs, doesn't that make their profit margin on the item razor thin, or even negative?

they probably chuckled while thinking, 'this is the dude who makes those metal gear cow movies, for that, he must wait longer than all of them!'.
 

Pachinko

Member
I think the only reason most of these stores still build so many registers and use so few of them is so if one does break down then they have an extra to go to.


It is pretty stupid though , a gamepro protip for some of you is that the customer service desk will usually let you purchase stuff as well, so if you go to the store to buy the morning paper and a loaf of bread but nothing else and no one is at customer service just go up and politly ask if you can pay there.
 

Seth C

Member
Know what's even more fun to do if you encounter a situation like this? Instead of just throwing down your items, take any frozen goods you might have and hide them in other aisles. See if they find the stuff before it starts to rot and stink!
 
Amazon has a huge contract deal for shipping, so if it costs you $11 for overnight shipping via FedEx, it costs Amazon $4-$6. Also, they often buy in mass-quantities, so it's not like they lose a lot of money. Ever notice why there's a huge price disparity between drug storesw and supermarkets? Supermarkets generally don't buy mass quantities because their business model is low inventory, low shelf life. They don't want to be burdened with products sitting on shelves for over a month, that's a sign that the product does not sell well.

That's the secret to low prices with WalMart. They buy huge quantities, and they constantly renegotiate their prices, which is why companies HATE dealing with them in order to get their products to the masses.
 
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