A trip to Office Depot to grab a laptop that was advertised, resulted in me leaving the store empty handed. The sales rep told me they were all out of them, and no store in the surrounding area had any either.
"Why is that? Didn't the sale just start Sunday?" I asked.
"Yes, but none came in. And we don't expect any until next week."
Getting the same laptop "next week" means paying a higher price and there are no rainchecks. The only way to get the laptop at the advertised price is to order it online and probably pay shipping and handling charges.
Leaving the store empty handed, I began thinking if Office Depot is on the same track for financial ruin that Circuit City is. In a challenged economy, businesses that don't have solid foundational 'what if' contingency plans, usually fail. Office Depot just last month announced plans to cut 2200 jobs in North America, 9% of their work force. Another sad sign of the times.
Not being able to immediately obtain goods and services is a side effect of the financial crisis we are in. A side effect I didn't think of. It hadn't dawned on me that a stable economy not only affects the seller, but if the seller can't get the goods to the buyer efficiently, then the commerce chain is broken and delays will occur.
Oh well, even if I had of ordered the laptop I probably would have experienced another bump in the road. Office Depot is also closing six of their North American distribution centers. Taking all this into consideration gave me cause to look elsewhere for a laptop.
I think I'll try Best Buy, they match prices.
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