Stores not carrying popular items

[bandit957]

When I was 6 years old, back in 1979, a convenience store failed to have any Hubba Bubba. I was with a group of family members driving around, and my cousin wanted a pack of Hubba Bubba. My mom went in the store to buy some, but the store didn't have any.

[bandit957]

A lot of people get mad when stores don't carry their favorite product. I take it all in stride, but some people really don't handle it too well. Other people get mad and break things.

[Brian556]

This can be annoying. Like when on vacation, and you want a yoo-hoo or monster energy drink, and you end up randomly selecting the one convenience store that does not have it, and have to make another stop to get it.

How about when radio stations don't paly a popular song that you like, even though it fits their format.

[Pete from Boston]

Sometimes people have a dog, and I don't, and I'm at their house and they want me to be all into the dog.  I don't care about the dog.  Where's the more popular cat?

[hotdogPi]

Many stores have Coke or Pepsi, but not both. They get a discount for only having one. (Grocery stores obviously have both.)

[1995hoo]

What I find more irritating is when the Sunday insert in the newspaper has some decent coupons for stuff I would buy and then the grocery store doesn't have that particular brand. If I were a conspiracy theorist I'd speculate they find out what coupons will run and then pull that brand from the shelf, though I'm not sure it would be worth the effort.

[SteveG1988]

When you go into the Big Lots in NJ, they will say they do not offer furniture leasing in the state of New Jersey, which is annoying since they put it in every advert i've seen. I don't think it is a good idea to lease furniture, but when they push it in the adverts as much as they do it gets overwhelming.

[jeffandnicole]

As much as I want to laugh about this topic, I completely agree!

[bandit957]

They never did come out with Burgertime for Atari 800. I bet a lot of people broke things as a result.

[bandit957]

The leading pop station in my area never added a moderately popular Men At Work song. I bet some people never listened to that station again. They probably haven't listened to it in over 30 years. They probably burned all the survey sheets and souvenir frisbee they collected from that station.

[Brian556]

As far as soda brands go, it is annoying when fast-food joints only have Pepsi products. Pepsi sucks. I hate it. This is what I really dislike about Taco Bell, even more so that it's well-known side effects.

Chicken Express only has Dublin Dr Pepper, instead of original. It is made with different formula, and tastes really bad. This is unfortunate because they have the best chicken tenders around.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I prefer Pepsi but I have no problem drinking Coke products. I never really understood people who can't handle the "other" brand, they and all their brand equivalents taste pretty similar across the board.

Are there any chains that have both brands available? I feel like I visited a place recently where that was the case but I can't remember what it was.

[Scott5114]

Mars brought back the Crispy M&Ms but I haven't seen them on sale anywhere. My girlfriend brought a pack home one day and that's the only one I've seen.

[cjk374]

Did the Mars Bar become Snickers w/Almonds?

[Big John]

Did the Mars Bar become Snickers w/Almonds?

esentally yes: http://www.candyfavorites.com/snickers-almond

Also there was a bar called Forever Yours.  It was discontinued but brought back as Milky Way Midnight.

[Tom958]

I went to the closest c-store to my house for coffee They had decal and instant but no just regular coffee. However, they did have 28oz cans of boiled clams.

[kendancy66]

I don't know how popular this is, but I like the Maui Onion flavor of Lays Kettle cooked potato chips.  But for some reason the only store that I have been able to buy this flavor is Albertsons.  The other flavors are sold everywhere

[oscar]

As far as soda brands go, it is annoying when fast-food joints only have Pepsi products. Pepsi sucks. I hate it.

Funny, I seem to run into many more places that are Coke-only rather than Pepsi-only. Worse still, the Coke-only outlets usually don't carry diet Sprite, the only Coke product I can stand, but rather only regular Sprite (I can't drink sugared sodas for medical reasons).

While I have ridiculously strong brand preferences, it usually doesn't matter since on the road I bring my favorite sodas in a portable electric cooler.

[Pete from Boston]

You can only get Taylor Ham up here at Wegman's, which means you have to be one of those jerks that goes to Wegman's.  That's bullshit.

[Scott5114]

Are there any chains that have both brands available? I feel like I visited a place recently where that was the case but I can't remember what it was.

Generally they won't, because a restaurant has to sign a contract with one or the other, which usually involves leasing a fountain, and if Coke finds you dispensing Pepsi out of their fountain pretty soon you won't have either.

Of course you could purchase your own fountain to dispense both out of, but then when it breaks you'll be on the hook for repairs, and in the meantime you won't have any soda for your customers. I can't imagine it would be much cheaper than renting from the soda company, either.

I don't really care about the Coke/Pepsi thing because when I eat out I usually choose Dr Pepper, which tends to be available in both Coke and Pepsi establishments. If I know a place is Pepsi-only, I'll often go for Mountain Dew (Coke's analogue, Mello Yello, isn't often available).

As for why Pepsi is so common, I think Pepsi contracts are cheaper. The casino chain I work for gives it out for free in all of their establishments, and I can't imagine them picking the more expensive of the two. That also explains why you often see Pepsi in smaller, local establishments, including just about every Chinese restaurant I've ever been to.

[DeaconG]

I think it's a situation where the store simply can't get the amount of the product they need to sell, so they simply don't; or it's a case that the company can't (or won't) supply certain items, or even the idea that the store wants you to consider buying a different kind of brand than the one they're selling.

I've had that happen several times with my local Publix, and it's infuriating.

I got hooked on Snyder's Of Hanover chocolate covered mini pretzels and their chocolate-covered peanut butter pretzel cracker sandwiches...and then they would disappear off the shelves, only to show up again three to four months later, then be available for a couple of months and then disappear again.

The latest switch involved teas; I usually drink either Twinings or Bigelow's with the occasional foray into Celestial Seasonings; but about four months ago nearly all the Twinings products disappeared to replaced with Tazo teas.  WTF? Where's my Premium Black Currant, Pure Mint and Spiced Apple Chai? Gone with the wind...but there's all the regular Twinings Chai (one of maybe two or three flavors they kept and I don't care for) to be bought.

Hell, I haven't seen a bar of Lindt's Intense Mint chocolate in any store (Target, Walgreen's and World Market) down here in nearly two years!

I keep wondering if it's economics or psychology going on here, or both...

[allniter89]

Sometimes people have a dog, and I don't, and I'm at their house and they want me to be all into the dog.  I don't care about the dog.  Where's the more popular cat?

The cat has better things to do

[Fredddie]

Are there any chains that have both brands available? I feel like I visited a place recently where that was the case but I can't remember what it was.

Generally they won't, because a restaurant has to sign a contract with one or the other, which usually involves leasing a fountain, and if Coke finds you dispensing Pepsi out of their fountain pretty soon you won't have either.

Of course you could purchase your own fountain to dispense both out of, but then when it breaks you'll be on the hook for repairs, and in the meantime you won't have any soda for your customers. I can't imagine it would be much cheaper than renting from the soda company, either.

I don't really care about the Coke/Pepsi thing because when I eat out I usually choose Dr Pepper, which tends to be available in both Coke and Pepsi establishments. If I know a place is Pepsi-only, I'll often go for Mountain Dew (Coke's analogue, Mello Yello, isn't often available).

As for why Pepsi is so common, I think Pepsi contracts are cheaper. The casino chain I work for gives it out for free in all of their establishments, and I can't imagine them picking the more expensive of the two. That also explains why you often see Pepsi in smaller, local establishments, including just about every Chinese restaurant I've ever been to.

Around here pretty much any gas station worth stopping at will have the line of Coke and Pepsi products, plus Dr. Pepper at the fountain.

[Scott5114]

I think it's a situation where the store simply can't get the amount of the product they need to sell, so they simply don't; or it's a case that the company can't (or won't) supply certain items, or even the idea that the store wants you to consider buying a different kind of brand than the one they're selling.

I've had that happen several times with my local Publix, and it's infuriating.

I refuse to play these games and will simply buy the missing product on Amazon, assuming it's non-perishable. I bought my preferred flavor of Tuna Helper, which nobody seems to want to stock anymore, in a dozen case on Amazon. If you can't find it on Amazon, you can probably contact the manufacturer to buy it direct, or see if they can point you to a more reliable source in your area.

[vdeane]

I think it's a situation where the store simply can't get the amount of the product they need to sell, so they simply don't; or it's a case that the company can't (or won't) supply certain items, or even the idea that the store wants you to consider buying a different kind of brand than the one they're selling.

Around here, Price Chopper likes to play "musical chairs" with some brands, particularly with bread.  They USUALLY have Pepperidge Farm whole wheat (which doesn't have the flakes and isn't jumbo sized), so I usually go with that, though sometimes I have to get something else.  And the other brands are even less reliable.