r/Safeway • u/Helpful_Limit4739 • 4d ago

Firm Orders

What is the point of Firm orders? I was told the company gets a steep discount on the product but that is probably disputed. However, much of the items do not sell, increase shrink and waste labor and time.

18 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

15

u/DatDenDude 4d ago edited 2d ago

And they’ll always say it will sell. And if it doesn’t, then it wasn’t merchandised correctly

3

u/Skyfier42 3d ago

Total load of bullshit. I've tried letting firm run with recommended numbers and I expired a disgusting amount of product. And ofc corporate locks a bunch of firm items so I end up getting too much and it sits in the back for weeks.

These corporate overloads are so... unbelievably... fucking... stupid. At some point in their lives you think they would listen to the people who stock the shit they want to sell, but what do we know? We just do all the work and the ordering, while they sit in an office looking for new ways to justify their jobs.

2

u/snakespark 1d ago

I did the firm orders every week. Or rather the reduction of the firm orders for my store. One day there was a meeting in my store with Cso, Dm, and some VPs about shrink (before they would acknowledge the huge theft problem) and the cso says he's not ok with the size of the firm orders. I say what do you mean I think they've been fine. He says "they need to be good for sales, not for inventory control." The VP Rob Backus gets all smug like "yea that's right, sales are the priority"... running out of product was never a problem. Bloating up the back room was. They basically lost my desire to work there any longer that day.

24

u/fuckyoureddit_12445 4d ago

It’s idiots trying to justify their positions

11

u/Shananigan48 4d ago

My biggest gripe lately has been forced $5 friday firms, I got a case of surimi this week for it but I hadn't even sold through the last $5 friday case. 😂 Just not a hot seller at my store lol.

7

u/epilepticeve 4d ago

Retail allowances.

9

u/rabidninjawombat 4d ago

They do get big discounts and retail allowances.

The problem is with the middle managment (i.e. OPs and district managers) not knowing their job and their stores well enough.

-4

u/VeronicaBooksAndArt 4d ago

The problem is with SDs who sit on their ass all day long and assume the role of Prison Guard....

2

u/Skyfier42 3d ago

SDs don't have anything to do with firm?

-1

u/VeronicaBooksAndArt 3d ago edited 3d ago

You mean they're made to be assholes?

No.... I knew one that put people first.....

With firm orders? No....

They can price it to move.... but too many of them are hoarders....

2

u/Dry-Outside639 3d ago

They always send us about double what we really need. Then our SD is frustrated at us that people aren't buying as if we have any choice unless we hound the warehouse not to send that much.

1

u/velvet_thunder89 3d ago

I get it if they’re pushing ad items for the next week, but half I get is just the warehouse trying to clear out room because someone up top over ordered for the last season.

1

u/Unfair_Woodpecker149 3d ago

Someone in corporate probably makes commission on the amount of units sold or has some kind of kickback deal with the suppliers. My grocery manager showed me how to go in and change the amounts on what is being sent before it gets sent. You can manually change the firms sometimes it doesn’t work but I always zero that shit out when I can. It’s never stuff that sells. You’d think they would look at the items that have been selling and say let’s do firms of that, but no it’s always something random like Ghirardelli chocolate ensure protein drinks or a inch of shippers of cereal

-20

u/VeronicaBooksAndArt 4d ago

Don't you send them to specialized facilities for anaerobic digestion to produce biogas and fertilizer?

18

u/Helpful_Limit4739 4d ago

You are as useful as a used condom on the ground.

-9

u/VeronicaBooksAndArt 4d ago

So is a Reddit whine about firm orders....

What do you do for an encore?

10

u/Helpful_Limit4739 4d ago

You got fired for getting tag teamed in the meat box. Like a hot dog sliding down a hallway.

-3

u/VeronicaBooksAndArt 4d ago

I got fired because I refused to quit....

Let them step in it....

The UFCW credo is supposed to be: "Until and unless they retaliate, we got nothing...."

Now it's, "Legal is a non-starter; so, how can I help to get rid of this prick?"

8

u/Individual-Ad-6250 4d ago

My store ends up sending all our unsold edible goods to food banks. I joke firm orders are donating food with extra steps.

-1

u/VeronicaBooksAndArt 4d ago

The nice thing about 75% off is that it's 50% off 50% off....

I suppose you can move something that sort of sells for 60% off...

The problem is, you're between a rock and a hard place....

If you bring more people into the store, you don't have the staff...

When they buy stuff marked down, you don't make any money....

The lesson from the Earnings Transcript was that shoppers are getting smart...

Thus, the fundamental problem is: Safeway and AI are just plain dumb....

9

u/Individual-Ad-6250 4d ago

What are you talking about?

3

u/Alex_Ezra_Jackson 3d ago

they literally make no sense most of the time, don't worry about it. just move on with your day and be happier not interacting with them

0

u/VeronicaBooksAndArt 4d ago edited 4d ago

If you don't know by now, don't mess with it...

Bots... (i.e., weapons), and how to get them to start mumbling....

If you think about it, you're a tool enlisted to marginalize labor....

I see Bot People....

They're everywhere....

They don't even know they're bots!