[kyraconteur]

I was looking to pick up some ammo last night so I stopped at the local Chinamart and they hadn't restocked much since I'd last been there, and there were a lot of new holes as well{they were out of the Federal .22 Bulk packs}. I got to looking and they had the inventory tags on the shelf and they all had some # on order, but what jumped out at me was that on the expected arrival date they had warehouse out!

There is always internet rumors that there is going to be price jumps or Walmart will quit selling ammo etc. In fact about 1.5 years ago a Walmart Associate had told me that they received a memo(he said it was the same format as when they found out they would quit selling guns) saying that Walmart was phasing out ammo sales by 2009. I'm not sure I believe this as at least one local Walmart has remodeled their store in the past 4-5 months and they put in new ammo cabinets, but I wonder if something is going on.

I find it unusual that ammo from different makers Remington, Federal, and Winchester were all in short supply and out of stock at the warehouse. Walmart is the largest retailer in the US and has clout with their suppliers (they destroyed Rubbermaid). Regardless of shortage or runs on ammo if it was to be had, it would be in the Walmart distribution chain providing they wanted it. Anyone got any ideas or heard anything interesting.

 

[Corelogik]

My local wal-mart has a bunch of stuff still, they're just sold out of some of it,.. they were unpacking and tagging a batch of new guns when I was there yesterday.

 

[Guest]

My brother works for wall-world in KY and he said this is the company wide inventory time or something and they don't order new stock while this is going on, makes inventory a pain in the butt. hard to count everything in the store when new stuff is coming in....maybe thats all it is.... :blink: :blink:

 

[kyraconteur]

I could see withholding restocking during inventory time, but would you really inventory during the Christmas season? I could see before or after but not during the busiest shopping season of the year it's counterintuitive.

Additionally the point I was making in the original post was that the warehouse was out. An individual store being out is no big deal, but the warehouse being out of stuff is a completely different situation. There is no conceivable reason to allow the distribution chain to run dry of something.

 

[Thadius15]

I could see withholding restocking during inventory time, but would you really inventory during the Christmas season? I could see before or after but not during the busiest shopping season of the year it's counterintuitive.

Having been through many retail inventories myself I would agree with you, but I was in Best Buy last Saturday and they were doing inventory. I thought it was absolutely nuts.

 

[Guest]

I had a nice chat with the guy at the ammo counter (no guns at this store) at my nearest Wal-Mart the other night. He says it's been tough keeping stocked due to the volume of sales. Before the election he says the most they ever did out of the sporting goods register there was about $5,000 in a day. They just did $15,000 in ammo alone the other day. Might have something to do with the holes in your store's inventory 8)

 

[nicadflyer]

I went to a couple WallyWorlds and Sportmans Wharehouse last week and the ammo shelves were mostly empty.

 

[Idotusa]

The w mart here is low on ammo lots of gaps in the ammo shelves and in the gun racks. I as the store manager on day why the w mart here still sold guns and he said are you “kidding me this is one gun loving town we sell more in guns and ammo then the rest of the sporting goods combined.” My neighbor owns a gun shop and he said the % wise he makes more off of frozen snickers bars then he does off of guns.

 

[kyraconteur]

Well over the weekend the shelves were restocked somewhat; there were still plenty of holes but they did get in some .38 Spl and several of the rifle calibers(of course when I left they were out of .38 spl :embarrassed2:...it was only 2 boxes don't blame me for a shortage). That being said there were still inventory tags that said "warehouse out".

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Most folks have covered it well.

The election
Xmas time
Inventories
The war sucking up production effort worldwide
Walmart's restructuring of it's guns and firearms.

Last I knew Walmart was dropping firearms in some stores and firearms AND ammo in some others...but not in all stores. Ours sells both still but yeah, ammo has been spotty. I do think they are changing or getting rid of some of their lines though. Used to be pretty varied but now it's mainly Winchester, Federal, Remington, CCI .22, some Blazer Brass...and that's about it.
The explanation I got was that they were getting rid of guns and ammo in stores where they didn't sell. I have a friend near Lexington, KY who says none of the Wallyworlds in his area sell the stuff and he has to drive down to Nicholasville or other outlying areas. Of course he's fairly swimming in good gun stores with good prices so Walmart has more competition in the field then up here in my neck of the woods.

 

[RDFabsRep]

I'm gonna be buying a GSG-5 soon and went to Walmart last night to start loading up on .22lr ammo. Bought the 550 round box of Remington hollow points for 16.97 and (2) boxes of Thunderbolt .22lr (50 per box) for 1.97/box. They had the federal brand as well.

 

[kenfyoozed]

I was in my local walmart and they had only 4 guns left. The week before they were completley stocked. It makes me mad when I go into wal-mart and they dont have what I need. Sad part is I knew they wouldn't , but they did have it the week before. They never have 2 things that go together. One time I went to get the stuff to make PB&J sandwiches for the kids. They actually had penutbutter but no Jelly! NO JELLY!

 

[9mmfan]

My local walmart has had a normal amount of ammo on stock when I have checked while wasting some time in sporting goods area. Since they have remodeled the store the amount of guns and ammo seems to have have been good.
Now prices is another story, but that is everywhere.

 

[subdude17349]

Noticed a lot of holes in the inventory at my local WallyWorld also. Maybe just high demand?

 

[green82000]

It depends on a lot on that one Wal Mart. Ive noticed that some is stocked full and others are bare. One thing to remember is that when a store manager is about to retire they base there bonus on the three lowest years of loss out of there last five. That usually means the last year the manager will only allow orders for low loss items. I don't know if ammo is one but I do know plants are. So that might be another answer to this great ammo shortage.

 

[Guest]

I was at Wally world today and they seemed to only have .22 and shotgun shells. No 9mm at all, in any brand. Had to buy a 100 pk of Remington SureShot at Academy for $25 instead.

 

[DEDUBE]

I talked to the counter man last night at China mart. All he could say is Damm Democrats were causing a run on ammo and that China Mart couldn't get any from their supplier. My gun dealer is finding it harder to get ammo but still has plenty for sale.

 

[Guest]

Our Wal-Mart in St. Cloud, FL has a sign up by there ammo saying that all area Wal-marts are having a hard time keeping ammo in stock and they are not sure when they will be receiving more from their suppliers. I've never seen their ammo cabinet so empty. Only hand gun caliber they had in stock was 1 box of winchester 100 round 40sw. I talked to the guy behind the counter and he said that it has to do with a lot of things but a lot of people are scared that ammo prices are going to skyrocket with the new Obama administration. Just thought I'd give an update from the Orlando area.

 

[Carpe_Jugulum]

Mine is out of ALL hand gun ammo larger than .32 and most of the rife as well. Fleet Farm is dry on 9mm and several are low. Sportsmans was well stockes on .38 and not much more.
I'm reall not liking this. I've only got 100 rds.of .45, 300 9mm while my rifle ammo in the 40-60 range.

 

[tju1973]

I talked to the night guy at Wally World on saturday-- he said try first thing sunday am as their ammo deliveries come on saturday night--he was right. I picked up WWB 9mm, and a box of Remington .45ACP-- I went back today, and they were out of .380ACP, .45ACP, and only 3 boxes of 9MM. they havent had .32ACP or .25ACP in almost a month. I may have to order some from NAtchez or something of those-- I am down to a box each of the little rounds..Wierd though, the WalMarts in my town (there are 3) that don't carry guns also (2 out of 3) do better on keeping ammo in stock than the one that does sell guns.

On a side note, the Dicks in Allen TX, is spotty on ammo, but the on ein the mall in Frisco has a good supply-- the guy at the Frisco counter (where I bought my kids' Crickett saturday) said the "rich people in this town never buy ammo here" and that the stock of ammo is usually good. The prices are higher than normal, but only about $1 a box--- as I get dragged to that mall by my wife, it is a good excuse to go ahead and stock up "while I am there"...