Have you ever had one of those moments when a person with whom you are speaking (in this instance, a sales manager for a large home goods retail chain) says something so bizarre you feel like you’re not comprehending what they are saying?
Recently this happened to me, thus the expression: “A mule is a horse designed by a committee.” It’s fair to say the recent pandemic is forcing us all to make very difficult choices in order to reignite our businesses. At the same time, we are attempting to execute possible future business opportunities and relationships, and we are trying to manage costs where possible.
When people ask me how it’s going, I often respond by asking if they have ever read or watched “Alice in Wonderland.” I also share this quote with them: “It’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” Sometimes I say, “It’s tough to drive forward if you’re looking in the rearview mirror.” The hard decisions we make today are the seeds of tomorrow’s opportunities or failures, waiting to remind us that we didn’t think it though.
The pandemic has brought us a plethora of opportunities to witness good and bad decision-making, both locally and nationally. One that really made me scratch my head, and falls in my “I’m not sure I understand this” category, was put in place by Bed Bath & Beyond (BBB).
Let’s start with the good in this situation. I needed an additional digital thermometer, and due to the hoarding mentality that has swept the county, they are very scarce. It’s the paper towel/toilet paper syndrome all over again. Thankfully, when I called Bed Bath & Beyond a few minutes before their official opening time, a very polite employee answered the phone.
The BBB website indicated the item was in stock, and when asked to confirm, she informed me they did, indeed, have five. I asked her if she could set one aside in my name, and I would head that way. Again, she was very polite and said she would. Here’s where the tale gets strange…
When I arrived at BBB, per today’s normal, I saw shoppers wearing masks of every style and nature. There were dog lovers masks, school logo masks, cowboy scarves, sports team masks, and standard masks as well. As strange a sight as this was, it almost felt like people had finally embraced the inconvenience of looking like a cartoon character and were trying to go on about life in the new normal. As I entered the store and began to walk around, what I saw was odd to my eye. Every third or fourth set of shelves was bare. It was that paper towel syndrome on steroids. I was puzzled by this. Was it a supply chain issue? Was it a hording issue? Was it a trucking issue? I figured I had run all the scenarios in my head, so all that was left to do was ask. So I did.
The Answer? “Corporate Clumsy” at its Best!
I was told the corporate leadership of Bed Bath and Beyond made the decision that they wanted better inventory control and management. In the past, managers balanced inventory, sent reports to regional managers, and it continued to move up the chain until inventory needs were filled. This way good managers in busy stores, with strong sell- through, were on top of what they specifically needed. A manager’s job was placing restock orders quickly, and, reordering items based on what had sold, along with items that were selling well at their individual store locations.
In this pandemic era, apparently, corporate decides which inventory to send out to the stores. It selects what should and will sell, according to Artificial Intelligence and then appropriates stock accordingly. Those in the corporate office believe this model provides Bed Bath and Beyond the opportunity to reduce staff cost though management reduction.
So, the model Bed Bath and Beyond now embraces is…
- Fewer people involved in managing inventory, but more A.I.
- More dependence on computer selection of products
- Less knowledge of the individual Bed Bath and Beyond regions because of a reduction in human capital in the actual locations.
Wow! The result of this clumsy thinking is lots and lots of empty shelves, and fat cats at the top of the food chain ignoring frustrated customers; they have abandoned the old model where one awesome employee, who answered the phone when she wasn’t required to do so, set aside a thermometer for a customer.
The Pandemic Will Go Down in History as One of Our Best Teachers Ever
Whether we have made productive decisions, or unproductive ones, the truth will come out in the wash. I can’t say for sure how any of this plays out, but I can say this: people want to deal with people. The little town I live in has made a few simple adjustments and now has allowed their restaurant owners to place tables where the parking places in front of their buildings once were designated. This simple act has enabled spacious and romantic outdoor dining stations. Amid the oppressive environment of COVID, when people just want to interact with other people, the town has made a productive decision for both business owners and customers – one that has enabled safely-distanced, outdoor dining to happen. The town also has allowed the restaurants to have space for tables on the side streets, creating a draw so strong that people drive miles to enjoy a night on the town!
Corporate leadership doesn’t think that way. Why, you ask? Because a mule is a horse designed by a committee.
Menzie Pittman is the owner and director of education at Contemporary Music Center in Virginia (CMC). Following a performance and teaching career spanning more than 32 years, he founded CMC in 1989 and continues to perform, teach, and oversee daily operations. He has 50 years of musical experience as a drummer and drum instructor. Menzie is a frequent speaker at NAMM’s Idea Center, and a freelance writer for MMR’s “Small Business Matters”.
