Products placed in the wrong area

[scroob]

I'm not talking about similar clothing types being confused, as that's understandable. But, what are everyone's best/worst stories about product misplacent? I've had a few-like a bra in the men's pants section, or a shoe with the dresses. But my favorite was a giant ceramic Shrek in the pantyhose!

[dalmatas]

Oh, great, I can't remember the name of the product. It was a super-duper stain remover that was Not Sold in Stores in the 1970's. Well, this was 20 years later, and Kmart was supposed to carry the little tubes of the stuff at the checkouts. They always ended up in the Hardware department on the glue counter.

*imagining little old lady trying to repair ceramic bird*
"This glue won't stick!!!! But look how clean the statue is!!!"

[AccountingDrone]

pork gravy flavoring in the kosher aisle.

unfortunately the store STOCKED it there. Little price thingy on the shelf and all.

They just didnt understand when my BF of the time threw a hissy fit. He was jewish So he got the rabbi to come down and tell them that if they didnt move it off the kosher area, he would simply tell everybody in the congregation to boycott the store. DId I forget to mention that this was in a predominately jewish area

[Difdi]

Worst placement? I sighted this gem in a local grocery store.

They use the same sort of modular shelving you typically see at a big box hardware store, or at Costco.

On the floor level shelf is a full pallet of cleaning solvent. It's in clear plastic bottles, flashy labeling, all over-scented and brightly colored. They have Grape, Strawberry, Lemon and Green Apple, with about the colors you'd expect.

Immediately to the right is a pallet of infant formula. Immediately to the left is a pallet of kid's juice drink boxes. Directly above is a display of coffee creamer. Above and left is bottled orange juice. Above and right is a bunch of 2-liter bottles of cola. So this lethally toxic, colorful assortment of fruit-scented cleaning supplies is surrounded on all sides by beverage products.

And the store manager had NO clue why I might think it was a bad idea. Even after several minutes of explanation, the reaction was clearly "Oh God, I've got a crazy SC here! Someone save me!" rather than an awareness that children drinking poison might be bad for the store. They left that section of shelves exactly as it was, despite dozens of complaints (I wasn't the only person who noticed the problem) for FIVE WEEKS.

How do I know about the dozens of complaints? Because I reported the problem every time I went into the store, and after three weeks, the manager flipped out at me, and ranted about people sticking their noses into business that was not theirs.

[tollbaby]

Oh, great, I can't remember the name of the product. It was a super-duper stain remover that was Not Sold in Stores in the 1970's. Well, this was 20 years later, and Kmart was supposed to carry the little tubes of the stuff at the checkouts. They always ended up in the Hardware department on the glue counter.

*imagining little old lady trying to repair ceramic bird*
"This glue won't stick!!!! But look how clean the statue is!!!"

was it didi seven?

[sms001]

pork gravy flavoring in the kosher aisle.

threw a hissy fit.

if they didnt move it off the kosher area, he would simply tell everybody in the congregation to boycott the store.

This seems a little harsh. Hopefully your BF tried some pleasant reasoning first? After all, unless you think the store manager was deliberately taunting you with gravy, couldn't you, I don't know, just not buy it?

[Emrld]

sms001 - true they could have just not bought it

However, part of the point of kosher is that you keep meat seperate to the point of different dishes, fridges, ovens etc.

Pork - or any pig/ hog product for that matter is not only not kosher - it is not eaten by many followers of different levels of the Jewish faith.

I do not want to start a debate on religion here. Just wanted to provide more information to help explain why in this case calling in the Rabbi to help educate the store might have been necessary.

[sms001]

Just wanted to provide more information to help explain why in this case calling in the Rabbi to help educate the store might have been necessary.

Not debating the religious aspects at all - I'm fairly familiar with kashrut (and I think most people know the basics you outlined if just from television) and understand why they would like the item moved even if it wasn't technically a violation. But the manner in which they went about it as described by AD seemed a little EW. No big whoop here - and off topic as well, so I'll move on to my favorite product placement:

Little mom and pop convenience store (I guess the bigger chains have worked these kinds of bugs out) near where I went to school had a general "body needs" aisle. Soap, shampoo, etc. Stuff that wasn't food. The very end of the aisle near the front featured a glass cabinet full of prophylactics at eye level, and the to-the-floor space had two or three different kinds of diapers. Always gave me a chuckle.

[Emrld]

sms001 - hug (sorry I am a hugger hope you don't mind a blog hug)

I like it . . .if you aren't careful using one of these items . . .then you will need to buy these and look how much they cost . . .spend more money now - it will be less in the end.

[SG15Z]

I once found a Tostitos chip bag in a freezer. There was also the t-bone steak in the paper aisle. Or how about the bananas in the meat department. I have a whole list.

[Aethian]

I once left white cream sauce mix with the fishfood. Had picked it up from the floor cause it kept falling out of the little hand basket I was using. Since it was near a major holiday the store didn't have a whole lot of canisters left. Well when I went to grab some fish food for my little guys I had to repack the stupid hand basket and forgot the sauce mixture on the shelf.

Took me twenty minuets to find it after retracing my steps. Felt so stupid too when I had to reclaim is from a pets stock person.

[Rapscallion]

Saw an endcap yesterday that was obviously intended to be a double-decker. Multi-packs of crisps on the top, bottles of domestic bleach on the bottom. Made me blink.

Rapscallion

[TheComputerError]

At my store, we have some powerwings that are labeled as my town's top sellers. What would be the products, you ask? Cheap pregnancy tests and generic Monistat 3.

[wolfie]

This seems a little harsh. Hopefully your BF tried some pleasant reasoning first? After all, unless you think the store manager was deliberately taunting you with gravy, couldn't you, I don't know, just not buy it?

My understanding is that pork products are so far "out of line" that for them to be on the premises (for a large supermarket, this could be interpreted as being in the kosher area, rather than merely being in the store itself) makes the whole area non-kosher until they're removed and the area is ceremonially purified (one of the "Great War" books by Harry Turtledove has an incident of this sort).

The rabbi's threat of a boycott isn't simply "we don't like what you're doing, so change it" - it's a warning that by having the pork gravy mix where they have it, the store not only doesn't have a kosher section, but that they're falsely selling non-kosher items (i.e. those which are near the gravy mix) as kosher.

[Bramblerose]

To This Day one of our grocery chains stocks the lightbulbs with the pickles. Took us forever the first time we looked for them.

I would put them with other housewares or cleaning or something.