Boys clothing availability

I posted in another part of this thread, but wanted to suggest
Childrensplace.com in a more prominent place. Lots of great stuff and
matching/coordinating stuff for boys, too. I've been able to
coordinate my three boys 10,7 and 3) since the second one was born.
Plus, they have a great on-line clearance section and run 99 cent
shipping deals (99 cents no matter how big the order).

It's obvious they don't merchandise by weather type in the country.
Some mass merchants do, but not all of them do. I really thought
Wal-Mart would. And the seasonality of merchandise is way ahead of
the actual season, it's been like that for a couple of decades now.
So you need to shop for Christmas around end of September and guess
how much bigger your boys will be in a couple of months. I realize
that's hard to do, but worth a shot. Or......just dress them like
girls while they're still young. They did that in the late 19th and
early 20th century and those kids turned out well. Who knows, you
might start a new trend in Alaska!

Melissa,
Your letter makes a lot of sense. Considering they have some
competition, limited maybe, but competition none the less, it should
make sense that they listen to their customer base. I know the few
Walmarts I've been in have the same problem with selection for boys vs
girls clothing. I guess because of Alaska's location, there must be a
system in place that clearly needs to be re considered. I hope you DO
hear from them, but for some reason, I've rarely seen them respond to
letters.
Good Luck, who knows, maybe things will change and you'll get a better
selection to choose from.

You might consider the fact that a large majority of WalMart's
clothing is made in China and many obscure places in SouthEast Asia
(Mid-east) such as Pakistan. Therefore, with your location being
Alaska, the potential for shipping issues are greater than say:
Seattle, perhaps, where there is a greater concentration of
residents.

It's not an excuse, but a fact of life for those who live in some of
the most beautiful landscapes of North America. Listening to
department managers is a good thing, but it doesn't change the fact
that random shipments will come on their own terms after dealing with
customs and other international shipping hurdles. It could be worse:
they could have the shipments go to a central warehouse and THEN ship
them to the stores!

What you COULD do is to encourage Walmart to start producing more
product within the continental United States to speed things up. Of
course, they could also FLY the product in, but then it would be a
Walmart Super-Slasher-Saver price anymore.

good luck. I don't see Walmart changing much unless you and 300
million Americans get enough of it and stop shopping there. But I
don't see that happening. Do you?

Melissa,

I feel your pain. I have 2 boys myself and it seems that every store
I visit has far more outfits for little girls than boys. It's
completely unfair.

The only thing I can figure is that (and this always seems to be my
bad luck) is that maybe the few boys items they had sold out. No
matter what size my boys are in, if I find something I like, it's
almost guaranteed to be sold out!

It's a long shot, but when they only have a few things available, it
doesn't go as far. They also stock their stores by season, so even
though you're in Alaska, it's spring and they would be pushing spring
clothing.

I will suggest that one of the best places I have found little boy's
clothes is Old Navy. Their girl section is still far better, but they
have more options than the typical retailer for boys.

Your letter is a good one and hopefully you will get a response back
from them.

Walmart has had issues with clothing for the last several years now
that has effected their sales enormously. I see they still have an
area of weakness. Good luck, I hope you hear back from them. My boys
were much younger when I purchased from Walmart for them and back then
they did have plenty. They've since rearranged the entire store and
things are different now, not sure it is for the better. Now that they
put kohls in up the street from there...........lol

I had the same problem in JC Penney's. Whenever I needed long sleeve
school shirts for my son, they would only have short sleeve ones. I
asked an employee why they only had short sleeve shirts in the winter,
and I was told that the store has no control over the merchandise, and
that it is automatically shipped from Texas, where it is still warm.


Doesn't make much sense, does it?

It's a nice letter. If you keep after them, they may make a special
effort on your behalf. Writing this was a good idea, because it lets
them know about the needs of their customers.

Is there an Old Navy or Kids R Us (or Toys R Us w/clothing dept) near
you? I have 3 boys, sizes 2T, 5, and 8X, and I only can ever find
matching outfits for them at these two stores. Like you, we usually
look for matching stuff at Christmas and Fourth of July.

While Walmart is great to pick up a few play clothes, or jeans for
back to school, I haven't had much luck around here (MA) with them
either.

Our WalMart is the same way. I went looking for some patriotic shirts
recently and found a whole pile in the men's section. I didn't find
any in the women's department and absolutely zero in boy's. I didn't
look in girls, I don't have one (yet). What really baffles me is that
this WalMart is literally around the corner and down the block from a
rather large Naval Air station whose soldiers' families make up a
large percentage of the local population.
Overall, though, I find that our store has a VERY limited toddler
boy's selection in ANYTHING. I get most of Peanut's stuff from
JCPenney.com or Old Navy (although their selection is getting more and
more limited, too).

Come to think of it... we have a crummy boys department too...

While I agree that they seem to have a problem stocking boys'
clothing, you seem to be shopping a little late for holidays. July 1
for the fourth of July? Even stores here in the states have moved
their "patriotic" clothing to the clearance racks well before July 1.

I just can't help but giggle over the fact that they had SHORTS but
not PANTS in a store in ALASKA. I mean I know you get comfortable
temps in the summer... but still... hehe

I hope you hear back but I don't think they are a company that
responds here.

Good luck Melissa.

Most of the large stores like Wal-Mart, Target, and K-Mart stock items
based on past sales. If young men's clothing didn't sell well when
they stocked it, the order amounts are cut. While you want to purchase
the items, not enough others have done so in the past to make it
profitable for the store, so it is unlikely that a request from one
party will change things.
It really sounds like online or catalog shopping is the way to go for
you.

It seems silly that they don't stock clothes for the climate you live
in. Have you considered ordering stuff online from Old Navy, LL Bean
or Lands End? As the mother of boys, I can tell you that even though
I have lots of stores available to me boys clothing selections is far
more limited than for girls. If I see soemthing I like I grab it
because it probably won't be there next week and there probably won't
be anymore coming in!