plug availability

[Pottree@domain.elided]

In a message dated 11/14/2002 9:36:04 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:


> I went looking for some Champion N7Y (N7YC) spark plugs ... they DON"T CARRY 
> THEM!...
>  Now I "have to special order them"...just where does someone get them?... 
> What do you run in a carbureted car for the street..at this point I am open 
> to
> suggestions....
> 
I think you put your finger on the situation yourself, Christopher: you want 
your friendly local retailer to stock parts (or, supplies, or expendable, 
take your pick) for a weirdo kind of vehicle that statistically "nobody" 
drives, a carbbed car for the street.  From your POV, of course, this is a 
PITA, but from a business POV I would have to say they are right: why tie up 
money in inventory that is gong to turn at a slow rate (if ever) when the 
same valuable shelf space can be given over a line with turns that correspond 
with other like products in the store?  Anyone who did that would get fired 
(if and when it was figured out).  This is not about plugs, this is about 
real estate and arithmetic, more's the pity.

PS: I have had the same type of "problem" with any number of different 
once-common items.  It is frustrated and to some extent I suppose it is a 
function of getting older.  This is not the world it was only a couple of 
decades ago, where things were commonly fixed instead of being replaced, and 
where cars commonly had carbs, for example.  But the store has to stock for 
today's demand.

But if it's bad business to inventory these "antique legacy" items at a 
store, and if they're still being made for the specialized demand of a few 
crackpots and geezers (like us?), then it would be equally bad business if 
you couldn't go right to the manufacturer's web site and order them online -- 
and save yourself the frustration of schlepping around to various stores that 
don't stock them, as well.

Happy hunting.

Charlie
LA, CA, USA
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