Supply Situation At Bkk Area 7-Elevens

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Tonight on the way home, we stopped at our local 7-Eleven shop in lower Sukhumvit to pick up some small things, and while there, I made a point of noting what their stock situation was...

Even now, long after the government has been promising to remedy the problem with food and bottled water shortages, I found our local 7-Eleven store had absolutely zero bottles of water, and seemingly has been the same for at least the past two weeks.

Likewise, they had empty shelves for all varieties of Thai beers (except for a few straggler Archa's), the bakery section was empty, most of the canned sodas shelves were empty. They did, at least, however, have a few cartons of dozen and 4-packs of eggs.

In sum, no sign that anything's getting better there... It just seems to be getting more bare as time passes... contrary to the rubbish the government keeps spouting.

[skippybangkok]

Lotus Super Centers are getting back on their feet. we have lots of bread now.

[zorro1]

Wow so no bread or your favorite beer at your local 7/11 just awful .

I would leave lower Suk, It may get worse if the flood actually arrives .

Edited November 6, 2011 by zorro1

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

fyi, I don't shop there for groceries.... but a lot of locals do... And 7-Elevens are one of the biggest retailers around... It's a bad sign to see their shelves so bare in a non-flood area, especially after they've had some time to adjust to the initial flood disruptions.

[aussiebebe]

I live to the south of Bangkok and 7/11s are the same here; it must be a whole-company decision. There have been no floods here at all and I've lost count of the number of times news reports on TV or neighbors have insisted that flooding is imminent - even now people are on edge and maintain that it's only a matter of time before we are engulfed in flood water. It seems that the decision to 'save' Bangkok has perpetuated this situation. I'm sick of the government proclaiming the flood waters are receding in areas and then the news reports the opposite! This happened on the 16th, 20th and 29th of October and the 3rd November......I'm still waiting.

[beano2274]

7/11 near me had bread no water. Lots of snacks got delivered on Saturday, so crisps are available, no real food though.

[lazygourmet]

All the 7/11, Family Mart, Tesco Express and BigC Mini are closed for already more than two weeks, here in Nonthaburi between Bang Bua thong and Bang Yai.

But there is a small shopkeeper who is taking order -everything you want- by phone and next morning, her grandson is coming to deliver the goods by boat right to the house.

They didn't even increased the price... For example, yesterday we paid 30 baht for a dozen of eggs and 450 bath for a box of Leo beers...

I promised myself to never shop again at 7/11... Except for paying electricity and phone bills, only things this brave lady cannot do!

[ThaiRich]

I live outside of Bangkok about 280km.,for the last month our7-11 has had empty shelves and there is no tops or foodland and there nearest Big C or Lotus is nearly 80 km away. Last night trucks arrived and completely stocked the store.I was happy to see that someone remembered that not everyone in Thailand lives in Bangkok.

[jackdawson]

I agree; this 7/11 thing is really disappointing.

No Lay, no Coke Zero, no good Trident sugarless, no Heineken, no good baked goods, no water.

Maybe CP Foods will analyze it when all is said and done and work on new suppliers and supply routes.

Then again, maybe not.

At least they continue to employ and pay all their clerks in the face of what must be some really slow sales.

[DP25]

Getting so bad at 7-11 near me that yesterday the clerk asked me where I bought the bottle of water I was carrying so he could buy some too

[anselpixel]

These photos are from Saturday afternoon, November 5. The store is Tops at Kad Suan Kaew in Chiang Mai. The supply chain problems are not restricted to areas with flooding, or even the threat of flooding.

<div>Obviously, it's not just 7/11 that's affected.</div>

Edited November 7, 2011 by anselpixel

[LuckyLew]

Groceries stores and 7-11's are in the same boat ... their supply chains surely

are severally damaged by the floods. Supplies can get thru, deliveries are slow.

what can the government really do about getting shelves stocked?

Their mistake IMO was to say they would do something about it.

The two 7-11s and the mall near me have not had water/coke/beer/cigarettes

for weeks now

But it is ok, the water coming out of my tap is now the same color as coke

[asanee]

Groceries stores and 7-11's are in the same boat ... their supply chains surely

are severally damaged by the floods. Supplies can get thru, deliveries are slow.

what can the government really do about getting shelves stocked?

Their mistake IMO was to say they would do something about it.

Here in ChMai also many shortages and empties.

Again; THINK: what can a govmt even do about flooded distribuition centres/ About factories having closed due to flooding? Send a new one from heaven in a half day? Rent one in Japan? Moaning is easy-thinking is an exhhausting thing for TV-users in a tremendous fear that BEERmay even sell out.

BTW: those small mompop shops have their own supply chains. Thats 1 weak point of the BigC/tesco/Central(=also 7)-centralsied supply chains-useful in normal times, a very weak link in thes times.

[soundman]

Was in Lotus (Prachinburi - SriMahaphot) yesterday and there was no water, noodles, or fizzy drinks. Everything else seemed to be in stock, except - ohh the tragedy - how could they let this happen!!!!! No &lt;deleted&gt;. Just shelves and shelves and shelves of senior's diapers.

[Bpuumike]

The Lemon Tree store at my local service station is staying much better stocked than the 7/11's and with occasional large deliveries of 1.5l bottled water.

My local Big C had pretty well normal stock levels of everything over the weekend.

Fizzy drinks aren't exactly essential and I don't know about other drinks but I read somewhere on TV news that the Coke plant has now switched to producing bottled water only.

[robanywhere]

water and supplies situation is the same wherever i go... Silom, Khao San, Sukhimvit, Rattanatibet/Tiwanon,. Even in Pattaya, water and instant foods gone.I have tried 7-11s, Family Marts, and Tescos.

The only exceptions have been some big Tescos have 2.5 gal water jugs from Malaysia (3 per customer), and lots of water and some drinks at the Suvarnabhumi 7-11s and Family Marts (B and 4th floors). Some 7-11s with no water on the shelf will have a sign in thai that says one water per customer (must ask and they will bring from the back).

My wife is a Pepsi Max addict, and very few cans can be found.

In general,

(1) supplies are being diverted to rescue/ operations,

(2) some manufacturing plants (e.g., water packaging) are located in flooded areas, reducing capacity,

(3) distribution centers have been flooded and temporary ones set up,

(4) supply chains and distribution routes have been disrupted, and

(5) almost two months of hoarding is taking its toll.

Edited November 7, 2011 by robanywhere

[ralfbkk]

Whatever is being said here, I have the feeling that it is actually getting better or lets say better organized. The supply chain probably made their adjustments and have figured out their options.

My observations

Big C Sukhapiban 3 and 5 - Water available, Big Bottles a 17 THB

Tops Sukhapiban 3 - Bread, Egg and yes, Instant Noodles (Mama) available, Meat,Fruit, Milk etc. is all there

I work in the supply chain / logistics sector here in Thailand and please allow me to say that sometimes it is not easy to get all parties (suppliers, truckers, 3rd Party Providers, End Customer and us) under one umbrella to get the supply chain back on track and to make sure that everyone is on the same page understanding this challenge and the adjustments to it. Some truckers do not even work anymore because their drivers went home. Some Warehouses, especially those of Big C, Tops and Lotus, at the Bangbuathong Area are closed and not operating.

Those who work and operate at the moment are hard working individuals and I can insure you that everyone is trying their best and they are putting long hours to get the ball rolling. Sometimes their resources are limited as well. Please do not complain if your favorite beer or tasty cheese sausages are not available at the moment. It will all come back while Rice, Water, Milk and Egg are top priority right now.

Edited November 7, 2011 by ralfbkk

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Re the prior poster, my comments in the OP were only about 7-Eleven stores...not all the other retailers...

Of course, it's not all black and white... Some places have some things... Others are different. But it does appear that 7-Eleven's in general, flood area or no flood area, are faring poorly in stocking.

I posted here in a separate thread a few days ago, went to my local Tops then and found the store half empty of almost everything in terms of shelves goods... only the top two or three shelves out of 5 levels being used throughout most of the store. (They did have pretty much regular stocks of [non-shelved] meats, fruits and veggies, however.)

But, newly arrived, they did have a whole aisle of 10 bottle cases of 500 ml waters... name like Pura... Couldn't tell if it was the imported Malaysian variety or just an off-name from somewhere else. Likewise, others have posted about street shops around Sukhumvit and Asoke now selling bottled waters again...

But for some reason, 7's seem to be bereft. I see absolutely no sign that 7-Eleven stocks are getting any better.