Walmart going all Fram

[netsfan]

It appears that my local Walmart is going all Fram.

Motorcraft filters were discounted to $1.00, and sold out in one day (a local garage bought them out).

Supertech has not been restocked in months. There are a few left, selling at full price, but many sizes are unstocked. The auto dept. manager says that he was instructed not to order any more Supertech, even though they are still availible from Walmart corporate.

There are is a full, perfectly-stocked array of Fram oil filters offering every size in five different filters (Extra, Tough, Double, HiMileage, Extended). But no other choices.

Surpringly, K&N air filters are now appearing across the aisle. I wish they would have let Fram stay dominant in air filters rather than oil filters.

 

[Tom300M]

The Wal-mart in Piscataway looks like its going the same way too. Last time I was there, it had a big section of all Frams and one little section of what was left of Supertech.

 

[VelociRacer]

If you are looking for SuperTech, go to Autozone and buy their Valu something house brand. Most are priced at $1.99 and are identical to Wally's ST (ie. made by Champion Labs).

If you were like me crying about Meijer's also switching from Purolator to Fram, go to PepBoys or Murray's who stock ProLine and PowerFlo respectively. They are Purolator Premium filters sold for $2.29/$2.79 respectively.

 

[JohnnyO]

No ST's hardly at all here any more. Motorcraft was running low but lately they've been stocked up on them (though the oil is long gone).

 

[Brett Miller]

Another good reason not to shop at Walmart.

 

[gudmund]

saw the same thing at the local Wal-Mart's here, not much supertechs just Fram! They are going the K-mart way-just Fram. I should be ok for a little while with about 60 or so Motorcraft FL400s's in the shop.

 

['00obw]

quote:

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Originally posted by VelociRacer:
If you are looking for SuperTech, go to Autozone and buy their Valu something house brand. Most are priced at $1.99 and are identical to Wally's ST (ie. made by Champion Labs).

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Are you sure the AZ house brand are identical to the Wal-Mart's. They may be made by Champion Labs but do they use the same filtering media. I started a thread asking this: http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=002437

 

[VelociRacer]

quote:

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Originally posted by '00obw:

quote:

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Originally posted by VelociRacer:
If you are looking for SuperTech, go to Autozone and buy their Valu something house brand. Most are priced at $1.99 and are identical to Wally's ST (ie. made by Champion Labs).

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Are you sure the AZ house brand are identical to the Wal-Mart's. They may be made by Champion Labs but do they use the same filtering media. I started a thread asking this: http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=002437

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No, you have to cut one open and see for yourself. I just reported on my findings after a round of comparison shopping the other day. It's been a while since I used Champ filters, maybe 3 years ago. Been using PureONE since, and now ProLine for my 99 Civic EX Coupe with 117,000 miles on it. Good luck.

 

[labman]

My Wally's still had about 2' of shelf space top to bottom for ST. I grabbed an ST 3950 which for now still have the traditional Champion quality, no clicker or E-core.

I think part of E-core is number consolidation, covering the applications with fewer numbers. I find it hard to believe Champion is putting out junk, but have seen too much here to be comfortable using an E-core for now. I have the ST I bought the other day put back for the time Wally's doesn't have anything I would run on my truck. That will buy me a whole OCI to make it out of town to a Pep Boys.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Nothing being restocked in my Wally's except for Fram. I bought the last two Motorcraft they had that fit my truck and my pop-in-law's.

I shouldn't worry, I can get A/C Delco's for 3 bucks.

I wouldn't be obsessed then, would I? Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

 

[labman]

Is it possible there have been some problems with the Ecore, and they are waiting until it is straightened out before restocking ST's?

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by labman:
Is it possible there have been some problems with the Ecore, and they are waiting until it is straightened out before restocking ST's?

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It's been about 2 years since Champion was purchased by the Carlyle group. Is the Ecore perhaps the result of some new direction from above.

 

[davefr]

That's a "royal dart"!

It's getting increasingly hard to find quality filters these days. Fortunately there are still a couple retailers left that offer the Purolator lineup.

It sound like Fram is opening up the checkbook and offering big slotting fees to retailers that devote all their shelf space to thier garbage product.


(QUOTE]Originally posted by netsfan:
It appears that my local Walmart is going all Fram.

Motorcraft filters were discounted to $1.00, and sold out in one day (a local garage bought them out).

Supertech has not been restocked in months. There are a few left, selling at full price, but many sizes are unstocked. The auto dept. manager says that he was instructed not to order any more Supertech, even though they are still availible from Walmart corporate.

There are is a full, perfectly-stocked array of Fram oil filters offering every size in five different filters (Extra, Tough, Double, HiMileage, Extended). But no other choices.

Surpringly, K&N air filters are now appearing across the aisle. I wish they would have let Fram stay dominant in air filters rather than oil filters. [/QUOTE]

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

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It sound like Fram is opening up the checkbook and offering big slotting fees to retailers that devote all their shelf space to thier garbage product.

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It would appear so. I'm unsure if Wally World uses the same format as most producers ..where they actually "pay rent" for shelf space ..just like super markets. Whatever the reason/cause, it's obvious that Fram is making some move to squeeze out the competition in at least some consumer outlets.

Kinda like if you can't beat them at the game ...just don't allow them on the court ..so to speak.

So they either gave Wally World some incredible deal to abandon their own ST label (profit afforded with the Fram) ...or Fram allows them enough "rent" to make ST's an unneeded item in terms of profit/volume.

 

[blupupher]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan:
So they either gave Wally World some incredible deal to abandon their own ST label (profit afforded with the Fram) ...or Fram allows them enough "rent" to make ST's an unneeded item in terms of profit/volume.

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Thats the part I find odd, Wal-Mart's own (cheaper) brand is being pushed out by Fram.

 

[y_p_w]

Every Wal-Mart may have different offerings and or pricing.

Wal-Mart has possibly the most sophisticated purchase analysis, inventory, pricing, and reordering software in the world. I've heard that by analyzing purchasing patterns, they set prices and even order additional product from their distributors. If they're running low on slippers made in China, their electronic systems will place the order automatically.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

My Sam's Club has credit card swipes kept together with spit and tape.

It doesn't seem like it's that's sophisticated, though I know it is.

The supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

 

[ZR2RANDO]

I called my local Walmart and asked them about this topic. They said they didn't know of any plans for their particular store to discontinue the ST filters, and that they would actually be starting to sell the Motorcraft filters again too.
We'll see how it turns out I reckon.