The Canadian prairies have been hit by a deep freeze.  It’s estimated daytime highs will range from -15 to -20 degrees celcius.  On the celcius scale 0 degrees is the tempurature water freezes at.

This got me thinking about my cars block heater.  In the past I usually plug it in before I go to bed and leave it on overnight.  The recommended optimal usage is only 2 to 3 hours before you start the car, so this overnight use is not environmentally aware.

For convenience a block heater timer is suggested.  This way you can plug the car in the evening but the electricity flow can be scheduled to start at the appropriate time, say 5:00 A.M. for example.

Google to the Rescue

I quickly identified a fabulous sale at Canadian Tire, $10 for a timer with a regular price $30.  Amazon, Walmart and other major retailers products were all in the $25 to $30 range.

Off to Canadian Tire’s Wyndemere location, aisle 52, with 133 items in stock. The display was there with the product name and price, no product.

Making a long story short, after 15 minutes of me waiting while he looked, the sales rep located the timers by the cashiers where they had all been moved to take advantage of impulse sales.

While I waited for the sales rep at aisle 52, I counted 10 disappointed customers who probably saw a flyer or found the item on the web site, went to the advertised location and found themselves out of luck.

Seems like the strategic positioning of ALL the product away from it’s normal location was not such a good idea.  I did suggest this to the sales rep who clearly thought I should stick to my day job.

What do I know about selling stuff?

More on this saga tommorow.