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Brooks Brothers supply issues

Liquidus

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Does anyone know what's going on with BB? I ordered two pairs of their Regent wool trousers in 32/30 and they're on backorder until March 21st! I wanted to change the order to 31/30 and found out that you can't even get them on backorder...
 

JayJay

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Typical BB, nothing unusual. It's been this way for the last couple years in fact. Pathetic, IMO.
 

imageWIS

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Ever since they got taken over they have been running it very meh. Actually a lot of companies in the last few years in the clothing biz (at least here in NYC) have been very meh in regards to operations, streamlining and general business aptitude.
 

Bentley

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I had the same problem when I ordered some stuff from them during their Summer sale last year. The delivery time got pushed back a number of times...I finally just wound up cancelling the order.
 

porcelain monkey

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It seem to me that they keep their inventory quite low and sometimes even manufacture to order. it can be annoying, but it strikes me as smart business in this climate.
 

imageWIS

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Originally Posted by porcelain monkey
It seem to me that they keep their inventory quite low and sometimes even manufacture to order. it can be annoying, but it strikes me as smart business in this climate.
No. It's cost prohibitive to make really small runs of anything, especially at lower price points and if they are made overseas. It's one thing if BB was making MTM items, but JIT in the clothing industry, unless you are talking about basics, is a very hard supply chain to both time and cost effectively set up and operate. Even if you are talking about basics, its still not an easy thing to do. Many people cancel their orders after waiting for extended periods of time. Consider that people who cancel orders aren't very keen on re-ordering, thus BB could possibly lose customers, potential permanently. I think BB, like many other retailers has a major supply chain problem between moving merchandise from the B&M store inventories to fulfill online orders and vice-versa. Also in the age of computers, its utterly ridiculous that the inventory system isn't automatically stating to customers what items are not available and in which sizes.
 

forex

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Originally Posted by imageWIS
No. It's cost prohibitive to make really small runs of anything, especially at lower price points and if they are made overseas. It's one thing if BB was making MTM items, but the JIT in the clothing industry, unless you are talking about basics, is a very hard supply chain to both time and cost effectively set up and operate. Even if you are talking about basics, its still not an easy thing to do.

Many people cancel their orders after waiting for extended periods of time. Consider that people who cancel orders aren't very keen on re-ordering, thus BB could possibly lose customers, potential permanently.

I think BB, like many other retailers has a major supply chain problem between moving merchandise from the B&M store inventories to fulfill online orders and vice-versa. Also in the age of computers, its utterly ridiculous that the inventory system isn't automatically stating to customers what items are not available and in which sizes.


I agree with this,I think BB is not considering the cost of losing customers. Having very low buffer and sometimes no buffer at all is pretty silly in retail clothing. They should invest into their inventory management system and improve their supply chain. There is nothing wrong with producing clothing in small runs, however, BB is not able to match the supply with its existing demand and only when they can do this in a very short period of time, i.e. without pushing backorders farther and farther,should they switch to JIT model. They should just keep some stock in hand and be ready to eat the cost,some Black Fleece items almost never get filled,why even have stuff on your website if you can't deliver it? I think BB's website is becoming a joke.
 

imageWIS

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I'm not going to state which clothing retailer I work for, but our supply chain is a joke. The website's inventory levels make no sense, with an item showing that a color / size is available one day, then not available the next day, and then is again available the following day.

There is no band and forth integration between the B&M inventory and the online wear house. Instead of items destined to store B from the manufacturer A being directly shipped to store B, they are first sent to another wear house C, and then shipped to store B.

Thus, merchandise instead of going from A to B, goes from A to B to C and only adds to the retailers costs (shipping, handling, etc...).
 

TRA8324

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I've noticed this too. Even with orders that they have in stock they are very slow at shipping out. It took me over 2 weeks to get my order when I ordered a few weeks back. They need some IEs to come in and revamp their entire supply chain/logistics operation.
 

sellahi22

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Originally Posted by imageWIS
No. It's cost prohibitive to make really small runs of anything

Maybe they're on the brink of insolvency and strapped for cash.

Wouldn't surprise me since they're past the point where their MSRP is meaningless and most of their customers (office workers with access to the internet and a conservative attitude toward spending) buy only at sales.
 

forex

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Originally Posted by TRA8324
I've noticed this too. Even with orders that they have in stock they are very slow at shipping out. It took me over 2 weeks to get my order when I ordered a few weeks back. They need some IEs to come in and revamp their entire supply chain/logistics operation.

As far as I know,BB outsourced its logistics so a third party does all the order receiving/return,shipments,etc. They are just not doing a good job but I suspect that it is because BB has inventory issues. If you don't have the product in the right quantity and the right time,no matter how good your 3PL is,you are still not going to do well. It's best to call the store and ask them to check their inventory,which is separate from the website,it is a lot more accurate,in my experience.
 

Master Squirrel

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FYI: One of BB's distribution warehouses is rumored to have had a roof collapse in the recent snow storm.
 

viator

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Originally Posted by forex
I agree with this,I think BB is not considering the cost of losing customers. Having very low buffer and sometimes no buffer at all is pretty silly in retail clothing. They should invest into their inventory management system and improve their supply chain. There is nothing wrong with producing clothing in small runs, however, BB is not able to match the supply with its existing demand and only when they can do this in a very short period of time, i.e. without pushing backorders farther and farther,should they switch to JIT model. They should just keep some stock in hand and be ready to eat the cost,some Black Fleece items almost never get filled,why even have stuff on your website if you can't deliver it? I think BB's website is becoming a joke.

In addition, many of their items really are durable goods. Many of their items don't change much. Just make them and put them on the shelf. They won't go bad if they're not sold for 6 months.
 

Ag229487

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Im in the same boat, I ordered 2 pairs of the regent dress pants in 32x32 around January 26th and they said est. delivery would be end of Feb.

Other option is to call customer service and have them locate them for you in a store.
 

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