Walmart stores GM's and DM's supposedly have a lot of autonomy in how and what they order, and if they do a good job, and what they order goes off the shelves and makes WM $$$, it supposedly shows up in all their fancy JIT inventory and tracking systems in Bentonvile. And it's why sometimes you'll read of amazing stuff showing up at Walmart, like people bragging that their local WM's gun counter is almost as good as a dedicated gun store or sporting good's store (in long guns and ammo anyway), because the Sporting Goods DM is a gun nut and keeps it stocked, or like I read on some other forums that oddball stuff for ANY big-box store, like Mountain House survival food buckets being in the bulk/seasonal/institutional aisle because maybe the DM there is a survivalist/prepper, or was at least reading up on them...
However, the converse is true too, if the GM or DM is a slouch and not keeping on top of things, or requesting alternatives if some mfg's stuff runs out, like switching to Curad or Equate generics if Johnson & Johnson are not getting enough Band-Aid's, or switching to Oster if Whal isn't getting enough men's trimmers in, stuff will go AWOL from the shelves.
And I'm not sure how well Walmart's systems work at "proving a negative" if the overall store or department's health is "okay".
Around here, the Walmarts seem well stocked, for a Walmart. In the Super Walmart, the grocery section is limited and still smaller than a dedicated supermarket, the clothing and housewares a bit smaller than a large Target's, toys seem about even-Steven, but the Sporting Goods, and Hardware/Auto section are obviously much larger than Target's.
