OK, now for my two cents worth. It would be nearly impossible for a store to stock EVERYTHING
Wooster makes or any other company. As a distributor, I can't even do that. Ever heard of the 80/20 rule?
Twenty percent of your items generate 80% of your sales. We sell to hundreds, maybe even a
thousand active accounts (paint stores). If I ran a printout of what we sold in just Wooster, their would be at least a 100 items that we as a distributor sell less than 12 to 24 pieces per year. I have customers
that only buy a particular Wooster item and no one else does. My stores ask me to order something for them and I am happy to, in most cases I can get them the item within a week. But for me to justify stocking it, I have to have several dealers asking for it.
Paint stores are the same way, only on a much smaller scale. They will always keep their "A" items in stock. They will order other things from their distributor as they are asked for them. What usually
happens though is the store will bring an item in and then the contractor who wanted it stops buying it.
They are then stuck with an item no one wants. That has happened to us hundreds of times.
A recent example involved a special respirator from 3M. Some government program for low income people
gave them a voucher they could take to their local paint store and buy the paint and supplies they
needed to complete the job. Contractors also were included when larger jobs were done.
Due to the fear of lead based paint, they had to buy this respirator, which was almost $12.00 retail
for 1 paper mask. We were selling 200-300 per month at all the stores in our area. We were keeping that many on hand also.
The government then decided that a much cheaper respirator would do and they would no longer pay
for the more expensive one. We now have over 200 of these we have been unable to sell, plus our store are stuck with that many also. Your independent paint store can't afford to stock items someone
"might come in and buy"
Even sherwin Williams limits the types of items they allow their store to stock. A former SW manager
who is now a product rep. told me that if they bring in an item and it is not sold within 60 to 90
days, the value of it goes to zero and the loss is taken out of the stores bonus. They can't even
order something unless they have a firm order from a contractor. I have even heard they limit the
amount of product they keep at a store. They usually have a larger "warehouse retail store" that
keeps paint and supplies that are either delivered to you guys or to another store daily.
Now SW owns Purdy and Bestt Liebco, so the chance of you seeing Wooster items on a store shelf
are nil to none.
The suggestion I have for you all is to contact the painter forum store on this site and see if they can get these items for you. Wooster makes 12 and 14" roller covers several people on this thread have asked about. The forum is a great FREE resource, but I am willing to bet the monthly expenses to keep it going are not. Support the forum store, as they have supported you all.