When I was at D23 last September, I decided I would take some time at the Disneyland Resort to shoot some pictures.
I’m always in need of photos and, since I live here in Orlando, it’s difficult to get what I’m looking for. In the day and a half of shooting, I took some 1,500 photos. Needless to say that by midway through Day one, I was not only out of power on my iPhone, but on my Kodak camera as well.
I took some shots of the big city:
I took pictures of the native vegetation:
Grabbed some shots of the locals hanging out:
And like any Disney insider, I had to shoot some pictures of ongoing construction at Disneyland:
My wife Kathy offered to get some batteries for me, and stepped to the nearest store in Disneyland. She asked for lithium batteries, but was told they were out of them. He suggested that she head over to the Kodak store on the corner of Main Street. She got over there and inquired. Again, she was told that they were out of batteries. Before she could even inquire about other stores on property, the cast member explained that they were out of lithium batteries company-wide but the best place to get batteries was at a camera shop on the corner of Harbor Boulevard. For clarification she added, “Well, how about Downtown Disney. Would they have any?”
He restated the directions to the camera shop off-property.
She proceeded down Main Street heading for the gate. She paused and considered formally asking at Guest Relations. But she saw the line there, and decided instead just to check the small corner gift shop near the turnstiles. “No we don’t have them. Let me call the photo shop.”
“Never mind,” Kathy said, “I’ve already been down that road.”
After finding me, she told me she was headed off to Harbor Boulevard to get batteries. I was incredulous. No batteries at Disneyland? No batteries at Disney’s California Adventure? None at Downtown Disney? Not even at the hotels? I’m no expert on supply management, but I was blown away, not just by the unavailability, but by the casual manner in which the cast members re-directed the Guests off property when they were out of something.
Kathy took off to Harbor Boulevard to buy batteries. I stayed to continue shooting with my iPhone.
Sometime later Kathy returned with batteries. She shared with me her experience. When she got there she found a small little retail outlet run by an elderly man. She asked for lithium batteries. He quickly brought some to the register. She explained that she had asked for batteries at Disneyland but was told that none of the shops at the parks had any.
Joking, she said, “This might be a good time to double your price on lithium batteries.”
He responded, “The price is always the same.”
He said that he had owned this little shop for 20 years.
“I stock anything that anyone would ever need for their camera,” he explained.
He added that the folks at Disney know that if they are out of supplies for a camera always send the tourists to me.
Yes, believe it or not you’re more likely to find batteries here than in all of the stores at Disneyland, combined! Photo by Jeff Kober.
I’ve since thought about how it was that Disneyland couldn’t have a lithium battery to sell in their entire resort, but this small kiosk had one. Clearly, this isn’t the first time this has happened. I’m certain that it won’t be the last. In the quest for operational excellence, you have to have a strong supply and demand-driven chain that is focused on anticipating and meeting the needs of customers and employees. I couldn’t help but imagine the effects of not having your supply and demand-driven chain intact:
1. First and foremost, park guests who are frustrated that the important pictures they want to take in the park may not be taken at all. Imagine, it was your dad’s birthday, and you came on the promotion. Or suppose it was your daughter dressed up like Sleeping Beauty wanting to get a photo with the princess.
2. The loss of employee engagement. Any employee worth his or her weight will deal with being temporarily out of batteries. It’s another matter when it’s ongoing, or when they can’t provide an easy solution, like sending them across Main Street. You can’t help but think that after a while dealing with disappointed customers doesn’t drag on employee morale.
3. Park sponsors such as Kodak. I’d be ticked if I were Kodak. You certainly can’t be helping new camera sales if you can’t provide a battery to them. Even if batteries have nothing to do with Kodak’s product offering, it has to paint a poor light on their image, especially since their name is above the store on Main Street.
Well, there’s one person who has benefited from all of this: The kiosk owner on Harbor Boulevard. Perhaps Disney should hire him to be responsible for supply chain management.
Any rate, these articles aren’t about Disney. As incredulous as this example is, we all do the same thing. We must understand our customers, anticipate their needs, and meet them.
In the mean time, stock up next time you head out to Disneyland. Or, be sure to say hi to the kind business owner at the camera shop on Harbor.
