I think that retailers/trade outlets etc are going to steer us more in the direction of substitutes that they want to sell us, rather than what we want to buy. And as many tilers here have found out, many such substitutes (from B&Q etc are not suitable)
Brother in Law works in the city for a firm of private equity investors. He provided me with some interesting anecdotal info here.
His job is to find and or assess companies for investment and professional help to help them develop a product or focus on different markets - a bit of a Dragons Den if you like. As a result he sits on boards of several companies who have his employer's funds invested in them.
Now, I am particularly keen on a product that is sold in electrical outlets, but I had never seen them in DIY stores etc. It is a box with a snap down lid that houses choc block connectors.
The inventor, who's company sells these things through trade outlets appeared on Dragons Den asking for financial backing and help to break into the retail market. (B&Q etc). The advantage of these over junction boxes is that you can determinehow many connections you have rather than rely on the 3 or 4 that JBs provide, plus they are easier to work with.
He got his funding of £100k for some 30% stake in his company from two investors.
I would have thought that a product that had found favour within the trade would have been welcomed in retail outlets. So why, I thought, is he asking for help to sell a proven product into another market?
According to my BiL, not necessarily so.
Retailers don't stock stuff on the basis of their customers asking for it, instead they stock lines on the basis of how well it sells, and how much shelf space it takes up.
Whether it's actually any use to the consumer when he gets it home seems to be of little consequence.
Since that conversation I have seen more product line consolidation, standardisation and a severe restriction of good quality trade merchandise (building materials, tile adhesive etc) in DIY sheds.
As an ex manufacturing engineer I have seen standardisation on the production line over the last 20 years or so. TBH it's been going on much longer than that, but the 1980s and the era of the early PCs have imroved our ability to standardise. Also the last recession made it a must to stay competitive.
More recently I have seen a thinning out in ranges held by both DIY stores and merchants. Travis Perkins don't hold tubs of ready mix plaster any more. Essential for repairing a wall after chasing a cable to a new light switch. "Our customers just mix up a bit of One Coat" came the reply. Well I don't carry One Coat, I don't have a need for it and buying a 25Kg bag to do one cable - I don't think so. Fortunately Focus, who rarely stock anything of any use, had some Knauf DIY readymix in a tub.
The specialist tile centres stock several types of adhesive, grout, silicone etc. Yet the Likes of Travis Perkins, Jewsons, B&Q, Focus, Homebase etc will tell you that they stock everything you'll need. In fact they have generic products that were designed for one use, and some clever marketing boff has decided to market them for other uses, a great many of which the products are clearly not suitable for.
Tilers here will know of several examples of such products - adhesives and especially grouts often fall into that category. How many DIYers have gone for the cheapest 'waterproof' grout on the shelf in focus? I know I have before I knew better! I chucked out 2 of them at £8 each because they were simply useless. I kept them for doing small tiling jobs, but I spent more time putting right the mess with the grout.
Another, more acute example of this was the 1100 shower tray and screen my client bought that I fitted the other day.
I made the opening 1100mm exactly, fitted the shower tray (tight fit but it went in there, just), tiled then fitted the screen.
The shower is walled on 3 sides so we just needed a single screen with sliding door.
Now you'd have thought that an 1100 shower screed would be a comfortable fit, some slack to accommodate different tile thicknesses and wall angles etc.
Well sorry to disappoint. There was plenty of slack. Despite my fitting 9mm tiles the unit was only just big enough to fill the gap. To my mind they should have made the unit about an inch wider and it would have had plenty of overlap into the rails on the side and I may not have had to seal between the rails and the screen.
The clue to this clever design was in the box that the unit came in. The instructions were for a corner unit, and included the fitting of the side panel, which the client didn't order as he clicked on the item that said "1100mm tray with single screen/door".
As most of you will know an external corner of a corner screen sits some 20 to 25mm inside the tray, and thus there is the need for adjustement etc. Well with this set up the client was understandably keen on having the screen span the whole of the opening, not ending some 20mm short of one side.
Standardisation takes the credit for this. "Lets make several products out of a handful of 'one size fits all' bits" said the clever marketing director.
Another example, which should put the cat amongst the pigeons - Impey tell me that their formers are suitable for concrete floors. Having looked at fitting guides and spoken to Wetdec it seems apparent that they were designed for timber floors. However, Impey are actively marketing them as a 'one size fits all' solution. Wet dec, I believe, stocks two that are designed for concrete floors.
In the next few months we will see a thinning out of product lines in the likes of Topps tiles. Specialist adhesives and grouts will become obselete, a few of you will lose your favourites on the basis that these products don't sell and that manufacturers want to grab a bigger share of the market they are good at.
DIYers and some tradesmen will continue to be fobbed off with products that are clearly unsuitable for their needs. And as a result it will cost us money. Unless people do what I do and complain that a product has been missold if I buy it on the advice of a sales assistant, and demand my money back, it is poor joe public that are going to carry the retail industry through this recession by being fobbed off with goods that are wasted.
It's as simple as that folks - you have been warned.
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Re: Has anyone else had trouble with Topps lately 
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