Ummm...because I order 8-10 rolls a week and they are about $30 per roll less than anybody who delivers. I can order today and UPS will have it (or half of it anyway) at the shop the next day. My delivery suppliers carry, at most, two brands of vinyl. My "shipper" supplier carries 8 and almost always has the colors I need in stock. My delivery guys only come on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If I run out of a color too late Wednesday to get it on the Thursday truck I'd have to wait until the following Tuesday to get it.
Do I need to keep going?
I called them and told them the problem....again. I also called the warehouse manager, the inside sales rep and my outside sales rep. they are supposedly going to start shipping the boxes taped together.
I totally agree with you there. I like to support local business as much as the next guy, but I'm in a small town. Our nearest supplier is 2 hours away and also only carries 2 brands, Oracal, and Arlon, and I think they might carry some 3M digital film. The prices are much higher as well. The only real convenience is if you need one yard of this and 3 yards of that and don't want a bunch of left over material. But they can only get to us once a week, so again, not the most convenient. And a yard of Oracal 651, if I'm not mistaken is almost $7 a yard if you only buy one yard.
I do like the local supplier in a tight pinch if I need something NOW. I can drive there in a couple hours and get what I need and only blow half the day on my "field trip" to the supply warehouse. I'm like a kid in a candy store in that place. I wish I had half that inventory in my
sign shop. I'd probably never leave work. Always a project....