When retailers like Walmart dropped Paula Deen in the midst of the controversy surrounding her use of racially-charged language, it’s not like there was a ginormous magnet that could snag all her products from shelves and whisk them away like magic. Because while Walmart announced back in June that it wouldn’t place any new orders for her branded merchandise, it still has a bunch to get rid of already in stock.

Walmart says it expects Deen’s branded cookware will sit on shelves through the end of the year, as there are still remnants of her product line in its supply pipeline, reports the Associated Press.

A spokesman says it’ll take three more months to work through that remainder, with at least some items selling for discounted prices.

Meanwhile, another report from Bloomberg says the company is cutting orders with suppliers this quarter and the next, because it’s just got too much stuff pilling up in its inventory.

An ordering manager at the company’s Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters wrote in an email to a supplier: “We are looking at reducing inventory for Q3 and Q4.”

The glut of merchandise is perhaps due to shoppers not shopping at the store as much as it had projected, combined with a dearth of employees needed to keep the shelves stocked. The pullback on inventory will be happening “category by category” says Walmart, instead of in every department.

“We are managing our inventory appropriately,” Walmart spokesman, said today. “We feel good about our inventory position.”

Walmart Stores Still Stocking Paula Deen Items [Associated Press]
Wal-Mart Cutting Orders as Unsold Merchandise Piles Up [Bloomberg]

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