26" wiper blades suddenly vanished

[Bailey28]

Stopped by our local Ollies discount store where they have half an aisle of windshield wipers in stock. Brands from Trico, Michelin, Pylon, Simonize etc. They have had a large number of 26" blades to choose from and have never been out of stock until today. No 26" wipers in any brand. Tons of all other sizes.

Most of the cars we own have the 26" size on the driver's side. I am thinking it is a common size.... Maybe someone with an auto shop or a hoarder cleaned them out.

 

[The_Jeff]

If Ollie's only buys surplus stuff whomever they get their blades from guessed accurately on how many to make, and sold them for full price somewhere else.

 

[Bailey28]

I guess they just figured this out then, the store has been there over 5 years and they have never been out of 26" wiper blades.

 

[SC Maintenance]

The clerk saw you coming and hid them all on you as a funny.

Did you look for candid camera’s?

 

[Jimmy_Russells]

Sources tell me that all 26" wiper blades ship through the Strait of Hormuz.

 

[bdcardinal]

Probably related to the First Brands thing.

 

[mclasser]

I've been to multiple Walmarts and noticed a lot of wiper blades are out of stock.

 

[Escape08]

More likely listed on eBay

 

[charbaby]

I buy blades at OLLIE's as well.
I've had vehicles with longer wiper blades(such as 26"-28") and when I can't get them, I just use a 1" or 2" shorter blade. No big deal!
You're never going to notice the difference. If you put on a 24" blade, you're only losing 1" at the top & 1" at the bottom where you don't focus anyway. The vehicle MFG typically put on the longest blade that will not overlap so, you can't go with a longer blade. But you can certainly go shorter! I've been doing this for decades on vehicles without issue.

 

[Kira]

Is 26" an odd size at all?
If 26" is a common size to be paired with a, say, a 28" blade, you may find releif with the pre-paired kits (get it?) containing two blades.
When I get back in the car (tomorrow) I will cruise the wiper blade sections near me.

 

[D60]

Yep just run a 24" and don't think about it. You'll never know.

I agree it's strange and I also thought it may very well be First Brands related

 

[zzyzzx]

Ollies isn't always going to have every size. Just use a 25" wiper blade instead (if they have it).

 

[CR94]

Ollies here has been sold out 26" for at least a couple of years. I've substituted 28", which (contrary to charbaby) doesn't interfere with anything. A 24" would likely be short-lived, due to higher force per unit length.