So, yeah, as far as I can tell, this seems to be a Liquid bug or error. Some have noted that pickup needs to be enabled for all locations for it to work, whereas others have said that this doesn’t work even when they are enabled. I will investigate further and get back to you if I figure anything out.
Topic summary
Goal: show variant inventory by location on product pages. Constraint: Shopify’s Liquid can’t access per‑location inventory levels—only total variant inventory—so theme code alone can’t display quantities per location.
variant.store_availabilities: returns whether a variant is stocked for pickup at locations (not quantities). It requires variant.selected (via URL param) and typically pickup enabled; several users report it returns nothing or only the first location, suggesting a Liquid bug. One user notes pickup requires enabling multi‑origin shipping, which is irreversible, causing hesitation.
Observed behavior: inventory data in Liquid reflects only the first location with pickup enabled; other locations without pickup don’t appear, despite correct inventory in Admin.
Workarounds/apps suggested: Product Inventory Information, Stofind, Location Inventory Info (all with trials); MetaStock to let customers select a store and see location‑specific availability; Arigato Automation Flow to tag products and add metadata for per‑location stock. Feedback flags app limitations (cart pickup validation and limited text customization).
Open items: filtering products by location availability; ensuring cart checkout limitations when items aren’t available for pickup at a single location. No definitive theme-based solution; investigation into Liquid behavior is ongoing.