A surgical stapling device having a removable staple cartridge is disclosed. The cartridge includes a first opening in the staple-forming end of the housing member to allow access to the a staple and an aligned second opening to allow the lead staple to move therethrough. The staple cartridge also comprises a fixed blocking surface on the housing member and a traveling blocking surface on a feeder shoe. The traveling blocking surface is sized so that the feeder shoe moves relative to the fixed blocking surface while moving the staple. The feeder shoe is further shaped so that, when the trigger member is actuated when no staples remain in the staple cartridge, the staple former is not blocked by the feeder shoe.