Originally Posted By EdisYoda <<Corporations that not only have zero loyalty to their employees, but actually work actively to damage them. All the while saying with a smile how valued they are to the company.>> Sears just recently redid their phone systems. When you call a store, you don't actually talk to the store, you talk to a call center in a country we can't figure out. When you ask for a specific employee, they'll tell you they don't work there and try to sell you the item over the phone, cutting out the in store sales associate. The only way to call directly to a store is to know a number that doesn't re-connect to that call center. And Sears wonders why their customer service sucks!
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << And Sears wonders why their customer service sucks! >> I never understand what happened to Sears. They were the predominate catalog company in the world -- they should have been tailor-made to become an online retailer. They totally dropped the ball.
Originally Posted By jonvn I was just in a Sears the other day (same day I was at the Disney store, they are both in the mall). What a disaster of a store this is now. Boxes piled up everywhere, a self serve shoe department filled with debris, and just not clean looking. KMart ruined everything about them that was left. Every time I go into the place, it gets just that much worse.
Originally Posted By EdisYoda <<KMart ruined everything about them that was left.>> DING DING DING Give the man a cigar! It boils down to the chief stock holder Eddie Lambert doing everything to boost his profits on the short term, with the ultimate goal of closing down all the stores. The plan is to make Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances available for sale in any store (Home Depot, Lowes, Best Buy), so the two remaining things that brings customers into Sears will no longer be exclusive to Sears, so why keep the stores open as customers will plummet.
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF >>The only way to call directly to a store is to know a number that doesn't re-connect to that call center.<< Yep. When we bought our stove a couple weeks ago, the sales associate told us about it, rolling her eyes as she did. She gave us the direct number to the department in case we had a problem.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA And it happens to other stores too -- ones you wouldn't really expect. I was in Macy's trying on clothes. They've recently upgraded their dressing rooms, and have a nice waiting area with a TV and comfortable seats -- it's nice for the people waiting for you. So, I walk in to the entrance to the Men's dressing rooms, they have a small alcove where 'go backs' are designed to be. 'Go backs' -- if you try someting on, you would place it on this table, and the store associates, over the course of the day, take those items that 'go back' into the store. There was a pile of clothing -- mostly men's pants -- that I kid you not, was 6 feet high. There must have been 300 pieces of clothing in this pile. It just looked so incredibly tacky. I expect more from Macy's. Sadly, I think they'll end up becoming another Robinsons-May, Bullock's, or The Broadway. Just junky department stores. As it turned out, I was buying Levi 501s. They didn't have my size, so I went to JCPenney, found them there, and paid $5 less. I think JCPenney has improved over the past 15 years.
Originally Posted By jonvn I was in a Penney's recently, and it looks a lot like Mervyn's. Quite a step down.
Originally Posted By planodisney There is no denying that retail is realy struggling. I never thought The Bombay Company would close up shop.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "There was a pile of clothing -- mostly men's pants -- that I kid you not, was 6 feet high. There must have been 300 pieces of clothing in this pile. It just looked so incredibly tacky. I expect more from Macy's. Sadly, I think they'll end up becoming another Robinsons-May, Bullock's, or The Broadway. Just junky department stores." I worked in loss prevention for the Broadway from 1978 to 1994. For my last several years, I did internal investigations. I caught executives and other security people who stole from the company. Broadway went BK in 1991, and by 1996 they were no more. Sam Zell, the same guy who just bought the Chicago Tribune and all its accessories a while ago, bought Carter Hawley Hale, the Broadway's parent company. He sold off a lot of brick and mortar, then sold the rest to Federated, Macy's parent. Macy's ditched the Broadway name and put theirs on the door. They eventually did the same to Robinson's and the May Company, who had earlier merged to form Robinson's-May. They also cannibalized Bullock's. The point here I guess is Macy's has no incentive to be anything better than what they are today because they've swallowed up the competition. "Go backs" is a term that originated with Target way back when, and I should know because I worked there from 1994 to 2000 while I was in law school. If Macy's is adopting Target terms and practices, then yeah, they'll continue to decrease in quality. They've never pretended to compete with the Nordstroms of the world.
Originally Posted By Mr X Sharper Image is one of those stores I've always gone into when I saw one, but NEVER bought anything. I always wondered who the heck bought all that overpriced junk. I mean, sure they're fun toys, but frankly if you've got the bucks to waste on stuff like THAT you should probably be donating more money to charity!
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <who had earlier merged to form Robinson's-May.> I worked corporate offices of May Company 1991-1994, and was there for the merge with Robinson's to become Robinsons-May. It was one of the worst experiences I've ever had in my corporate life. Absolutely oppressive, with some of the worst people I've ever worked along side. Just horrible.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< I never understand what happened to Sears. They were the predominate catalog company in the world -- they should have been tailor-made to become an online retailer. They totally dropped the ball. >>> I'll give you one example. Maybe around 1991 I had a Sears vacuum, and needed to get more bags. I usually just got them at the Sears store in person when I happened to be at the mall. Then the light went off in my head: "Oh, Sears has a catalog!" So I call them and tell them what I need. They indeed carried a full line of vacuums and accessories, and in fact they were probably the same ones as found in the store. But, they had completely different part numbers and they had no way to cross-reference the two. So, accessories for items purchased in the store could not be ordered from the catalog division in any sensible way. Ridiculous.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Kmart has been terrible for years. I find it to be right on par with Wal-Mart, a store which I absolutely refuse to go in to.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA PacSun is another store that is having trouble. They're shuttering a good percentage of PacSun tores, along with their other store DEMO -- which features more urban fashions.
Originally Posted By EdisYoda <<PacSun is another store that is having trouble. They're shuttering a good percentage of PacSun>> Interesting, this is one store not closing in our mall. In fact, they're remodeling it. Due to re-open in a week or two.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice All of the Rite-Aid stores in So. NV are closing... transferred their prescription customers to Walgreen's a few weeks ago. Speaking of Macy's... I went to a baby shower in a restaurant at the Fashion Show Mall here on Saturday and passed Macy's. They are have a "Selling the Store Bare" sale. I noticed that the display cases near the entrance were already bare. Don't know if the store was closing, but it sure looked like it. Also, Macy's stores here were formerly "The Broadway." Except, maybe, for the one in the Fashion Show Mall... I think the center was built after Broadway had already shut down.
