MEGATHREAD 2018-2019 Store Modernization Megathread

[Ahem]

Honestly, we’re looking at team members to have the level of investment TLs had 10 years ago. But we’re also paying them more than we were paying TLs 10 years ago.

Not really. Gotta account for inflation. $12 in 2008 is $13.88 now. And I think starting tl pay wasn't even $12 then.


I don't hate the idea of end to end, but in my store they aren't staffing, scheduling or training sufficiently to make the whole shebang work. A&A still isn't even fully end to end in my store and it's impossible af. There were like 20 carts of unsorted and push, and a million z-racks chilling in the vicinity of the fitting room on like a tuesday this week. Then there were probaby carts and Zs staged in other depts too. I think if they can ever cultivate a strong team, and leadership that knows how to train and staff, it'll be fine.

I still think the new titles are dumb af. The team thing was corny, but the hierarchy was easier to understand imo.

 

[Formina Sage]

I think we can survive without plano. Instead of setting 8 housewares/toys/storage/domestics.... salesplanners, you set 32' of inline. All have backer paper, fixtures, and so on. The team is not as critical as they are being made out.

Did you get your heart broken by a Plano TL or something? You seem really salty about Plano

 

[sigma7]

Not really. Gotta account for inflation. $12 in 2008 is $13.88 now. And I think starting tl pay wasn't even $12 then.

I made $10.00 as a TL in 2009.

 

[Dplymkr88]

Yeah read my posts and you will see that to be successful we had to completely reallocate hours. We no longer have a pog team (they still all come back together to assist with big sets). But we literally rewrite workcenter schedules from top to bottom with hours redistributed for each workcenter by me (HR) and my STL based off sales mix, workload, group standards, brand minimums, past learnings, upcoming events and holidays, etc. I’m not asking anyone to do 40 hours of work in 15. I’m asking TMs to deliver results in their department while they’re there...and I’ve already said that a majority of my team is getting 30+ if they want it.
We absorbed all of flow into sales floor except for the actual unload. They’re now the morning sales floor team. So they still are the ones stocking truck, but they’re expected to get their zone done, outs shot/pulled/worked, then push truck freight, backstock, investigate remaining outs, and zone throughout their shift. Most TMs scheduled for 6-8 hours most days. Non truck days have less coverage, but same idea. Stores modernization entails a different operating model than the one that all our current best practices you can find for reference.

This person loves the Kool Aid.

 

[skrepo1977]

I made $10.00 as a TL in 2009.

It depends on where you live too and whether you are in a region that is close to a Walmart. I had a team member in 2010 that moved from California to Nebraska through transfer and they absolutely refused to pay her what she was paid in California. The difference was $4.

 

[Ahem]

I made $10.00 as a TL in 2009.

that's 11.61 in 2018 dollars, so we will **beat your 2009 wage soon.

**yes, I know hours/benefits won't be comparable.

 

[Kartman]

I always say it in my head as ass-plunder

Seeing as how I was working for them, I truly was an Asplunder.

 

[Targetelect]

Why? Experience > Seniority.

Because I've worked in electronics for that entire time. So, I know for a fact that I am more knowledgeable about the department and our products more then the kid from fye does.

 

[Targetelect]

What I'm saying is this. A person whom worked at fye being called an expert in electronics over the person who had been there for multiple years is nonsense to me. Being there for 3 years has given me experience with electronics and what not. Working at fye, that sells dvds, pops, and music doesn't mean you know more about tv's or iPad or sound systems then the person that has been with that stuff for many years.

 

[Rarejem]

What I'm saying is this. A person whom worked at fye being called an expert in electronics over the person who had been there for multiple years is nonsense to me. Being there for 3 years has given me experience with electronics and what not. Working at fye, that sells dvds, pops, and music doesn't mean you know more about tv's or iPad or sound systems then the person that has been with that stuff for many years.

Back in the day I was the electronics specialist. If one does their "homework" and works with the vendors, it's easy to be an "expert". I don't think that time in the department means much in electronics. It's more important to be up to date with current technology.

 

[RhettB]

Did you get your heart broken by a Plano TL or something? You seem really salty about Plano

I don't think they are as integral as many of you think they are. Salesfloor can do the job. They basically are. Just in 3' or 4' sections at a time. Not hard to comprehend.

 

[skrepo1977]

I get it. I was a TM when we had start rate increases and I got no benefit after being told Target was going to take care of us. I also work 50 hours/wk at a minimum and usually closer to 60. I get no OT, so yeah a bonus is nice, but I made more in OT as a TL. I haven’t gotten pay increases when TM pay has increased. A large percent of my team has benefited from these raises. I’ve actually doled out $2 pay raises as an ETL-HR and had those TMs still not think they’re getting a fair raise ($2 at 40 hours is roughly 4K/yr which is what these people would’ve been getting...meanwhile my last raise wasn’t anywhere close to 4K).

Yeah...new TMs will be starting $15 in 2020, which might be at the same pay rate as someone who’s been there for 15 years. Do I think it’s right? No. But do I think all our current team members should make more than the base rate if they’re not willing to do the extra work? Also no. I think the way we do base pay increases leaves something to be desired, but no one is taking pay from anyone unless they are demoting.

There are too many leaders who aren’t holding their teams accountable and managing poor performers. What chaps my hide is terrible team members making the new base and not being far behind TMs who’ve earned their merit raises. I have very mixed feelings about start rate increases, but honestly it’s just part of the game and it has been for at least the 10 years I’ve worked for Target. So it’s honestly something that I had to get over a long time ago.

Jobs I had before target didn’t even do merit raises...so you got what you got. End of story. So at least Target employees can expect some sort of annual raise. And I hope it’s not earth shattering for me to say that in my 10 years with Target, the substantial pay increases have always come with promotions, not from annual merit raises. Ain’t nobody shouting hallelujah for a 23 cent raise. And I’ve gotten those wonderful 17 cent raises in the past too.

All I’m saying is that these changes can make a store run really smoothly and increase sales. Again, my team is getting the hours they want/need and the morale is better. We’re increasing sales and guest survey scores and the team is happier about what they do. And as the pay increases the expectations increase too. We parted ways with some long term TMs and leads because they didn’t want to adapt. But we all as a store had to realize that if we wanted to stay working that we had to adapt, and those unwilling to adapt couldn’t be the reason we weren’t going to be successful with rollouts. It’s not an easy road, but it’s worth it.

Sorry for the novel.

Just out of curiosity how closely do you follow the allocation of hours given to you by corporate. Did you overspend at first when you implemented these changes over time? Did you have an STL that went to bat for more hours within the district by providing metrics that proved that these changes were net positive aka comp%? I believe modernization can work but like with my situation in market, not enough people to do the job. My STL's expectations are borderline wacky and I am lucky if I am getting 250 hours a week in my workcenter. My STL expects the "expert" montage with every guest to almost fanatical level. Nice person but dumb as rocks in regards to reality. We are doing 10% over comp and my entire store is somewhere around 14% but yet no added hours for this increase in sales.

 

[skrepo1977]

Can anyone imagine a store that doesn’t use shopping carts for TMs or breakout repacks (other than softlines and combos) being successful? That’s my group. We don’t use shopping carts. The team hated it at first, but it’s so much better now. It drives me crazy to see stray carts or cardboard carts or freight carts just sitting around stores now.

How many smart karts(tri-levels), two level tubs, open tubs, and flats do you have? For tri-levels at my store there seems to be an insane amount for SFS but anywhere else there is stray here and there

 

[skrepo1977]

I don't think they are as integral as many of you think they are. Salesfloor can do the job. They basically are. Just in 3' or 4' sections at a time. Not hard to comprehend.

That is a lot of four foot sections, along with pulling, pushing, researching the salesfloor with corrected SFQ, and backstocking that you are talking about. Not hard to comprehend but a four hour reset, for example, cannot sacrifice for four hours of pushing that could be occurring. Often times with myTime additional people are not added when these tasks need to be done just simply tasked to a person who would otherwise be doing something else on that day. Same number of people working regardless if it is inventory, a reset, etc. I find it funny that only additional hours are allocated when either a DTL is coming to visit or Cornell himself is springing by. The last though usually involves ETLs throughout the district coming by to assist.

 

[skrepo1977]

Yeah read my posts and you will see that to be successful we had to completely reallocate hours. We no longer have a pog team (they still all come back together to assist with big sets). But we literally rewrite workcenter schedules from top to bottom with hours redistributed for each workcenter by me (HR) and my STL based off sales mix, workload, group standards, brand minimums, past learnings, upcoming events and holidays, etc. I’m not asking anyone to do 40 hours of work in 15. I’m asking TMs to deliver results in their department while they’re there...and I’ve already said that a majority of my team is getting 30+ if they want it.
We absorbed all of flow into sales floor except for the actual unload. They’re now the morning sales floor team. So they still are the ones stocking truck, but they’re expected to get their zone done, outs shot/pulled/worked, then push truck freight, backstock, investigate remaining outs, and zone throughout their shift. Most TMs scheduled for 6-8 hours most days. Non truck days have less coverage, but same idea. Stores modernization entails a different operating model than the one that all our current best practices you can find for reference.

Roughly, without being too specific that it compromises your identity, how much did your store make in sales last fiscal year?

 

[RhettB]

That is a lot of four foot sections, along with pulling, pushing, researching the salesfloor with corrected SFQ, and backstocking that you are talking about. Not hard to comprehend but a four hour reset, for example, cannot sacrifice for four hours of pushing that could be occurring. Often times with myTime additional people are not added when these tasks need to be done just simply tasked to a person who would otherwise be doing something else on that day. Same number of people working regardless if it is inventory, a reset, etc. I find it funny that only additional hours are allocated when either a DTL is coming to visit or Cornell himself is springing by. The last though usually involves ETLs throughout the district coming by to assist.

I pull most of my sales plan batches, rsch, sfq.. its all time consuming. Plus re-work old product to its home location. One aspect not involved in regular pogs. Plus I have to find room for the clearance and d-code. Plano just carts it and moves on.

 

[SrTLall]

Headcounts have posted and this is my favorite so far. One leader.

This is the low volume model, which is what stores under 27M will be using. There are quite a few stores under 27M that are not ULV that will be using this. The only thing I see missing here is a Food Lead, which would adjust the lead count to 11. Another thing that stands out is there will be two GSTLs (ancient lingo) instead of one. Although stores of this volume will lose one ETL (I'm not taking HR into consideration), they will gain 3 TLs. As far as the 1 leader, in low volume models, several of the Leads report directly to the Store Director.

 

[sigma7]

This person loves the Kool Aid.

Thanks for the constructive comment.

Just out of curiosity how closely do you follow the allocation of hours given to you by corporate. Did you overspend at first when you implemented these changes over time? Did you have an STL that went to bat for more hours within the district by providing metrics that proved that these changes were net positive aka comp%? I believe modernization can work but like with my situation in market, not enough people to do the job. My STL's expectations are borderline wacky and I am lucky if I am getting 250 hours a week in my workcenter. My STL expects the "expert" montage with every guest to almost fanatical level. Nice person but dumb as rocks in regards to reality. We are doing 10% over comp and my entire store is somewhere around 14% but yet no added hours for this increase in sales.

We stay true to our plan hours, but no workcenter is getting what myTime gives to them. Some get way more, some get way less. But we’ve found places in the store for all our TMs to get the hours they desire.

How many smart karts(tri-levels), two level tubs, open tubs, and flats do you have? For tri-levels at my store there seems to be an insane amount for SFS but anywhere else there is stray here and there

Altoghter it was like 170 vehicles including uboats. We didn’t think it was that many, but we found a ton once we quit leaving backstock and “staging” things to “take care of later” not knowing when later was.

Roughly, without being too specific that it compromises your identity, how much did your store make in sales last fiscal year?

Around 60 million. But keep in mind that I’m in a super and our productivity has historically been forecasted 10-20% higher than company average. So we were working off the same hours that a nearby PFresh was getting plus a few hundred a week.

 

[Times Up]

This is the low volume model, which is what stores under 27M will be using. There are quite a few stores under 27M that are not ULV that will be using this. The only thing I see missing here is a Food Lead, which would adjust the lead count to 11. Another thing that stands out is there will be two GSTLs (ancient lingo) instead of one. Although stores of this volume will lose one ETL (I'm not taking HR into consideration), they will gain 3 TLs. As far as the 1 leader, in low volume models, several of the Leads report directly to the Store Director.

What is the breakdown for sales to classify a store? Below 27M is low...
There's going to be 3 levels going forward?

 

[Thunderbird1956]

I think we can survive without plano. Instead of setting 8 housewares/toys/storage/domestics.... salesplanners, you set 32' of inline. All have backer paper, fixtures, and so on. The team is not as critical as they are being made out.

Of the 3 stores I've been at usually it's only one TL that sets the sales planners correctly. Sure the concept is the same, but there are a lot of shortcuts that get used because it's up for such a short period of time. Those won't work on a large scale. That's why POG going away is concerning.

 

[theissueoftissue]

This is the low volume model, which is what stores under 27M will be using. There are quite a few stores under 27M that are not ULV that will be using this. The only thing I see missing here is a Food Lead, which would adjust the lead count to 11. Another thing that stands out is there will be two GSTLs (ancient lingo) instead of one. Although stores of this volume will lose one ETL (I'm not taking HR into consideration), they will gain 3 TLs. As far as the 1 leader, in low volume models, several of the Leads report directly to the Store Director.

No PML?

 

[hufflepuff]

There are plano and e2e teams that actually update their sfq? Lol. I could only dream.

 

[oath2order]

I think we can survive without plano. Instead of setting 8 housewares/toys/storage/domestics.... salesplanners, you set 32' of inline. All have backer paper, fixtures, and so on. The team is not as critical as they are being made out.

Yeah okay you come back in a year and tell me how "not-critical" the plano team is when your store team has missed the past two resets in beauty and nobody can figure out where all this product goes. Or tell me how you feel when y'all get yelled at because nobody is organizing the signing for each set and now ODL has no price tags.

Or tell me how "not-critical" they are when you have literally everybody going in the fixture room and it's an apocalyptic mess that nobody's going to clean up.

 

[Targetelect]

Back in the day I was the electronics specialist. If one does their "homework" and works with the vendors, it's easy to be an "expert". I don't think that time in the department means much in electronics. It's more important to be up to date with current technology.

In that case, base the expert thing off of the questions they ask us

 

[oath2order]

I want to know if Target thinks it can last another 5.10,15 years making stupid changes like this.
End 2 end was a pretty spectacular failure. In my store electronics, beauty, and market were all e2e as of this past week when I left. And the brla was terrible in those 3 departments. One week the market team had 333 errors. The rest of the backroom had 6.
Eliminating the backroom might be the dumbest thing I've heard well it was until I heard about getting rid of price/plano.
There are some team members that are a lot better at logistics than they are at guest service.
This seems like a restaurant getting rid of dishwashers because everyone should wash their own dishes after use. That would fail in about 8 seconds flat

You're right. I keep forgetting that E2E fell flat and was somewhat implemented everywhere. I expect headcounts to be nuked company wide but as per usual, I expect planogram team to survive.