Boy, has my Target gone downhill

PullMonkey

PullMonkey

Ex-Backroom Badass
Joined
Dec 27, 2014
Messages
637
It's been... 8 years since I worked for Target. My store had its quirks like any other, but it was decent. Team was good, leadership was good and (mostly) in touch, it was a good place to work.

I remember my last Christmas with them. Weekend prior, registers stacked, GSA and GSTL both on shift, frontend running like a well oiled machine.

I popped into my old store last night to grab a few things and... wow. Line stretching back around softlines to electronics, two cashiers, and self checkout closed. Everyone looked stressed and upset.

Obviously the entire retail landscape has changed and Target isn't the only one, but it was kinda depressing to see.
 
At 830pm at my nearby store (not any of my previous stores) watched the last cashier turn off their light leaving only 4 SCO left. I was about 5 back when I walked up. When I finally got to a SCO, I looked back to see the line had grown down the runway to cosmetics/cards. The closing lead came out of the office and loudly announced that they needed for everyone to move one side of the runway.
 
Hardlinesmaster said:
Spot is pushing for more drive up these days.
Click to expand...
Spot is the one to come up with a BRILLIANT plan like drive up and then not be the one to have to do it. Come on lazy people, have us shop for you and bring you Starbucks. The 2 TMs at the desk and the 6 people they have picking orders can go on register and the TL can go on the desk and actually do something.
 
freezerqueen said:
Spot is the one to come up with a BRILLIANT plan like drive up and then not be the one to have to do it. Come on lazy people, have us shop for you and bring you Starbucks. The 2 TMs at the desk and the 6 people they have picking orders can go on register and the TL can go on the desk and actually do something.
Click to expand...
That is one good thing I'll say about the management at my store. ETLs will actually be up front ringing up but it's upsetting to see it happen so often.

They're robbing front end hours to give to fulfillment. Like this week is a free for all but in the last 2 weeks generally fulfillment is god and front end is scum
 
freezerqueen said:
Spot is the one to come up with a BRILLIANT plan like drive up and then not be the one to have to do it. Come on lazy people, have us shop for you and bring you Starbucks. The 2 TMs at the desk and the 6 people they have picking orders can go on register and the TL can go on the desk and actually do something.
Click to expand...
Not my store.
 
This is truly a failing company... its actually been self-imploding since Cornell took over but he keeps making money for the investors by cutting our payroll, incentives, safety and anything else he can. I hope something changes real soon because I'm getting too old to jump companies again.... But yeah, things are real bad at Spot
 
I guess it's because I've been in retail so long, but none of this surprises me. All retail companies do this eventually. My husband works at a DC for a fancy food company and they do the same thing - more work, less people, metrics are all that matter.
 
freezerqueen said:
Spot is the one to come up with a BRILLIANT plan like drive up and then not be the one to have to do it. Come on lazy people, have us shop for you and bring you Starbucks. The 2 TMs at the desk and the 6 people they have picking orders can go on register and the TL can go on the desk and actually do something.
Click to expand...
We ll have a accident surrounding our DU sooner then later. Vision at night is about as well lit as the exorcist corner. Carts are falling apart, elevator breaking down...one tl lasted barely 15 minutes covering a du break. But we should all scamper around these hazards under 3 minutes. Absurd.
 
Target is great at coming up with all these innovative ideas but absolutely awful at implementing them in a practical and efficient manner. Perhaps if those who come up with these ideas had actual experience in working in the retail trenches instead of sitting behind a desk, first in college and then at HQ, these plans might be more realistic both in expectations and implementation. Or Corporate could just allocate enough hours to make meeting their unrealistic expectations possible without constantly pulling people from every area in the store…🙄
 
PullMonkey said:
It's been... 8 years since I worked for Target. My store had its quirks like any other, but it was decent. Team was good, leadership was good and (mostly) in touch, it was a good place to work.

I remember my last Christmas with them. Weekend prior, registers stacked, GSA and GSTL both on shift, frontend running like a well oiled machine.

I popped into my old store last night to grab a few things and... wow. Line stretching back around softlines to electronics, two cashiers, and self checkout closed. Everyone looked stressed and upset.

Obviously the entire retail landscape has changed and Target isn't the only one, but it was kinda depressing to see.
Click to expand...
Retail has been stressful even before I was born but things have changed because of online shopping and people are getting shittier and they don’t even train managers to do their jobs well. We live in a joke world. I don’t plan to work for a retail company ever again.
 
PullMonkey said:
It's been... 8 years since I worked for Target. My store had its quirks like any other, but it was decent. Team was good, leadership was good and (mostly) in touch, it was a good place to work.

I remember my last Christmas with them. Weekend prior, registers stacked, GSA and GSTL both on shift, frontend running like a well oiled machine.

I popped into my old store last night to grab a few things and... wow. Line stretching back around softlines to electronics, two cashiers, and self checkout closed. Everyone looked stressed and upset.

Obviously the entire retail landscape has changed and Target isn't the only one, but it was kinda depressing to see.
Click to expand...
8 years was also before modernization absolutely ruined stores and this company and I will die on that hill.
 
I think it's mostly Fulfillment causing the problems that are pushing stores from "struggling with modernization" unpleasantness over the edge into "jfc it's all broken." If 15-20% of your sales require so much extra labor (D/U, FF, backups) and there are no fees to make up for it and you're barely increasing payroll to cover it, your profit margins take a huge hit and your whole store revolves around D/U and picking. My thought is that this part of the business has to scale up dramatically in order to work, and if it's stalling out at like 18% like ours is...it's not going to work. The model is not good. And Amazon will keep squeezing. Just my under-educated take. I don't see a future where this works if we do it this way. It's really stressing out our store teams.
 
Do these lazy bastards who use drive up frequently ever tip the TM's who do all their work? There's just something about the entitlement sense I see when Karen or the male equivalent sit their asses in the car, pushes a button and the TM's put their shit in the back of the white Infinity SUV. No need to tell me it drives sales, that's obvious, it's just the entire concept that blows.
 
Captain Orca said:
Do these lazy bastards who use drive up frequently ever tip the TM's who do all their work? There's just something about the entitlement sense I see when Karen or the male equivalent sit their asses in the car, pushes a button and the TM's put their shit in the back of the white Infinity SUV. No need to tell me it drives sales, that's obvious, it's just the entire concept that blows.
Click to expand...
I think the male equivalent of Karen is Darren!

Ignoring not staffing drive-ups adequately here are the dumbest things about Drive-Up.

1) No minimum order amount (both Meijer and Walmart have it at $35)
2) No weight limits (i.e. I pulled 20 cases of water for a guest once)
3) No maximum size (bookcases that don't fit in your vehicle)
 
I publicly shamed the nasty bitch Karen at Wegmans who threw her reusable shopping bags at the young lady cashier. I always side with the cashiers and kids, got a chuckle out of her and a terrific bitchy response from Karen. Made our day. I'm an opinionated old redneck who has a soft spot for the employees.
 
Captain Orca said:
Do these lazy bastards who use drive up frequently ever tip the TM's who do all their work? There's just something about the entitlement sense I see when Karen or the male equivalent sit their asses in the car, pushes a button and the TM's put their shit in the back of the white Infinity SUV. No need to tell me it drives sales, that's obvious, it's just the entire concept that blows.
Click to expand...
Complete bullocks. Screw that. Drive up is wonderful for many reasons. It's a great service, I've used it at my local grocery store and at my Target. And I don't need to explain why to you or anyone else.

I also obviously shop inside my store and use pick up often as well. I spend a small fortune at Target and I will use whatever services they offer to make life easier.

FYI I drive an 18-year-old sedan.
 
I use drive up just so I don’t have to enter target. It will only anger me to see how little payroll hq supports the stores with.
But when I shop at Meijer or Walmart I go inside and pick everything myself. Lol
 

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