Archived Gregg is gone (USATODAY Just Reported It)

[videodrome]

They will be tasked with finding a way to recoup Target Canada's losses, and I'm not betting they'll do it through giving TMs more pay, hours, or insurance.

Unfortunately, this is more a symptom of our weak economy and the retail sector. As much as many don't want to believe it, ACA sealed our fates when it comes to hours and benefits. Less benefits, less hours - this was all predicted years ago when the bill passed.

Seriously?

The ACA has nothing to do with Spots major FU in Canada

I can see how maybe my post was interpreted that way, but let me say unequivocally that I didn't in any way mean to imply that ACA had anything to do with our problems in Canada.

or how the company chooses to handle the question of insurance.

Nah, you'd have to be in pretty strong denial to think this. Although being that you're a union hawk, I'm sure that you do.

There are still plenty of companies who treat there people with dignity and give their part time employees benefits (Starbucks for example).

You sure love to make comparisons which overlook context or circumstance. I suppose this is the pitfall of most socialists, who strive for equality via enforced rule making.

Gee, Microsoft treats its employees even better than Starbucks does. Starbucks is just another asshole company after all!

Gee, Australia has a good economy and it's minimum wage is fifteen dollars, therefore our economy would be better if we had a fifteen dollar minimum wage!

How is it that making predictions based on companies acting like assholes are somehow magic?

The prediction was based on the law. Companies are self preserving and they respond likewise.

The predictions they made about the ACA failing didn't happen so in the long run these other problems will be a flash in the pan.

The other problems, like less hours and no benefits? Whether it's failed or not, or doomed to fail, depends on your definition of failure I suppose. Were the easy housing policies established in the 90's a failure in your opinion?

 

[commiecorvus]

How is it that making predictions based on companies acting like assholes are somehow magic?

The prediction was based on the law. Companies are self preserving and they respond likewise.

The predictions they made about the ACA failing didn't happen so in the long run these other problems will be a flash in the pan.

The other problems, like less hours and no benefits? Whether it's failed or not, or doomed to fail, depends on your definition of failure I suppose. Were the easy housing policies established in the 90's a failure in your opinion?

There is a big difference between self preserving and pure dickery.
You don't have to treat your employees like dreck in order to survive.
There are plenty of companies that are proving that.
The law doesn't tell companies to act like Scrooge, they can still make a profit by acting like human beings.

As to the housing policies ...
I'm a lot more pissed off at the banks for putting together shit sandwiches that they sold to other companies which were bundled together to be sold to other companies etc. etc.
I know a couple of people who are fighting to keep from being kicked out of their homes by banks who don't even have the paper on their houses.
My own home is upsidedown and there are people in my area fighting to get their homes repaired after Sandy but the banks are saying the houses aren't worth the cost of repairs.
Sure there were people who got loans who probably shouldn't have but I'd say the problem was on the financial end.

 

[PullMeBackIn]

Blaming Target's problems on ACA is laughable. They've lost an estimated $1 billion on Canada. Last year's net was about $3 billion. You're talking 1/4 of profits last year being lost on just 127 stores. That, more than any other issue is what's killing Target right now.

It still blows my mind that Canada has cost the company an average of $8 million per store, SO FAR. That's a damn expensive expansion.

ACA may have cut into profits marginally but it's like saying a guy with a splinter and a gunshot wound should really be concerned about that splinter.

 

[Mugen]

http://gawker.com/target-headquarters-in-desperate-need-of-help-says-e-1573101642/+samer

I know it's Gawker, but it is quite the read.

 

[MrTaskMule]

I hope he ends up at Time Warner or Gamestop he can lose them billions as well

 

[Barcode]

They will be tasked with finding a way to recoup Target Canada's losses, and I'm not betting they'll do it through giving TMs more pay, hours, or insurance.

Unfortunately, this is more a symptom of our weak economy and the retail sector. As much as many don't want to believe it, ACA sealed our fates when it comes to hours and benefits. Less benefits, less hours - this was all predicted years ago when the bill passed.

Seriously?

The ACA has nothing to do with Spots major FU in Canada or how the company chooses to handle the question of insurance.
There are still plenty of companies who treat there people with dignity and give their part time employees benefits (Starbucks for example).

How is it that making predictions based on companies acting like assholes are somehow magic?
The predictions they made about the ACA failing didn't happen so in the long run these other problems will be a flash in the pan.

The ACA is one big reason why a lot of TMs at spot are losing insurance, its undeniable that the ACA was a major flop.

"If you like your insurance, you can keep it!"

Yeah right...

 

[commiecorvus]

The ACA is one big reason why a lot of TMs at spot are losing insurance, its undeniable that the ACA was a major flop.

"If you like your insurance, you can keep it!"

Yeah right...

And I repeat, the ACA didn't drop the TM's, Spot did.
They deserve the blame, not the law.
Just act like decent human beings and provide health insurance.

The people who lost their health health insurance policies were a mixed bag.
In many cases they were rip off policies that wouldn't meet standards and were too expensive.
Some of them the insurance companies would have gotten rid of anyway (something not mentioned, companies change the kind of policies they have regularly, this time they just blamed the ACA).
Also a number of the insurance companies in an effort to lock in business cancelled policies that were not going to meet the standards and tried to get people to accept much more expensive policies when they could have gone on the exchange and found cheaper ones.

 

[RedDog]

They will be tasked with finding a way to recoup Target Canada's losses, and I'm not betting they'll do it through giving TMs more pay, hours, or insurance.

Unfortunately, this is more a symptom of our weak economy and the retail sector. As much as many don't want to believe it, ACA sealed our fates when it comes to hours and benefits. Less benefits, less hours - this was all predicted years ago when the bill passed.

Seriously?

The ACA has nothing to do with Spots major FU in Canada or how the company chooses to handle the question of insurance.
There are still plenty of companies who treat there people with dignity and give their part time employees benefits (Starbucks for example).

How is it that making predictions based on companies acting like assholes are somehow magic?
The predictions they made about the ACA failing didn't happen so in the long run these other problems will be a flash in the pan.

The ACA is one big reason why a lot of TMs at spot are losing insurance, its undeniable that the ACA was a major flop.

"If you like your insurance, you can keep it!"

Yeah right...

Target has been cutting insurance and benefits every year for years. This year they just got to blame in the ACA instead of trying to sell instead the ways they normally try and sell it every year. If anybody thinks Target was going keep providing health care with out the ACA, your fooling yourselves. That would require Target (and most companies) to reverse the trend it has been on for a decade.

 

[Barcode]

The ACA caused spot and many other businesses to drop employees since the ACA made it harder for them to offer insurance.

You can thank Obama for your lost insurance.

Look at premiums, they have gone UP in price (across the board not just Target) since ACA went in effect. What makes you think spots premiums didn't go up as well?

You can blame spot all you want, but they made a business decision since premiums became so expensive due to the failed ACA.

 

[oath2order]

The ACA caused spot and many other businesses to drop employees since the ACA made it harder for them to offer insurance.

You can thank Obama for your lost insurance.

Look at premiums, they have gone UP in price (across the board not just Target) since ACA went in effect. What makes you think spots premiums didn't go up as well?

You can blame spot all you want, but they made a business decision since premiums became so expensive due to the failed ACA.

Sure, the ACA may have given them a reason to drop it quicker, but just like RedDog said, they've been slowly dropping stuff for years.

 

[Dying Sun]

the ACA was just the catalyst. Thanks Obummer

 

[Retail Girl]

The ACA caused spot and many other businesses to drop employees since the ACA made it harder for them to offer insurance.

You can thank Obama for your lost insurance.

Look at premiums, they have gone UP in price (across the board not just Target) since ACA went in effect. What makes you think spots premiums didn't go up as well?

You can blame spot all you want, but they made a business decision since premiums became so expensive due to the failed ACA.

Premiums have been going up ever since I got my own insurance in 2002. And I would be willing to bet they'd been going up long before that. And believe me, that had nothing to do with Spot dropping the insurance. They could have easily had employees pay more (or all) of the premium. Nothing in the ACA required employers to pay any of the premium for employees.

 

[konk]

I just wish they would have let us know sooner so that I could have used vacation to increase my average hours.

 

[Retail Girl]

You can only use your vacation up to your average hours...so in effect you can use it to stabilize your hours, but not increase them.

 

[Backroom81]

I have my own insurance as the company I work for full time is too small to qualify for group insurance. My insurance company tried to double my premium this year pulling the "Obamacare" card. It took me an hour to find a plan almost identical to what I already had and for nearly the same cost as it was previously. It was extremely pleasurable to send a copy of the quote to them along with my cancellation notice.

I'm not going to pass judgement on whether or not ACA is a good thing as it's WAY to early to tell. Make no mistake however, insurance companies are definitely using it as an excuse to implement pricing/policy changes. Even then, the real culprit is how much money hospitals and group practice doctors charge. Bullshit pricing like http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/03/health/as-hospital-costs-soar-single-stitch-tops-500.html?_r=0 and $200 bandage changes (what I was being billed after having a very minor cyst removed) is the reason why insurance costs continue to rise AND why the majority of bankruptcies in the US are due to medical bills (http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/insured-but-bankrupted-anyway/ and http://www.cnbc.com/id/100840148).

 

[Cel]

Bring on the single-payer system...

 

[konk]

You can only use your vacation up to your average hours...so in effect you can use it to stabilize your hours, but not increase them.

Right, but if I use it for previous weeks to bring them up to my average, doesn't my average go up? For example, if my hours were high from Q4, then they went down, then they went back up. I could use vacation during the slower times.

 

[Retail Girl]

Yes, you could use it during those slower weeks to maintain that fourth quarter average if your average is high enough.

But of course corporate didn't tell us that probably because they didn't want people doing that. I guess we should have seen in coming with the cuts last year...but hindsight is 20/20. But hell, as long as they can shove many of their employees onto Medicare and have the rest of society pay for them, why should they have to pay their employees a living wage/proper benefits?

 

[RedDog]

The ACA caused spot and many other businesses to drop employees since the ACA made it harder for them to offer insurance.

You can thank Obama for your lost insurance.

Look at premiums, they have gone UP in price (across the board not just Target) since ACA went in effect. What makes you think spots premiums didn't go up as well?

You can blame spot all you want, but they made a business decision since premiums became so expensive due to the failed ACA.

Have you missed the yearly video where Target explains why they cut your healthcare benifits and increased the cost they have been doing every year for half a decade? Target just did what they were going to do in the next few years because they figured they could blame somebody else. That was going to happen with ACA or without because it is big expence they can cut. In particular with a company like Target who has one answer to everything - cut hours, cut benefits, cut raises, cut incentives, cut positions and then do it all again next year. Is anybody really going to fool themselves into thinking Target was going to not cut heath benefits along with everything else without the ACA? That would go against every trent we have seen from Target.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Now, back to Gregg gone thread..

 

[sher]

A Canadian commenter on that article said part of the failure is the the prices aren't as great as they are in America. The person has crossed the border to shop at target and was disappointed when the Canadian stores opened.

Anyway, I think most of the TMs in my sore are oblivious about corporate junk. I don't think thy know or care who Gregg is.

 

[redeye58]

You can only use your vacation up to your average hours...so in effect you can use it to stabilize your hours, but not increase them.

Right, but if I use it for previous weeks to bring them up to my average, doesn't my average go up? For example, if my hours were high from Q4, then they went down, then they went back up. I could use vacation during the slower times.

Used to be your vac hrs could help you keep your avg up but not any more. If you look at your paycheck statement, you'll see on the left it says "current total hours worked"; just above "Avg hrs for mth ending".
You can still plug in vay-cay pay but it WON'T contribute to your avg hrs any more.
Thanks a lot, spot. I hope you choke on the savings.

 

[PullMeBackIn]

http://gawker.com/target-headquarters-in-desperate-need-of-help-says-e-1573101642/ samer

I know it's Gawker, but it is quite the read.

I thought this was the most interesting part

Target has no original ideas, they are just reacting to what other companies are doing and jumping the bandwagon.

It's something I've thought for some time now and see that I'm not the only one thinking that way. It's not just that they're going around copying other companies, it's that they're WAY behind those other companies. Just the other day there were articles talking about Target's foray into subscription services while also pointing out this is something Amazon has been doing for years (and probably doing it better).

I'll give them credit for one thing over the past few years, cartwheel. That was a unique idea that is likely driving some increased traffic. Other than that, I'd be hard pressed to figure out anything else they've done that's particularly different.

 

[konk]

Who did online price matching first?

 

[Life201]

Who did online price matching first?

I don't know the answer but I doubt it was Target.

I always wondered why any store was so stupid as to not allow customers to 'online price match' from their own website! If you really want to alienate your customers... oh, I mean "guests," just tell them that the price they saw at your store's website is not available at your brick & mortar store. Tell them they wasted their gas but to just go home & shop from their computer. You've just encouraged them to go home & search for the cheapest price on an item that must be shipped & that they can't have immediately.

Come on, it doesn't take someone with a business degree to see that made no sense.