Archived Interesting Things Are Afoot in the land of Spot

[ClearanceMaster]

Idk how big of a meeting it was but my STL was in Minneapolis up until a short time ago. We are all eagerly waiting the new changes the Idiots in Charge want to roll out.. besides that we will be forced to wear ear pieces used by everyone else, and only supply us with alcohol wipes and not our dignity when scrubbing off someone else's earwax...

Wear ear pieces? What? Why, and when is this happening? And for what?

I think they are basically like the headphones you get with your smartphone... earbuds with a button/mic to speak into that plugs into the headphone jack in the top of the walkie. If they were headphones that wrapped around your ear.. it would be fine. But i think they are earbuds.. I told my TL i am hiding one in her desk if they want me to wear one...and that is that. We should be getting them (our store still has to order them) but my TL told me as soon as they told her.. She tells me everything before the other TMs know. She is just awesome and trusting/caring like that.

 

[Circle9]

Oh good. Because my hearing wasn't messed up enough from wearing them on my own time, I could now get an extra 20+ hours a week of "ADDITIONAL CASHIERS NEEDED AT THE FRONT LANES-" and "SECOND REQUEST. WHO IS RESPONDING" as well.

 

[ClearanceMaster]

Kaciraffphobia: The fear of having your ears touched. Use that knowledge to your advantage, friend I'll full on go into a fake frantic attack just so I don't have to wear them.. lol

 

[commiecorvus]

Kaciraffphobia: The fear of having your ears touched. Use that knowledge to your advantage, friend I'll full on go into a fake frantic attack just so I don't have to wear them.. lol

Fall to the floor screaming "Its in my head, its in my head. Oh god, take it out."

 

[Nauzhror]

I won't mind wearing them, but uhh, I might just take mine home with me every day to ensure I have the same pair every day. Might be frowned upon, but oh well, and I'm sure they're fairly cheap (as opposed to walkies, pdas, lpda's, etc.) so I won't overly feel bad about that being one less pair for everyone else to use or about the store having to buy an extra pair, I'm not putting someone elses earbuds in my ears.

I'll even buy a pair if necessary.

 

[PugMuffin]

The headphones for walkies at my store wrap around your ear instead of going in. No one uses them though because the Pterodactyl impressions done by the GSTL and some of the GSAs in celebration of redcards are too painful.

 

[ClearanceMaster]

The headphones for walkies at my store wrap around your ear instead of going in. No one uses them though because the Pterodactyl impressions done by the GSTL and some of the GSAs in celebration of redcards are too painful.

Omgd my HR sounds like a pterodactyl whenever shes on a walkie. The ends of her words always screech and causes so much wincing.. Im hoping our redcard rants end with our earpieces coming in.. our STL flat out said "the cashiers cant hear us over the walkie, the guests can.." and basically said he wants the guest to hear us talking so enthusiastically about the card.. so they do hourly rants + whenever a cashier gets one.. *click* oops, i brushed up on an endcap and my walkie turned off.

 

[redeye58]

Our CA already wear them & one insists on bring his own set as he does NOT want 'someone else's ear boogers in his ears'.

 

[BigEyedPhish]

Not going to lie earpieces (my own damn one) would be useful sometimes as a PA, especially when I am wrist deep in Elimin-X which i am called for everytime I am.

 

[greydot]

i'm excited for the Toms partnership. the stuff looks nice. its a lot of apparrel, more than shoes. i just hope it isn't too high of a price point.

If we have to wear earpieces i will do whatever it takes to have my own, even if i have to buy them. thats not something i have any interest in sharing with anyone else. gross.

 

[Gulfcoast]

If we have to wear earpieces i will do whatever it takes to have my own, even if i have to buy them. thats not something i have any interest in sharing with anyone else. gross.

There are two types of headset on SAP. One is the "earwig" type you see on Secret Service agents and the like. The other goes over your ear and only makes contact with the outside.

If your TL has SAP access, they could always just order you one. That's what I did for my PFresh team.

Our SAP approval process is pretty broken though. I'm fairly sure our orders are only given cursory inspection before approval.

 

[pellinore]

My STL shared with me that when Toms partners with Target (November 16th) Target shoe sales are expected to donate from sales millions of dollars that will stay in the usa. Toms usually donates a pair of shoes for every pair sold. I am excited about Toms coming to Target. It's a good partnership and not overly expensive. A win win.

The problem for Target has been the execution of its partnerships.

The key word being "execution."

 

[Guest]

Is Target going down or do I just work in the one of the worst Target stores in America?

Massive payroll cuts the rest of the month because my store had an epic fail on inventory and wasted numerous hours on inventory prep. I heard the store is like 500 to 600 hours over budget for the month.

When it's like that, you can't get that much done. In the back room, back stocking shite is a lost cause. I know backroom TLs hate hearing that but it's true.

My shift today, I spent my time pulling CAF pulls and POGs that the POG team didn't pull because they got cut and after that, I took my lunch close to 6pm. When I got back, I spent my last hour cleaning up the mess that the vendors and flow team left on the line. No time for back stock.

 

[pellinore]

I'm curious what this so called "blow-Walmart-out-of-the-water" plan is about. Maybe some kind of discounted layaway?

No. Just. No. Kill me now if they shove that on our guest services people.

Walmart doesn't have layaway.....so that could be the new plan.

Maybe the "store-to-home" means that we'll deliver their order!

 

[Rock Lobster]

All of the news sites say Brian wants to take Target back to its domestics and home furnishings roots and get Target's name and image back, instead of the grocery path it wandered down.

Exactly what needs to happen! I feel like there are good plans in place to update Electronics (Electronics Experience stores look very nice and Target Mobile is expandable to do lots of innovative stuff) and Baby360 is a great direction that Softlines can continue down. Our Home products (Dec Home, Furn, Housewares) still is stuck in the 90s and is really quite boring. I am glad Brian wants to make that a focus!

 

[sigma7]

The thing is though after all the money they've thrown at grocery by remodeling nearly every store to PFresh and building "state of the art" FDCs, they can't just up and forget about grocery. No matter where Brian wants to take the company, grocery still has to be a part of that plan. We could differentiate ourselves there by carrying more organic and "healthier" options, better quality produce, and actually holding stores to staffing consumables right.

I kind of feel like if all we do is focus on domestics, softlines, and design partnerships then all we are doing is looking to the past for our future success. That's not innovative. That's retreat. Sometimes retreat is necessary. So let's take the things from our past that worked and leave behind the things that aren't. But you can't ignore where Target is at right now ie. grocery.

 

[sher]

The TOMS collab was funny to me because for almost two years, tgt's been selling toms knockoffs. The toms x target stuff is cute, though. It's not only shoes. I didn't read this whole thread so if this was already said, ignore me haha.

 

[TargetMitchell]

Walmart doesn't have layaway.....so that could be the new plan.

Maybe the "store-to-home" means that we'll deliver their order!

Walmart has actually had layaway for the past few years, but only during the holidays. They started layaway again this year on 9/12, with certain restrictions.

 

[Rock Lobster]

The thing is though after all the money they've thrown at grocery by remodeling nearly every store to PFresh and building "state of the art" FDCs, they can't just up and forget about grocery. No matter where Brian wants to take the company, grocery still has to be a part of that plan. We could differentiate ourselves there by carrying more organic and "healthier" options, better quality produce, and actually holding stores to staffing consumables right.

I kind of feel like if all we do is focus on domestics, softlines, and design partnerships then all we are doing is looking to the past for our future success. That's not innovative. That's retreat. Sometimes retreat is necessary. So let's take the things from our past that worked and leave behind the things that aren't. But you can't ignore where Target is at right now ie. grocery.

Well I think that all stores having grocery is a benefit and allows our stores to compete on a level playing field with other stores, but it won't set Target apart. There is not really "more" you can do in grocery at this point, because it is a commodity. The most we can say is that "We carry that too, just like Store X"... What we need, and the point of the direction, is to be able to say "You can ONLY get X, Y, and Z here at Target and get your groceries here too!"

 

[sigma7]

Great point. Giving guests a one stop shopping destination with items that are exclusive to Target. As far as grocery goes though, I really feel like Target could set itself apart from the other stores by having the department staffed and clean. Most stores I've been in look nice from afar, but their actually pretty dingy once you get close.

 

[Cel]

Yeah I used the over-the-ear headset every GSA shift for 6 months...along with the walkie that plugged into it, both of which I kept in a locker. Didn't like having to beg borrow or steal one half my shifts, and without the earpiece I couldn't hear half the crap I needed to unfortunately. When I quit I gave it a good cleaning and offered it to a couple TMs I was friends with.

It doesn't actually enter the ear canal, just has a tiny rubber nub that slightly goes towards your head to keep it centered on your ear, the rest is the ear clip. Unless they go with the secret service style ones, but that'd be silly.

 

[MissionStarlight]

The thing is though after all the money they've thrown at grocery by remodeling nearly every store to PFresh and building "state of the art" FDCs, they can't just up and forget about grocery. No matter where Brian wants to take the company, grocery still has to be a part of that plan. We could differentiate ourselves there by carrying more organic and "healthier" options, better quality produce, and actually holding stores to staffing consumables right.

I kind of feel like if all we do is focus on domestics, softlines, and design partnerships then all we are doing is looking to the past for our future success. That's not innovative. That's retreat. Sometimes retreat is necessary. So let's take the things from our past that worked and leave behind the things that aren't. But you can't ignore where Target is at right now ie. grocery.

Well I think that all stores having grocery is a benefit and allows our stores to compete on a level playing field with other stores, but it won't set Target apart. There is not really "more" you can do in grocery at this point, because it is a commodity. The most we can say is that "We carry that too, just like Store X"... What we need, and the point of the direction, is to be able to say "You can ONLY get X, Y, and Z here at Target and get your groceries here too!"

I wish they would do little mini exclusives in grocery, too. Just take over one of the gondolas in the middle of that one valley with something like local farm-goods, local businesses, or an exclusive one-time release for some bigger companies--they always have something funky coming out of R&D so it'd be a great way for them to do a larger test audience and give us something special. Weeks we couldn't get an exclusive we could let the stores pick 1-3 items and put it on super sale--it'd clear out any random backstock and keep that gondola looking fresh every week. Unfortunately it'd add to the PFresh workload but in my fantasy-world they'd magically add more hours to make it work.*

It does mean that it wouldn't be consistent across all Targets because it'd depend on what we could each get that week but let's be real--stores aren't consistent right now anyways. And it'd be easy to do a PR spam about making each Target a "neighborhood destination" shopping experience in grocery, tailored to your local community's taste and flair.

*I can dream.

 

[signingminion]

If we have to wear earpieces i will do whatever it takes to have my own, even if i have to buy them. thats not something i have any interest in sharing with anyone else. gross.

There are two types of headset on SAP. One is the "earwig" type you see on Secret Service agents and the like. The other goes over your ear and only makes contact with the outside.

If your TL has SAP access, they could always just order you one. That's what I did for my PFresh team.

Our SAP approval process is pretty broken though. I'm fairly sure our orders are only given cursory inspection before approval.

I can't even get my ctl or etl-ge to requisition mini post-it's but you got yours ear buds? Lol.

We have the wrap around, but only carts and one gstl with hearing problem wear them. Have heard nothing about them bring mandatory...not gonna happen unless I get my own. I have enough ear problems without adding someone else's ear wax..

 

[BigEyedPhish]

To forget about grocery (Even though it feels as though we are forgotten about at my store)... Would kill Target, it is easily the loyalty driver of my store, I see many of the guests at least once a week.

I don't see why they can't just do all things well...

 

[BigEyedPhish]

Great point. Giving guests a one stop shopping destination with items that are exclusive to Target. As far as grocery goes though, I really feel like Target could set itself apart from the other stores by having the department staffed and clean. Most stores I've been in look nice from afar, but their actually pretty dingy once you get close.

I always wondered how Target would fair as a 100% health food Store...

Sort of a Whole Foods/Bed Bath N' Kohls