Unpleasant shopping environments

I emailed local and corporate mall management about the mall kiosks that
push neckwarmers and lotion/nail kits at the two malls I frequent, and how
they are overly assertive in approaching mall shoppers. I mentioned how they
walk up to you even when you are just passing by and push their product,
that saying no to them once doesn't even get them to back off at the
lotion/nail kiosk, and that one neckwarmer guy put one on my friend even
after she told him she didn't want to try it. I said that it made for an
unpleasant shopping experience.
Around Christmastime I noticed that neither of these kiosks was at one of
the malls any longer and a for rent sign was put up! I have no idea whether
my email to the local and corporate mall management had any effect but I was
not sorry to see them gone. (I haven't been to the kiosk area at the other
mall to check to see if they are still there.)
A few months ago at Target I began noticing many constant beeping sounds.
They have no in–store music so the beeps are very noticeable. I thought it
was some temporary inventory project or something, but every time I've been
to Target since I hear the beeps coming from the price guns or whatever they
are. Between that and the staff radios that are turned on so loud you can
hear them from 30 feet away, it's a nervewracking shopping experience. I'll
have to email them! ;)
Claire

I hate those kiosks! The way the people come out to the aisle and try to
lure you in–it's annoying. What happened to the days when the kiosks were
there quietly sitting and allowing one to peruse if desired?
Haven't heard the Target beeps.....
Kelly


"Claire in SF" <clairi...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:3443vmF454er...@individual.net...

I'd take pushy kiosk guys and beeping price guns over the deafening
Abercrombie & Fitch "music" anytime. I won't even go into the store
anymore. One visit in which I had to scream my questions to the saleswoman
and an exchange of :
"What?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"What?" was more than enough!
cofarb


"Kelly" <wittynos...@hevanet.com> wrote in message
news:10tpr5ig1gom...@corp.supernews.com...

Please, please tell me if it's the SF Centre they've been "banished"
from! I hated having to dodge them while trying to get into the Sanrio
store. Unfortunately, those kiosks are still at my local mall across
the bay. And the irony being that I acually may need to hit a kiosk
for a herbal warmer back pillow now. The one homemade (craft fair?)
herbal warmer pillow I had got eaten by a mouse who decided to move
into our nice warm home from the last big rain storm. Unless someone
can suggest someplace else I can go for one? Bed, Bath & Beyond maybe?
Target – didn't notice any beeping but both of the 2 Tar–jay's I visit
have been insanely busy over the holidays. And it must be a management
thing at your Target 'cause I never hear any of the staff playing
radios at the ones I visit ever. Then again, sometimes you can't even
find their staff on the floor.
Celia

Have you noticed you're not spritzed with fragrance like you used to be? I
think they are asking permission now because so many women are allergic or
otherwise not receptive to it. In the "olden days" they were so pushy you'd
walk out smelling like a perfume factory.
Sandra in PA

At Bloomingdale's (59th St) in NYC you practically need to be trained in the
martial arts to keep the shockingly aggressive cosmetics/fragrance staff at
bay as you try to maneuver your way through them to the escalator.

I've left stores because of :
earsplitting 'music'
freezing temperatures
shadowing clerks
"Giorgio" in the air

On Thu, 6 Jan 2005 22:22:50 –0800, Kelly wrote:
Somebody in the marketeering department likes it.

Claire in SF wrote:
\Interesting thread! Over Christmas, I was approached by the Kiosk guys
while holding my (screaming!) toddler, pushing her carriage and
balancing a load of bags....It was a young guy, so I'm sure he didn't
have a clue, all I could manage to say was "Not a good time!!!" when he
approached me to talk about Cell Phone service.
Another unpleasant shopping environment for me is Old Navy. Same thing
about the staff "walkie talkies" (which I guess they use to gossip and
plan where to eat...) That and the fact that the Old Navy near my house
always looks like a bomb went off make me shop online...it's almost
worth the extra $5 for shipping.
Kerry
in Boston:)

"Claire in SF" <clairi...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:3443vmF454er...@individual.net...
they
whether
was
other
it
been
they
I'll
The nail/lotions kiosk & the cellphone kiosk are the worst. Its always
young, early 20s males who are way to pushy. No I don't want you touching my
hands & No I already have a cellphone. I now just ignore them when walking
past.
––
Cherie

In article <20050106133937.21610.00002...@mb–m12.aol.com>, hateith...@aol.com
(Hateithere) writes:
the little pillows who walk up to me and try to get me to feel the pillows!
I agree with this one. I hate these people. Seriously, do I look like I need
a remote controlled helicopter EVERY TIME I walk past? I hate the pushiness.
April
REMOVE "NOSPAM" to reply
"The trouble with resisting temptation is it may never come again." ––Fortune
Cookie

I get really sick of having people follow me trying to grab my hand,
having
the man at the Cell phone kiosk holler at me (hey! do you have a cell
phone?
What are your minutes? What are you paying?) and then there's the people
with
pillows!
need
pushiness.
Wow. I wonder if it depends on the mall. We have all the same kiosks and the
only one who has bothered me is the hand/nail care one and they are gone
now.
JennP.

The scent department in the Valley Fair Nordstrom
has taken on a bit of an agressive edge––not very
Nordy–like at all. It really keeps me away and
drives me down the mall to Sephora and Macy's––
not their intention at all. I think if more people
complained and shared the net effect they would
rethink their tactics. At least one would hope.
This also goes for being Bendelized when I am
in NY...I try to get out of there quickly, which
is sad because they have things I can't get in
Cali–land and would like to browse (and
spend.)
––
Karen
"Life doesn't always parse."
Malachy McCormick, A Decent Cup of Tea

"BirdyNmNum" <birdynm...@aol.comhowdy> wrote in message
news:20050106231608.12459.00002...@mb–m28.aol.com...
went
are
customers
mind,
look at
Customers
shopped
in
The closest ON to me *always* looks like this and I've been there pretty
close to opening time. In this case, I think it's management because the
next nearest store is always neat as a pin and delightful to shop in. I do
agree that shoppers can tend to be pretty inconsiderate.
JennP.

In article <41dd6ad7$...@newsfeed.slurp.net>, Cherie says...
The lotion vendors are horrible. I don't know if it is some kind of a cult, but
I keep expecting them to ask if I want a personality test! One of the phone
vendors was *yelling* at people to stop and get a phone – much like a hawker at
a country fair of old.
––
Pam K
my2p...@yahoo.com

"Cherie" <cedgewo...@copper.net> wrote in message
news:41dd6ad7$...@newsfeed.slurp.net...
my
I ignore them too, to the extent they are ignorable, but the lotion people
would walk up to me and thrust the lotion in front of me. I don't respond
either. I'd forgotten about the cell phone guys, lol. I've noticed them
yelling at me to get my attention ("HELLOOOO MA'AAAAAM! HELLOOOO MA'AAAM!").
I doubt it is the kind of environment the mall company wants to have for
their shoppers which I why I let them know my feelings.
Claire

"Annie" <an...@Maps.On.ivgate.omahug.org> wrote in message
news:annie.1105044...@ivgate.omahug.org...
I emailed local and corporate mall management about the mall kiosks that
push neckwarmers and lotion/nail kits at the two malls I frequent, and how
they are overly assertive in approaching mall shoppers. I mentioned how
they
That is really creepy.
Smokey

hate that store! and the perfume/makeup zone used to be all mirror–y and loud,
and between that and the scent assault i felt like i was in the toilet at a
cheap disco.

<gwehr...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:1105060645.350261.77...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
<snip>
Abercrombie and Fitch is the worst for these. Even the kids store blasts
loud music. The MAC counter at the mall blasts music too and I feel so bad
for the people working in neighboring counters and departments.
JennP.

I don't think so. The lotion was labeled something like "Heaven." It
was a pear–scented lotion that smelled quite good, with a nail buffer
and some cuticle oil, which I've never used. They also wanted to sell
me a pedicure kit, but I remarkably staved them off!
Amen on the Sephora and MAC.
–Marcia

<cvmccu...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1105030195.313621.139...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
YES! It is the SF Centre they're gone from! Ha, I felt the same thing about
going to that Sanrio. Now we can bop over to Sanrio in peace :) BTW my
friend who had the neck warmer thrust on her said the neckwarmers at the
kiosk are seriously overpriced.
I found it was pretty easy to find a way to email the mall management so if
anyone is annoyed by the kiosks at their mall, you should simply let the
mall management know.
The radios at Target are the staff communication walkie talkies. Yesterday I
heard this automated voice response system blaring out of them about there
being a call that needed to be taken for such–and–such department. It must
be very annoying for the staff to have to hear automated voices over the
walkie talkies.
Claire

This is fascinating to me because I just made the same rant on another
messageboard about the same type of people!
I get really sick of having people follow me trying to grab my hand, having the
man at the Cell phone kiosk holler at me (hey! do you have a cell phone? What
are your minutes? What are you paying?) and then there's the people with the
little pillows who walk up to me and try to get me to feel the pillows!
This is a new thing to me – I've never been approached by the people at kiosks
before and it's really REALLY getting on my nerves. (this just started about 6
weeks before Christmas) I just want to go to the mall and pick up what I need,
and yet I dread going down certain corridors because of those people.
I almost went to Mall Management last week because of those people and I find
it offensive to have people trying to grab my hands. I've heard from other
women who say that these people will actually say things like "how rude" if you
tell them No. That's really going too far.
Stepping off the soap box now. I'm just tired of them, and even if I needed
their products I wouldn't buy it from them – I'd go somewhere else.
Dana in DE

I was in San Jose a while back on business and I had a free evening so I
checked out the local mall(s). As I was leaving I felt this, uh, thing
being placed around my neck. He even lifted up my hair to do it as I was
walking toward the parking structure.
He: "Now doesn't that feel nice?"
[munch]
That was almost bordering on assault!
It startled me more than anything. There were people all around, so I
know he wouldn't try anything. I know he wasn't trying to come on, I
mean I'm old enough to be his mother. :)
This was in the mall at Stevens Creek and {mumble} and I was very
surprised that he would be that "touchy" with somebody he just walked up
to.
Oh well ... If the worst thing I have to worry about is pushy
salesdroids, I guess I can't complain too much. :)

Ooooohhhhh, when I was in my teens I LOVED the 59th and Lex area. There
was Bloomies, Alexanders, and I think there was something else up there
too in the same area. On Saturday afternoon there was always like this
steel drum musical thing going on outside there. Yeah, I guess I was
easily impressed then. :)
Sure had Macy's Flatbush and Kings Plaza beat. :) :)
I really don't mind them so much. That's something that I will buy if I
like it. :)
I don't think the fragrance ladies are nearly as aggressive as they
were years ago. It's really amazing how much anti–fragrance sentiment
there is now.

"Kerry" <kerryf.rem...@mit.edu> wrote in message
news:41DD681A.802DF...@mit.edu...
I worked at Old Navy so I can share a bit about the walkie talkies and other
things. I guess it depends upon store management whether people chit chat over
the walkie talkies but at my store nobody ever talked about frivolous things
like lunch orders. Basically it was used for a number of things regarding
store operations. If you've been in store operations in retail you know what a
nightmare it can be. The walkie talkies actually facilitate communication and
make things simpler, especially in a store like Old Navy which tends to be
larger and has less staff.
They use the walkies if people need assistance: the fitting room calls for
assistance if a customer needs something in another color or size, a cashier
needs a price verification, etc. They use it to alert workers to things going
on in the store (like to communicate the stats on sales, etc., or if it is
super busy and people need to be extra vigilant, loss prevention goings on,
spills, etc.). To manage the workers lunches, breaks and assignments (the mgr
tells people over the walkie when to go on break, when to move to another area,
if they see something that needs attn in their section, etc.). Workers use it
to ask questions on the stop rather than having to go find a manger. It's kind
of like the loudspeaker you might hear in a different kind of store over which
someone might say, "MOD to register 3" or "blah blah (codename) to housewares".
Workers are supposed to wear and use the headsets, though, so the customers
don't have to hear the walkie transmissions, but sometimes there are glitches
and people use live radios. That's wasn't the store policy, though.
I have to agree that the stores sometimes look like, as you said, "a bomb went
off". I am a very considerate shopper but I realized that not all shoppers are
like me. Anyone who's worked in retail knows that crazy things that customers
do. Customers fill their hands/shoppingbags full of clothes, change their mind,
and dump all the clothes wherever they please. People pick up items to look at
and don't give a thought to putting them back where they came from. Customers
at Old Navy will put things anywhere and everywhere, and they do.
The folded clothes on tables can be a problem, too. If there aren't enough
sales associates there during peak hours the folded stuff on tables get shopped
into a storm. Everybody touches and picks up everything and just drops it in
back in a heap.
Until someone can come by and recover it, it looks like a bomb hit. That's
nothing, though, compared to the other stuff that happens ;)

"JennP" <jenniferpinck...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:N_WdnV2kXKNrbkDcRVn–...@comcast.com...
I don't mind the music at Old Navy (in fact I often like the ON music!) and
American Eagle and other places, but A&F is a bit too much for me. Clearly
I'm not their target shopper anyway! I'm certain they don't mind that I've
left or that I avoid them.
Claire

On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 22:24:52 –0800, "Claire in SF" <clairi...@aol.com>
wrote:
I haven't noticed the beeps, but I definitely noticed the horrible
loud staff radios last time I was in. They are LOUD, and it seems
like the staff hollers into them, so it's quite distracting. I will
admit that I appreciate the quick, helpful customer service at my
Target, and if the radios help that, I guess I'll put up with the
racket.
I avoid Walmart, though, partially because the overhead pager is
constantly going with loud, annoying messages.
Lauri in WA
I like my email spamless

x–no–archive: yes
birdynm...@aol.comhowdy says...
Clothes are stacked so that to see sizes, you need to go through the
whole stack piece by piece and there's nowhere to put each piece as you
check its size other than on other stacks of different garments. Pants
on hangers are shoved so tightly into tiny racks that the only way to
get your size is by pulling down the waistband on every pair to see the
size tag while you shove the other pairs of pants out of the way; since
the hangers get caught on adjacent pairs of pants (because, let's
review, the clothes are crammed so tightly into the hanging rack) the
pants get pulled off the hangers. Blouses are hung over six feet off
the floor, which is beyond most women's reach even to browse through
let alone to find sizes, so they're going to come down, one by one,
until we find the size we were looking for.
We get what we pay for but if it's ON's corporate opinion that their
customers aren't treating the store or the merchandise with the respect
it deserves, the other side of the coin is that ON management has
designed stores that are ridiculously inconsiderate of their
customers' needs, and their merchandising is designed to look like the
store's been ravaged by wolves.
–S./NYC

BirdyNmNum wrote:
I agree Old Navy is crowded and can get messy – it does have a young
customer base and they are not always the best in returning items to the
correct area.
The walkie–talkies in the store I shopped were being used to assist
customers. They were not intrusive. You can always find people who
bend the rules, but surely this a management problem at the particular
store?
However, the couple of times I have bought something there, the customer
service was incredible. Workers ASK if you want help, immediately climb
ladders to look for stock in your size in the overhead storage and then
cheerfully go off to the stock room. This should be the normal retail
experience everywhere, but sadly it isn't. How many of us cannot find
any help even in higher end stores?

On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 18:53:10 GMT, "Frayed"
<fra...@ix.netcom.comnobush> wrote:
Same in Scottsdale. A couple of months ago I was doing some shopping
at the Fashion Square and the mall environment started to give me a
headache. I had some MAC stuff that I wanted to pick up in Nordie's
so I headed there (plus they have the best baby clothes in the world,
and I now have another niece to dress!).
MAC is of course located close to the fragrances, and since new
perfume is like heroin for me, I had to go into the department and
sniff around. BAD IDEA. I was nearly overrun by some 50–ish
saleswoman wearing too much Boucheron trying to spritz some godawful
fragrance on me. I cannot recall what the scent was, but it didn't
matter, because I was not interested in getting assaulted like that.
I ducked away and continued to browse...only to have this woman up my
ass the entire time as I was looking at the shelves. PET PEEVE OF
MINE. Just let me shop, okay? You aren't going to pressure me into
buying anything; in fact, the more you bother me, the less likely it
is you will make any sale at all.
By the time I left, I had a blockbuster headache. Everything became
annoying to me as a result, even the piano music, which I usually
enjoy.
Ugh, next time I need MAC, I will patronize the store at the Biltmore.
No more Nordie's for me. The romance is over.

Claire in SF wrote:
that
and how
how they
product,
even
an
I am embarassed to admit it, but I was suckered in by one of those
overly–aggressive lotion people that take advantage of people like me.
Although I didn't need the product at the time, I'm happy to say, it
wasn't half bad!
I never cared for the market research people that used to peruse the
local mall. Come to think of it, I haven't seen them for ages.
–Marcia

I was in San Jose a while back on business and I had a free evening so I
checked out the local mall(s). As I was leaving I felt this, uh, thing
being placed around my neck. He even lifted up my hair to do it as I was
walking toward the parking structure.
He: "Now doesn't that feel nice?"
Me: "uh ..."
He: "You'll really love this."
Me: "uh, excuse me ..."
He wouldn't take NO for an answer. I hate to be rude, but jeez!
That was almost bordering on assault!
Now don't get me started about the timeshare sales creeps in Las Vegas
who just about assault you the same way! :(

"S./NYC" <guiltyTAKEpleasureT...@hotOUTpop.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1c480efeafcfce23989...@news.west.Earthlink.net...
I shop Old Navy a lot and ITA with your assessment of some of the company's
merchandising practices that create/contribute to the creation of messes:
stacked clothes, too–high rods, and jam–packed racks. The three factors
you've mentioned are the three that I would list as primary contributers to
the mess creation.
I know each ON store is different but one of the stores at which I shop has
only one mirror on the sales floor so many people bring their items over to
the mirror to try them on and they just hang them on the rack nearest the
mirror regardless of where the item came from. I understand why some
customers do this, even though I don't do it. I'm not sure I understand why
there aren't more mirrors.
It seems to me that pants hangers aren't always strong enough to hold pants,
especially with heavy jeans and/or very large pants sizes that are now being
carried in many stores. ON isn't the ony store with folded clothes, and
Macy's and Nordstrom come to mind. Whenever I shop a folded display I
carefully lift the stack to get what I need and put the touched items back
in the stacks onto which they belong and at least try to half–heartedly fold
them but I have seen other customers who don't do anything close to that. I
don't know what a store with folded displays expects of a shopper, but
that's how I do it.
I've never gotten the feeling or impression that it is ON's corporate
opinion that customers aren't treating the store or merchandise with
respect, but as a customer/shopper at many stores I've occasionally seen
some hideous customer behavior. You and I are probably well–behaved
shoppers. But speak with anyone who has worked in retail and you'll hear
that most shoppers are great like we are, but then there are those who do
things you would never imagine. One of my gf's has worked in lower–end
retail for years and she tells me stories that are surprising and shocking
to me, yet she and the other workers take it all in stride.
Claire

"Lauri" <res0r...@spamlessverizon.net> wrote in message
news:dh2st0pvol6to630ussc4o05negqeip...@4ax.com...
I'm beginning to think that the beeps are either only in and around certain
departments, or else certain times of the day (I tend to shop weekday
mornings and early afternoons), or maybe just at my store. Certainly on
weekends I couldn't hear the beeps over the din of the shopping crowd plus
all the babies and kids.
Claire

hateith...@aol.com (Hateithere) wrote in
news:20050106133937.21610.00002...@mb–m12.aol.com:
If they actually do grab your hand without your permission, that's battery
and is against the law.
––
Poetic Badgers
"Snow.. snow, that can't be good for suede, can it?" –Jerry Seinfeld

"Frayed" <fra...@ix.netcom.comnobush> wrote in news:qOfDd.2149$%e1.112...@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net:
When I shop there, I raise my hand palm out in a 'stop' non–verbal while at
the same time telling them to stop with the spritzing or I'll speak to
their manager. That works for me.
––
Poetic Badgers
"Snow.. snow, that can't be good for suede, can it?" –Jerry Seinfeld

Ethylene wrote:
I got suckered in too. :–) Was it an "O–bey" kit?
I've never seen any marketing goons though if I do see one I'm going
to tell them what the mall needs: Sephora, MAC, DSW, Ulta, Marshalls etc.
Veronica
––
Makeup, it takes believing in. Like a magic carpet, it's belief that
makes it fly. Otherwise, it's just a rug.
If you believe in it, makeup has a magic all it's own.
Of course, makeup is only dime–store magic. But it works well enough,
when it's used properly.",
the makeup artist, from the book Sooner or Later, based on the 1978 TV
movie of the same name.

Old Navy is a disaster zone then there is the music that is blaring. Why
must stores blast music? Yegads.
Kelly


"Kerry" <kerryf.rem...@mit.edu> wrote in message
news:41DD681A.802DF...@mit.edu...

I think Hollister stores are ridiculous, with the dim lighting that makes
it impossible to actually see what the merchanidise looks like, loud
music, and teenybopper sales staff who seem unable to open more than one
cash register at a time, no matter how crowded the store is. (Yes, I
realize I am too old to be shopping there since I am over 16. But it is
one of the only places I have ever been where the stuff actually runs
small, and has a chance of fitting me.)
Of course, now that I know the parent company basically consists of
convicted racists I have no desire to shop there anyway.
––
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Melanie Lee Chang | Form ever follows function.
Departments of Anthropology and Biology |
University of Pennsylvania | –– Louis Sullivan
mlch...@sas.upenn.edu |
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

In <z9udnRVUb8Wvr0DcRVn–...@adelphia.com> cofarb wrote:
We were in WalMart today and Alice Cooper was being played as in–store
music. Not sure if that's good or bad...
––
Cheers
Dennis
Remove 'Elle–Kabong' to reply