OT: More Wal–Mart trying to become a Target...

They had their annual analyst meeting last week (as did Target).
One comment that Wal–Mart made was that they would be "focused on
cleaner floors and bathrooms, tidy apparel racks and faster customer
checkouts."
Sounds like they've been sneaking into Target and learning how to run
a store! <grin/duck>
––
Visit Charlie's Sneaker Pages:
http://sneakers.pair.com/

Charlie Perrin wrote:
Bout time.
Bout time.
Boout time.
The local Wal–Mart has a dozen lanes and they are NEVER fully manned
even during Christmas rush. I've made the suggestion they put in a
couple of the self checkout machines like they got in Bloomington to
ease the wait when they only have two checkouts running.
The Local K–Mart had the machines but then got rid of them. I don't
know why, I loved them. No wait
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.

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 19:20:02 GMT, Veronica Moonlit wrote:
They had their annual analyst meeting last week (as did Target).
They say here they have them all open something like 10–10 on the
weekends. I've been there, seen plenty of cashiers, but I haven't
verified the claims.
IMHO, it takes a higher class of brain to run the self–checkout
compared to a regular cash register.
What's so hard about "don't take stuff out of the bags after you put
it in and before you pay for it?" However, sometimes, the thing
processes my adjusting of a botched bag as my attempt to take stuff
out of the bag.
K–Mart sent them all back about the time they went into Chapter 11
(they rejected them, they weren't repossessed). Rumors are they had
a greater incidence of shrinkage compared to staffed checkouts.
––
Visit Charlie's Sneaker Pages:
http://sneakers.pair.com/

Veronica Moonlit <veronicaMoon...@mchsi.com> wrote in news:C7u9f.290148
$084.156...@attbi_s22:
I haven't set foot in a WalMart in over 2 years, but I still remember
(with horror) how disgusting the bathrooms were. Puddles of water are
bad enough; puddles of urine are a different level of yuck entirely.
Michele
––
"I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at the dirt."
–– Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest"
Take out the NOT to get the correct email address.

Based on my experiences waiting in line behind other people at these
self–checkouts in our local Giant supermarkets, I fervently wish there
was an approval/licensing process for someone to be allowed to use them.
I'd take any test in a heartbeat if it meant not having to be the ad–hoc
help desk for these people just to get them to finish their transactions
so I can buy my stuff and go already.
The worst time was when someone's lovely child decided that while he was
waiting for Mom to finish scanning her purchases, it would be fun to scan
his library book just to see what would happen. I don't know who was
more angry at the result –– me, or the sales associate that had to make
the machine stop beeping.
Michele
––
"I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at the dirt."
–– Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest"
Take out the NOT to get the correct email address.

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 18:00:13 –0600, MicheleH wrote
(in article <Xns9700C1513B34Amichelehipo...@70.168.83.30>):
i just started going into one of their stores here this summer and you know,
I don't mind it at all. This one is fairly new and very clean inside and
out. No problems with the lineups and the place is usually very busy. And
of course the on site McDonald's keeps me in for a bit longer too :–)
––
Cheers!
Dennis
Remove 'Elle–Kabong' to reply

Wal–Mart isn't very well appreciated where I live. The company wants
to build, build, build, but it's often accompanied by protests. It's
not the dirtiness that we're concerned about, rather it's the labor
practice and the way it treats the employees.

"Veronica Moonlit" <veronicaMoon...@mchsi.com> wrote in message
news:C7u9f.290148$084.156...@attbi_s22...
My mother loved the self–checkout lines at K–Mart. One time she had a
conversation with a manager there and was told that the self–checkout wasn't
acutally reducing checkout times and payroll costs adequately because they
had to staff the self–checkouts in case of tech glitches and "user error"
(people needing help).
It's bizarre though that there are lanes that aren't in use even during Xmas
rush. I just read that online shopping will be even bigger this year :)

"Queue" <qu...@fashionhouse.com> wrote in message
news:oPKdnRD3ufbsy_XeRVn–...@speakeasy.net...
That may be what they're saying but it's simply not true. Here we have one
cashier monitoring six self–checkouts.
The idea of self checkouts was novel when they were optional but I find that
most of the time now when I'm in WalMart, all twelve of the self check–out
lanes are open, but only a couple of regular lanes. The other day I arrived
at checkout with a cart full in anticipation of a long road trip to find
myself in line behind three other people with full carts; this lane being
the only full service one open to people with more than 15 items. Other
than those two lanes, only the twelve self check–outs were open. At 9:00AM.
I like my husband's attitude about it – if they're going to make me check
myself out with more than a few items, they can pay me or give me a
discount!
I've had a running complaint in with WM lately about their cashier
management and lack of lane staffing. We have thirty regular lanes and
rarely are more than three open. The last time someone contacted me I was
told that due to lack of sufficient appropriate work candidates AND
financial restrictions, they were limited as to how many cashiers they could
have working at one time. Come on, though, three? Out of thirty?
Jamie

I'm not saying it's right, but as a former store manager, the reason
there are long lines and few cashiers in stores is because of payroll.
Store managers are under "extreme" pressure by there bosses to keep
store payroll at a certain percentage. It's really their only
controllable expense. If the payroll percentage remains high, the
manager will loose his job. Blame the stores corporate people for the
long checkout lines, not the store manager. its tough; I'm glad I'm not
in retail any more.

On Thu, 3 Nov 2005 12:16:30 –0500, richar...@webtv.net wrote:
My local Walmart has removed the "8 or fewer items" checkout.
Probably because people might buy more if there is no reason to keep
it under eight items.
I'm thinking of going in on busy days, gathering 8 very assorted items
without using a cart or basket, taking them to the checkout, looking
around, unsuccessfully, for the speedy checkout and then giving my
armful of stuff to a clerk because I "have to get back to work."
Marilyn

<mari...@utrillo.ac> wrote in message
news:40qkm151sfdaf2kg5ksq4eaauflskrp...@4ax.com...
I also contact corporate when I encounter this problem on a recurring basis
(say 4 visits). As a matter of fact, the last time I was smoking mad, I
called them right from inside the store. I'm not really blaming anyone,
just stating that it's becoming a real problem.
Marilyn, I've been forced to resort to this very tactic. Not on purpose
but with children who wouldn't behave at that moment or the time it would
take to check out and I've left largely full carts (I do notify someone that
I'm leaving it). If I can help it I don't, though, because of the time I've
already spent with them shopping. It doesn't seem to phase them in the
least.
Jamie

mari...@utrillo.ac wrote:
Marilyn, please don't do this. All you're doing is making more work for
the staff, who I think we agree are overworked and underpaid. How about
using your energy to write to corporate management?
I've been asked to write letters to our provincial government, and was
told, in that case, that a hand–written letter was more effective than
some number (10? 15? I can't remember, unfortunately) of printed ones.
Perhaps Walmart uses the same rule–of–thumb.

On Wed, 2 Nov 2005 15:45:09 –0500, "Jamie" <zuschlag–sequ...@tds.net>
wrote:
That's how I feel about the self–checkout lanes as well. Our local
Albertson's (grocery store) has several. My thought is......I'm
already pushing my cart around, loading it up, and will have to haul
the groceries back out to the car myself. You people can darn well do
*something* to earn your money and check out my order!
Lauri in WA

On Fri, 04 Nov 2005 19:09:48 GMT, iKitty <ikitty.nos...@shaw.ca>
wrote:
I will write and complain. From now until Christmas their store will
be crazy, and there is no way I will be waiting in a line–up of
jam–packed Christmas carts with my two pairs of socks and a
microwave. Or I'll just take everything to the checkout in the
electronics department. (g)
Marilyn

<mari...@utrillo.ac> wrote in message
news:ie1qm19ne2jc3v7dba5faoe0fajhe2c...@4ax.com...
I check out in the garden department. Lines are shorter there.
Audrey

<mari...@utrillo.ac> wrote in message
news:40qkm151sfdaf2kg5ksq4eaauflskrp...@4ax.com...
That's passive agressive/ineffective (not to mention and a waste of your
precious time.) Seems to me all that does is increase the cost of payroll
(to put those items back on the shelf) and it does not send a direct message
to people who need to hear it.
The former store manager sounds like he has a point. Marilyn, it would
probably be more effective to write a letter to corporate, customer
relations, and cc the regional manager, the CFO! They all need to get on the
same page.
Acknowledging the earlier poster: Payroll is a controllable expense but
without satisfied customers who will return, there is no payroll to control
;)

<mari...@utrillo.ac> wrote in message
news:ie1qm19ne2jc3v7dba5faoe0fajhe2c...@4ax.com...
Now THAT sounds like an excellent strategy (checking out at the electronics
department)! Thanks for the tip.
Besides, during the holiday season there is generally more leeway on
payroll. So there should be more checkers (though probably not enough to
minimize the lines given the throngs of shoppers0.