I walked into my local Home Depot store and realized that for the first time ever I was finding every shelf fully stocked – no empty spaces anywhere – and not one item out of place. Not only that, but there were lots of friendly orange apron “associates” in every department, just falling all over themselves to be helpful.
Time to look stage left to see if Rod Serling was there? Halloween prank? Nope, I was there one half hour after the doors opened for the grand opening of a new store.
BruceT
Replies
Geeeezzzz, draw me a map, I'll be there tomorrow!
Now that you mention it, the last time I was in the orange borg I had a similar experience. Every employee made eye contact, said hello, and even asked if they could help me find what I was looking for. And this is the same place I've been to at least a thousand times without so much as a sideways glance. Methinks someone at HD HQ has been watching those Orchard Supply commercials where the customer wanders around in an apparently abandoned warehouse store and eventually has to hop behind the counter and ring up her own purchases. We'll see how long this lasts.
Dennis
I've had an mixed experience at our two HDs. The people that I do pass/run into are friendly, helpful, but they are few and far between most of the time. The store nearest us is very new, a year or so old. They have the worst staffing problem!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I've was in two HD stores this past week, and the number of "helpers" was less than it's usually pathetic amount.Both stores were almost empty at mid day, and they told me that they had cut back on the amount of help - and their hours.
I can imagine your disappointment when you wake up.
LOLBruceT
Good one!
Interesting. I was reading an article about HD's new CEO a few weeks ago. He's been in place about 8 months or so and is focusing on, get this, how the store associates interact with their customers! (That's a heckuva notion for a retailer.) He also believes the big orange box lost its way when it began focusing on expenses and stopped paying attention to its line employees (the ones that wait on customers) for input on how to take care of business. He's also sold off the "contractor only" businesses to focus on the homeowner.
I guess getting your clock cleaned by the #2 guy gets your attention. :>)
Kell
so i go to the depot to get some window pane glass. after considerable searching, i find a clerk willing to help. at the glass cutter he is standing with his back to me, staring at a tape measure. after about 1 1/2 minutes he turns around, holds up the tape and asks me "do you know how to read one of these?"
eef
by the way, when did i become eef6 ?
My experiences are similar, many of the staff don't know a darn thing about what they are trying to sell. Maybe, just maybe, if the CEO is really trying to get their staff to pay attention to customers they'll also start to hire people that know what they're doing.Chuck
yeah, but what person who knows what they're doing would want to work there?
eef
They always open a new store fully stocked with lots of staff. Give it about 3 months and go back.
That was pretty much the point of my original post; that they were fully stocked because they had been open only 1/2 hour.
BruceT
Don't get me started on Hoe Depot... I just finished a major reno, and I don't plan to go back until I absolutely have to! The two stores closest to my house are relatively new, I'm beginning to believe that no help would be better than most of the help I've received at the two stores.
I was in one over a year ago and was surprised to find a manned checkout station (they had mostly been only opening the self-check stations). As I approached the counter another customer rushed past me to get in front I looked around and there was a checker at the next station beckoning me over! I thought WOW but as I approached another customer darted in front again. Down the line at the third check-out station I was warmly beckoned again "come on down" they said. This time I made it up to the counter without interference but a bit astonished by the miraculous attention. As she checked me out the checker said breathlessly "we've got the president here today". "You mean George Bush" I asked. "No" she said "the president of Home Depot". "Oh" I said "I wondered why there were so many checkers today, do you have your knee pads on". "No" she replied "but how's my hair".
Edited 11/5/2008 8:23 am ET by bigfootnampa
If there is this much change when the higher authorities are present, maybe they are blind to the reality of HD's C/S. I'm sure that they hear complaints, but then they visit the store and see three cashiers and numerous associates ready to help customers and write off the complaints. Just a thought. When I go to HD, I am better of finding something myself than asking someone, although the paint department is an exception - everyone there seems to be on the ball, knowledgable and helpful.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
I worked in the hardware department of an HD store for a couple of years, until I was sucked back into the software business. Prior to that I was a steady customer in that store and knew the hardware section better than most of the staff. I can easily list the reasons that I left the job. The reasons are primarily brought about by the business model chosen by HD (and Lowes) and I would assume they apply to all big box chain stores.1) The pay sucks. A department manager may be making $15 an hour and you can safely assume that most of the staff are making around $10. There is also no employee discount.2) The ratio of full-time to part-time staff almost guarantees that the person you get will not be experienced. This is one of reasons that the cardinal rule for shopping at HD is to "find the orange apron with gray hair or no hair". Chances are they're old enough to have learned something before they went to work at HD.3. The hours suck. I started part-time with the clear understanding that I was retired, I was doing the job because I loved tools, and I would be working no more than 20 hours per week. I quickly found out that I would be working 30, then 40 hours per week. I also found out that as a part-timer I would only get one weekend day off per month, and I couldn't specify which Saturday or Sunday it would be. I also found out that I would be assigned shifts that started at 5 AM on a Saturday and 2 PM the next Sunday.4. Senior store management (both the ASMs and the Store Manager) are measured more on the average register ticket ($65 for the Ottawa stores), inventory control and how well they hold down overtime than they are on customer satisfaction. They also don't get paid very well and their hours suck. If you believe that most people work on the principle of "enlightened self interest" it's should be no great surprise that the ASMs and SMs deliver what they are measured against. I could make this a longer list but most of us who visit HD stores frequently, serving ourselves for the most part, already know another 4 or 5 reasons why shopping there is seldom a satisfying experience.Ron
I had heard that when a new store opens they send in a SWAT team that does just what you described. They greet you and walk you right to whatever you are looking for, etc. Once the SWATs leave it kind of goes downhill.
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