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Monday 16 December 2002
The holiday shopping season - big stores, big crowds... big service anyone?
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I, like many people, really can't stand the crowds & chaos of the holiday shopping season. Unlike many people, I try to avoid it. Some people shop early to avoid it. I'll admit, I'm too much of a procrastinator to avoid it that way, even though I know it's a good idea.
Last year, I avoided holiday shopping crowds by doing all my Christmas shopping on-line.
This year, being not very wealthy, and more of the mind that "it's the thought that counts" anyway, nearly all of my Christmas gifts this year involved more work on my part than actual money or shopping. (Sorry I can't say more, but it's a surprise. ;) But it means my family & friends will receive I know they'll like & enjoy for years, even though I lessoned my chances of winding up in the 'poor house' or the 'nut house' this year, (from spending too much money, or spending too much time in the crowds. ;)
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However, I did do a bit of shopping - materials, wrapping paper, shipping materials, and shipping... And that included, among a few other places, trips to Staples & Kmart in Edwardsville.
And I can tell you, if you still need or want something that stores like this sell, and you want to avoid crushing crowds, Edwardsville is the place to go. It might not speak well of local business revenue. But it could mean less of a headache for someone.
There were a couple of problems, but I got surprisingly good service (particularly for the time of year) at the Kmart & Staples on Saturday. The customer service people were helpful & cheerful. And so shopping wasn't half as bad as I expected it to be.
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I know someone who had the opposite experience, really. This person was saying that they had toy layaways at Wal-Mart in Wilkes-Barre, and it apparently it was something like a nightmare to pick it up. She couldn't understand why the Wal-Mart layaway department was so understaffed at this time of year, particularly considering that layaways have a pick-up date, and one would assume that would mean they could plan for the influx of customers at the layaway counter, based on the layaway pick-up dates. The scene she described gave me the willies... wall-to-wall shopper bodies pressed near together in the layaway area for way too long.
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It kind of confuses me. First, last week I was with some friends who needed to stop at Kmart in Wilkes-Barre, and it was busier than Kmart in Edwardsville this week (closer to Christmas). So the Kmart in Edwardsville just doesn't even get as much business as the Kmart in Wilkes-Barre. Smaller town, less people, after all. Second, Kmart has well-known financial problems - filing for bankruptcy under a year ago, while Wal-Mart is riding high as the world's biggest retailer. I would've expected Kmart in Edwardsville to be understaffed, and Wal-Mart in Wilkes-Barre to be adequately staffed for the season. But that's not the case. Or else, unexpectedly, people are just preferring to go to Wilkes-Barre to shop. ?
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I also know someone who manages a store at a mall in Northeastern Pennsylvania. And apparently he's been working 70+ hours a week this month. And it seems to me that his store must be understaffed for this time of year. But as bad as I feel for him, and his employees, at least it makes some sense, since he's working at a store that's not the most successful chain of its type, and it's not in a major mall like Steamtown or Wyoming Valley.
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It's a busy time of year at my job. Though I can't imagine working in retail myself. And around this time of year I can't help thinking that people in retail don't get paid nearly as well as they should for the amount of work they have to do, and do cheerfully.
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So what has your holiday shopping season experience been?
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posted by Chloe | Monday 16 December 2002 11:38 PM
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