As a shopper of Target, it feels like the real issue is the quality of experience in your stores. Not sure how this gutting/reorg at HQ will solve any of the true problems that exist. The reality is the cleanliness, organization, employee availability/guest interaction, and in stocks have all fallen off the cliff. These are retail fundamentals that have nothing to do with speed in making decisions at HQ. Just last night there had to be 4 to 5 key grocery items not in stock. This is driving me to go to other retailers which are starting to become my #1 shopping location due to them have products in stock. Hopefully your senior leaders do actually monitor this to get the message. They don't listen to normal feedback channels.
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Well we have too many leaders in store too. There is no reason to have an ETL and Two team leaders for a team. Our store is a massive sh--e hole. Literally. The bathrooms are constantly full of ur--e and fe--s and often times blood. It sits like that all day. No one ever answers the phone, and I mean ever. SD is a massive pile of fe--s as well. Completely incompetent. Inventory accuracy is a joke so none of the areas that rely on accurate inventory can function properly. 110% turnover. None of the leaders know what they are doing. It's like a sitcom. Store has been a "red" store for 8 years. We have 6 TMs just on my team that need to be termed but we can't find the time, or afford to lose them. Every single TM is miserable and looking for other work.
Out of stock is one thing, the other is only selling Target’s owned brands and not national brands.
Replenishment has been a disaster for years.
- Flow Centers have always had significant DCI accuracy issues.
- The Food DC’s not only can’t DCI accurately but can’t replenish timely.
- Stores should be able to short order from food wholesalers to prevent empty shelves.
While I totally agree with you on most points I can say from years of day to day experiences working with leaders across all of merchandising and merch capabilities, their inability to make a decision and STICK TO IT is astounding and absolutely impacts in store experience. When inventory teams don’t get their final store counts until 4 weeks after they were supposed to, that will impact in stocks. It su-ks for all of us!! I have never once seen a merchandising cycle stay on its HQ Timelines and 99% of the time it’s because some leader(s) caused rework or went back on decisions that caused rework. And they won’t listen when we warn them about potential for inaccuracy/risks from rework or delays…. It’s bad
Target has truly perfected the art of alienating employees and confusing customers all at once and trimming staff while trimming accountability. Bold and efficient, Target!
@OP in addition to what you have pointed out, the quality of merchandise is a huge issue for me. I remember when I would buy lots of clothes from Target. It was my go to for all cotton basics and jeans. I still have 2 pair of awesome yoga pants from 2008. I can’t find anything to wear or buy there anymore and haven’t in probably 5-6 years now. It’s all cr-p. I now look for items like that at Costco. I find I go less and less to Target because of that. The Target today is now a shadow of itself.