Thread regarding Sears layoffs

I've seen many ups and downs. failures and few successes. I've been told "maybe Sears isn't the right company for you." I've been told how sad people are to see this store close.

To the person that told me that Sears wasn't right for me. I'm still here at a store that is closing. You've been gone for almost 10 years now. Ya, Sears "let him go." So, who wasn't "right" for the company?

While, there are many people that I know and honestly believe are sad that the store is closing. There are many more that say the same thing, then ask "Where are the TV's?" Well, we haven't had TV's for over 14 months. So, you're sad that this store is closing. But, haven't been here for well over a year?

Sears, tried to be something that we aren't and should have stuck to doing 5 things.

1. Market a product. Through television ads, news paper ads, online and radio spots. Keeping the store clean and neat with enough support staff to achive that goal. Well, I guess neat isn't that much of an issue. Have you been to walmart lately? (LOL)

2. Selling a product. Which isn't difficult at all. Unless, you use a register that runs slow because it wasn't designed for a GUI. Our, systems ran JUST FINE, QUICKLY and RELIABLY using a text based interface. When they gave us IPads, then later kept track of our IPad usage? Threatening to fire us of we didn't use them "enough?" REALLY? People making a purchase, could care less about how they are being rung up. They could care less of what the interface on the screen is. I can't tell you how many HOURS of my life I wasted being on a phone so that someone at a call center somewhere could fix a sale that the IPad messed up. Why? Would I show someone a picture of the product that I'm recommending to them using a IPad when the product is RIGHT IN FRONT OF US? Now, I would take a person to a computer to show them a product that wasn't in the store. As the computers produced a much larger image which was much easier to view.

3. Delivering a product. Now, I'm human and rarely have I lost a sale because of my mistake. I did lose many sales, due to the incompetence of a delivery team, more times that I can count. I've called "Delivery Recovery" more times than I can count. Why? If a product becomes delayed and I have to make a call to get it fixed? Why? Wasn't it automatically taken care of? 9 times out of 10, delivery recovery could "move product around" to get the product to a customer on time. Again, why wasn't this automatically done so it didn't disrupt the lives of our associates and importantly the person that PAID for a product. The customer would have never known that potentially their product wasn't going to be on-time.

4. Install or hook up a product. I've rarely had issues with my local installers over the years. I guess we are fortunate in that respect.

5. Service a product. Something that Sears does that our competition doesn't. Which should be a clear advantage. Yet, If I had a penny for every complaint I got because of service. I'd have retired years ago.

While Sears was competitive in pricing with other stores. The largest amount of time I price matched Sears.com. Rarely, did I have to price match anyone (Menards, Best Buy, Lowes, Home Depot, HHGreg or a local competator), except Sears.com! Why, are we our own WORSE competition?

We used to have meetings every morning. With the phrase, "To Serve, De-lite, and engage our members as they shop their way." I'm not 5 years old. I know how to serve the people that walk through the door. With the amount of DECADES that I've been with the company, I've been successful. In that I've always return more money to the company then what I cost them. For the about 2/3rds of my Sears carreer we never had meetings every morning. Yet, we were profitable. Funny, how that worked out.

Eddie can blame everyone that he wants. The problems with Sears, began with Eddie. I figured out quite some time ago, that his mission was to strip the company of it's assets to profit himself. What was amazing is that the law and the company allowed that to happen. Now Eddie wants to buy Sears out of bankruptcy? What, he didn't get enough assets?

What chased people away from Sears? Simply, when Sears was successful was when the selling process was streamlined and stocked with products. Meaning, once a person said, "I want xyz." It would take me less than 3 minutes to ring them up and get them out the door. Not, 20 more questions once I got to the register. What needs to stop with Sears, is the constant pressure for this, that, that, that, that, then the other thing. Go online and purchase something. A customer can "ring themselves out" in less time that I can at a register. Online, you hit skip and it's gone and not asked again. Try that at a store.

Now that my store is closing. It's strange to see the fixtures and everything going. What is nice to see is former associates that I haven't seen for a long time. That have come back to see the store, for the last time.

I'll be sad, the last day of work. Not because of Sears. But, because of the Sears family culture that we cultivated. That is something that made me stay till the end and made "going to work" something to look forward to.

I won't miss the company and it's constant pressure for credit, MPA's, RA's, SPP's, IPad usage, installation. Yet, RARELY pressure to "get the sale."

If you had a customer that spent $5,000 or MORE. Certainly, the next series of questions were. Did they purchase PA's? Did they use a Sears card? Did they get anything installed? Did you ring it on an IPad? Were they a re-cap? Did you sign them up for "shop-your-way?" Were they a "bonus" member? Did you sign them up for the "water filter subscription?" Did you ask them to take the survey?

I was waiting for the question, "How many pieces of toilet paper did you use when you wiped?"

There is no entity on the face of this Earth, that could help you if you said NO to any of those questions.

There were many times that I honestly believe that they would have sooner NOT GOTTEN a sale verses selling someone something without a "MPA!"

Which I'm sure left people saying, "WOW! that was an experience." (HINT: Not a good one.)

This isn't the short coming of a Store Manager. It is the short coming of everyone above them that is giving them enormous amounts of pressure with the threat of their jobs, to "push" everything else.

I do not envy any of the "surviving" stores. As I'm sure the pressure is overwhelming. Makes you afraid to even approach a customer.

GEEE, I wonder why people buy stuff from Amazon.com. (HINT: One click buy, DONE. Now that is a WOW! experience!) Amazon's or Walmart's motivation is to sell you something P-E-R-I-O-D. Guess what. They are successful and not in bankruptcy.

Again, I'm going to miss everyone that I worked with. It was you that made it all worth while. Something that has much more value than money.