I’m surprised that none of the reports regarding the earnings statement talked about the struggle the company will encounter because there is no current customer service sector. It doesn’t matter what cost savings or technology or what new profile the stores have if they can’t take care of the customer concerns and returns.
The stores don’t have the capacity to handle all the on line returns and meet customer expectations when there is no support. Delegation and pass the buck with every phone call and email....
Seems everyone above the store is afraid that Mark Tritton is waiting around the corner with a severance letter. His cheerful smile and optimistic tone disguise and distract the consumer but not the associates. The corporate associates seem to be where they are frozen in their tracks afraid to make a decision. The store associates struggle to figure out if there will be a company left to work for.
Only Store Managers benefit from good performance. Operations managers have long been the whipping boys of the company. All KPI, performance and profitability come back to them. Their performance gets the managers their bonuses even in this market. They get nothing and no annual increase. Store managers don’t want to admit that they ride on the operations managers coattails and reap the benefits.
Full time employees work their butts off and can’t get pay increases. Full time and part time associates go elsewhere because they can get a couple dollars extra at just about anywhere else. They will never get anywhere with $ .25/hr per year increase.