Don't get me wrong, he is in charge and has to be aware of everything going on...I recall hearing about our plan to be "one Staples"...looks like it became a plan just to help a few folks....I have worked with Demos and Otis and at one time they seems to be worlds apart...recall Demos delaying a meeting at corp just to spend more time with GMs, while Otis has always been..I'm right aways and do it my way or go away...once Otis moved to corp...ideas on cuts started coming fast and hard...in the field became known as Otis wanting to become Trump with favorite thing was to say "you're fired"....but when you dig deeper, you have SVPs and RVPs creating their own programs and by passing corp...so if corp plan was to cut hours and reduce tasks, they decide that with less task from corp, they could create their own tasks / programs....most DMs, scared for their own jobs, have to drink the kool-aid and drive the teams harder...this has driven off great team members that drove this once great company to the top...these same loyal associates have been treated so bad over the past 3-4 years that the few that are left are so beaten down that they are just hanging on until they are fired...folks with experience are looked at as a problem when the real problem is folks like SVPs, RVPs and DMs that think we still have 600+ hours to run a store like they did 10+ years ago when they were managers...so without changes further done, we are only putting a bandage on the problem.
5 replies (most recent on top)
I feel Ron needs to go just because of the current state of the company and the stock price. Not to mention the whole undeserved bonus situation. Never really had much to do with Demos, but same thing, the company needs a clean slate.
Otis I have met, and he needs to go with severe prejudice and no severance. Out of the three he is the most responsible for driving people good people away from the company, and his management style is so belligerent it is borderline malicious. I applaud all the people that held in their rage when dealing with this grade A mofo. Not wishing violence here, but if I was on the jury I would probably vote to acquit the associate or manager that finally went off on him. I have met him on a couple store visits and he goes out of his way to provoke people. Bottom line, he is an axe man, not a leader, and should never have been raised up to the level he has. Hopefully spring will bring a replacement for Sargent and they will take the broom to all the execs. A clean slate is absolutely needed to turn this ship around.
One last item: TRUMP! what the hell did he do to F*#K Staples... Nothing! Otis wants to fire people that HAVE PERFORMED. Trump fires people that DONT perform... It's a very very big difference. In this instance R, D, O don't perform and so richly deserve to be FIRED.
My book has just been accepted for publishing... you will hear soon! The Title
"FROM GREAT TO FOOTNOTE, How a 30 billion $ retailer reveals the failed future of all retail and will change your life"
Almost forgot: Staples is O V E R... I don't see any hope here, but God I love your optimism... SPLS $5.50 by April 2016.
Heart felt ... but in the end wrong. We ALL knew that there were ZERO growth categories in our inventory WAY BACK in 2006. How many digital cameras did a store sell 2009, then 2010 then 2014 etc... only if you were BRAIN DEAD did you not get it. However that is a tiny tiny example of the real problem. Lets stay with the dig cam example (although there are 100's more). Your customer walks through the door in 09 and is somewhat sophisticated back then. You sell them a high tech camera at a premium price. Everyone goes home happy. Fast forward to 2014. You offer a 16 gig ultra camera at an exceptionally low price from a high quality manufacturer. They walk out... Well everyone I ever spoke to predicted this in 2010. We all know why (if you don't know why please stop reading) because we all were using our own smart phones to do what those cameras did without having 2 devices in our pocket. WHO DID NOT KNOW?! RON DEMOS OTIS they all thought it was """"YOUR FAULT"""" heeheh this is the epitome of exceptionally ignorant. I truly wish poverty on these simple little boys who are the perfect example of failed management and certainly vision..... HELLO AMAZON hehehehehe