Today, we lost one of our ASM's, Backroom Lead, Pricing Lead, Frontend Lead and Footwear Lead! Who's stupid idea was this so called "Simple Store" concept? They did away with electronic audits and cut our jewelry audits from twice a week to every other week. Half of our inside lights are turned off and this gives the impression we can't pay our bills.....which we can't! They're in the process of slashing payroll by eliminating positions and cutout or reduced auditing processes in an attempt to reduce payroll hours/dollars but they don't realize the company will actually lose more in the long run. Customer service/satisfaction will plummet even further while Shrink will skyrocket. ORC, internals and the common shoplifter thrive on opportunity....SHC has created such a haven of opportunity, it will be impossible to control. It's getting easier and easier for a disgruntled employee to justify taking money/merchandise or making bad judgement decisions. I'm waiting for the next bright idea to be the elimination of all Asset Protection positions from the stores as another attempt to cut expenses in favor of "remote monitoring". The problems at SHC can not be solved by only concentrating on the lower half of the P&L but instead, they must develop strategies to improve sales and get more feet through the doors. As the old saying goes, "Sales cure all problems", may not actually be true but at least it allows you to combat all problems!
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I worked for Kmart for 27 years. Started out as a cashier and in the end gave it a shot as a hardlines assistant Mgr. The term manager is a joke when you have nobody to do the work but yourself. My health began to suffer and I was told by my DM that I wasn't paid to spend time with my family. As long as work needed to be done I was to stay at the store. At that point I started getting written up for refusing to give up my scheduled days off. It was then that my blood pressure hit 240/120. I decided it was me or Kmart. If I had stayed another year I would have literally died and nobody would have cared. I went to my doctor, got put on a medical leave. Once that was over I simply resigned by sending in a letter, I didn't even bother doing it in person. With the abuse I had suffered I wasn't about to give anyone the satisfaction of resigning in person. I have been back into a Kmart but it took me nearly a year to get over the trauma before I could go into a store again.
Sorry to hear this.
Dont know what section of country you are in but our store already went through this.
Dont go back. After a few weeks of severance they were begging us to come back part time...a few got full time under different positions.
In less than a year...
We are now in liquidation hell.
As I was walking out with my termination notice and severance package, there were lines all over the place people wanting help, the phone ringing off he hook. I said good luck to the service desk associate (who also covers like 8 other departments). I gave a few hugs and walked out the door. I will never go back again
Yup. I lost my job today. It's finally over after 10 plus years with Kmart!
Couple things. First off let me just say that I am one of those positions that was eliminated. Having said that, walk into a Shop-Ko sometime. Its dark as hell. Wal-Mart uses exterior lighting and darkened interior lighting. Just means we're trying to save money. Customers dont usually look at the lighting too much. You're not wrong through about us paying our bills. Cutting costs or watching the P&L is not going to save that company. Not by a long shot. Look at the counters. How many different things say "Due to Vendor issues". Half the shelves are empty. Vendor issues my a--. Yea, we aren't paying them, so they aren't sending it. Think Im wrong. Why are all the other retail stores getting their products. Look at the end game Eddie has set up. He sold off all the profitable retail to sustain so he could set up. KMart started as a mail order catalog company and its going to die as one. Except instead of catalogs, it will be online orders. That's the end game. Brick and Mortar is dead. Ten years from now Kmart will still exist except itll be an online only company.
This company is fading faster than Michael Jackson's skin.
If you think that SHC cares about sales then you haven't been paying attention. They are just trying to hold on until whatever end game Eddie and the hedge fund have planned. There is no transformation, simple store is a way to keep the different departments at corporate thinking that they matter. Customer service does not matter. What matters is credit card apps, SYW apps, warrenties and any other thing where you can get personal information to sell. Look at your job and store from this perspective and you will begin to get a clue. When you see what is really going on then you will understand. Most of the divisions at corporate, DM's, SM's, store ASM's are in the dark just as much as store level grunts.
Know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Don't stress over a lost cause.