Sadly most companies are doing the same. Home Depot is a prime example. They however don't do lay offs, they straight up fire especially in at will states. The result of cutting hours and eliminating skilled, experienced staff is a rise in e-commerce. People are tired of rude sales associates and disorganized, trashed stores. Do you think it's a coincidence that Macy's is closing stores. I personally love Macy's but their women's clothing areas look like a hurricane ripped thru them and it it seems that they are placing more areas of clearance merchandise. News flash, nobody wanted it at full price or when it was on sale. Mark it down and transfer it out or ship it back to the vendor. It just amplifies the disorganization.
Understandably, payroll is the most controlled expense but the disproportionate rise in rents for these stores is really the issue. Stores can't pay employees if all the profit is paying for the rent. Don't even get me started on the potential increase of minimum wage to $15. an hour and what that's going to do to brick and mortar stores. Now, I firmly believe that there is an over saturation of shopping options especially when you look at all the vacancies in older malls, strip centers, and free standing locations. We need to stop the growth, renovate existing and refocus on the customer experience. If millennials are to succeed in retail, let alone any industry, they need to be educated on basic skills like verbal communication, handwriting, and time and attendance. Technology is great but have you ever been in a store who's computer systems have gone down, talk about pandemonium. It's just math people! Addition, subtraction, multiplication. Why do you need to whip out your smart phone to figure out how much change to give me back. Ugh!! Anyways, I hope someone can relate. Needless to say why I won't ever go back into retail.