MEGATHREAD 2018-2019 Store Modernization Megathread

[SFSFun]

Unless the process of store transitions is going to change, you need a dedicated team to perform transitions as we know them.

Maybe everything will be a revision in the future. No more "reset all of grocery in 4 days". I'd love to see 2 TMs experts pull that off

They are slowly changing this. Grocery hasn't had a full transition in about 2 years now. They just have revisions throughout the year.

There's no getting around full transitions in seasonal though. And they would have to give up occasionally moving entire departments around (like when we shuffled around 30+ aisles of home and domestics last year in preparation for the project 62 launch).

 

[IcePeasant]

I understand this COMPLETELY !!! And the amount of time it takes for YOU to observe, track, document these TMs over, and over, and over again is a massive time-suck. Your ETL needs a huge change to see the "big picture", first and foremost. You deserve their "executive" support and guidance. And your time is far too valuable to be wasting it on continuous performance issues.

My store is far from perfecting this modernization..... but I feel like we're making sound decisions and getting positive results. We're not just "masking" the problems with a quick fix. And..... if anyone is still unclear on this: it is ALL HANDS ON DECK. It sounds like you're the only one with a paddle on the sinking ship. Hang in there.

A lot of the team I work with understands the “One Team One goal”/“All Hands On Deck”, but it’s those few TMs/Leads/Leaders that need a little reminder, but it’s EXHAUSTING. I sometimes feel like despite there being other Leads on the floor, it feels like I’m doing majority of their work, especially the documenting, observing, etc. Of course I know any TL can do these things, but if it’s a long ongoing issue, I don’t know why the respective Lead hasn’t done anything. *rhetoric* I know one lead who steps off to do other non-work things or doesn’t respond on the walkie; irritating how there’s double standards, hope that changes. I just hope everyone is open and ready for all the changes approaching. We need to stray away from short term fixes which continue to negatively impact in the long run.

 

[samantha6161]

Considering a one bedroom apartment the size of a closet in NYC costs about $2,500.00 a month you need that $20.00 an hour at least.
I have friends who own a 2 bedroom condo in Manhattan and they pay almost $8,000 a month for a thousand square feet.
They pay almost as much as I do a month for my apartment to park their car.
NYC ain't cheap.

I'm about 400 miles from NYC, but I can tell you last year at my chain servers in NYC were reported makin up to a quarter million and bussers made nearly 70,000 on average at the busiest location.

They are slowly changing this. Grocery hasn't had a full transition in about 2 years now. They just have revisions throughout the year.

There's no getting around full transitions in seasonal though. And they would have to give up occasionally moving entire departments around (like when we shuffled around 30+ aisles of home and domestics last year in preparation for the project 62 launch).

From August until January you basically change all of seasonal once a month. You need people that know what they are doing to get that done.
For end 2 end you need people that know what they are doing, but you also need to give those people hours to get things done. In market you can't drop a depth manual if the food truck gets there at 6am and you're expected to do brt on a 4 hour shift.

You want to find people that will be good for modernization at $15/hour you need to give them full time and a set schedule. And I know this is a strange concept offer them overtime when workflow calls for it. That's either for tasks needing to be done. Or if guest traffic is a lot higher than expected.

 

[Octavian11]

Like anything, this process has its pros, cons, and chaotic variables. However, I think the job titles are rather silly in most cases. The new Orwellian cashier job title in particular gave me a good chuckle.

 

[RhettB]

The whole guest over task... without task, there is nothing for the guest to buy. My STL can't fathom this nuance.

 

[No I in Team]

Low is up to 27
Base is 27-72
High is 72+

If we look at these new ranges we can determine that the threshold for a LV store is about $205.50/sq. ft based on the average size of a Target Store being about 131,400 sq. ft. This is important given the changes that are taking place.

I am speculating at this being the point at which Spot looks at the store as an ongoing operation or candidate for profitability review.

In my case, our store is approximately 124,800 sq. ft. I believe we did about $24 Million in sales last year. That puts us at about $192.30/sq. ft. in sales or less than the average by about $13.20/sq. ft.

A nearby store at approximately 120,170 sq. ft. did about $50+ Million in sales last year. This equates them at about $416.08/sq. ft.

We now have some reference points for a little analysis.

Given the additional payroll/cost required to go to E2E or Store Modernization, stores like mine will struggle or fail to maintain profitability.

Gross Sales - Cost of Goods Sold (approx 70% of Gross Sales - Annual Report) = Gross Profit

This is not our Net Profit, but our Gross Profit which does not include any expenses associated at the store level, nor any of the expenses allocated at the store level by corporate.

At my store we have:

$24 Million - 16.8 Million = 7.2 Million Gross Profit. This is roughly $600K/month. Not bad, but this is not reality. We most likely generate the majority of this in a 3-4 month period. This equates to about 67% of it over a 4 month time period (75% over 3 mos.).

So if we allocate accordingly, we look more like this using 4 mos. peak earning:

.67 X 7.2 Million = $4.824 Million or about $1.206 Million/month Gross Profit for 4 (four) peak months. This leaves us at non peak with about $297,000/Gross Profit/month ($2.376 Million/8 months). A negative impact of $303,000/month. Ouch!

This is why LV Stores have struggled with payroll with the limited E2E/Store Modernization implementations. It appears that Spot projects annually when it comes to program results. This would explain the drastic cut in hours given the operational requirements to operate Spot's current and new processes.

To put it simply, we are not profitable enough to sustain Spot's new initiative throughout the year. We drastically cut hours already to maintain profitability with the current process. The additional payroll will only make things more difficult going forward.

Once Spot's payroll support allocation goes away so does the payroll to support the new program as I have witnessed in my store. This new program requires a certain amount of "static hours" in order to function. You will no longer be able to get by with slashing hours to maintain profitability as it combines work centers' hours and task into a daily activity regardless of other factors.

Gone are the days of Flow Team going home early/hours reduced or leaving the Truck for day side to push. Can't cut Sales Floor, because they have sets, signs, pricing, and/or they have to be there to push truck. In other words, we are now one. This new program relinquishes a lot of measures taken in the past to maintain profitability.

This also would explain the big emphasis in Team Members being pushed towards the new approach to selling. If LV stores fail, it puts more pressure on Base and HV stores to pickup the lost sales to maintain volume. If the LV Stores fail because of the new program, it ripples throughout Target now

The store I mentioned earlier could just about support our peak payroll requirements since their Gross Profits at non peak months would be about $618K/month. $18K higher than our average for the year. This is why higher volume stores do not feel the impact like the lower volume stores.

Source:
As of year-end 2017, the company owned 1,526 stores, owned the building on leased land for 160 stores and leased 136 locations. The average store's size was approximately 131,400 square feet, and there were: 274 stores greater than 170,000 sq ft; 1,500 stores between 50,000 and 170,000 sq ft; and 48 stores less than 50,000 sq ft.

Target | Real Estate | eMarketer Retail - https://retail-index.emarketer.com/company/data/5374f24c4d4afd2bb44465dd/5374f29c4d4afd824cc15c72/lfy/false/target-real-estate

 

[qmosqueen]

oh, the fun begins in 6 days !!

 

[Lazy]

So far at my store every lead and leader with the exception of AP and HR is now doing something different.

 

[starfishncoffee]

The whole guest over task... without task, there is nothing for the guest to buy. My STL can't fathom this nuance.

And in the inverse case, we're being given so many tasks I don't know how we're going to have time to say "hello" to guests. (This could be an ASANTS thing. I'd be willing to bet it is, for that matter.)

 

[No I in Team]

I used to be pretty active here on the forum (so I hope that counts for something), but I cut back posting once I got promoted to ETL. I’m not trying to sound like a fanboy when I post, but I’m telling you that modernization can work. You have to almost wipe your mindset of how we’ve ever done anything at Target. It’s all about team members owning their few aisles from the time Merch gets unloaded to the time a guest puts it in their cart.

My store is in a group that’s been unofficially implementing a lot of these operational changes over the past year. It was really tough at first. A lot of the stores in my district have TMs, TLs, and even a large chunk of ETLs who have been with the company for years (my first store had TLs and ETLs with 30+ years in). Changing the way we looked at things was the toughest part. And it also took us throwing mytime allocations out the window and really digging into the business and allocating our plan hours where we needed them. I’m telling you that this new pilot will never work on the schedules that myTime generates.

But once you get dedicated team members working each department of the sales floor, the results are impressive. Most everyone on my team that wants 30+ hours is getting them. The ones that want less are getting 15-25. They know what they have in stock, they know what’s been out of stock, they know when their new sets are coming up, they know their clearance levels, they can sell their Merch bc they work with it everyday, they can make smart merchandising decisions because they know what moves and they know their inventory...and one of the best things I can see from an HR standpoint is that they are proud of their department and their work each day.

In my group, there is not room on the team for team members or leaders who don’t want to adapt and don’t want to evolve. Stores modernization is the future and can be successful, but it is a radical shift from the way we’ve always done things. And the expectations and level of execution are through the roof. The new target is intense, but rewarding.

This all sound wonderful and all but can it be replicated? No.

How can I say this? Easy, you stepped outside the box and did your own thing with a seasoned team. Try it with new hires and inexperienced management who don't know Target and targetese. I'll bet your results won't be quite so appealing. Did you document your process along with your training methods with time lines? I bet you didn't.

You have results from a good core group of people and that's it. Kudos to you and your team for figuring out how to make things easier for your store. Good leadership is worth its weight in gold.

Now for the rest of the Stores in your group who are following the rules, struggling, and getting the ol' stink eye from corporate because they can't replicate your success are going to be a little resentful towards you once they learn the truth.

Did you ever stop and think what will happen when your leadership turns over and a new leaders step in? Chaos from conflicting practices and expectations. What about Team Members turning over?

This is why ASANTS is a cancer to Target. We're all doing something different but being measured as if we were all doing it all the same way.

 

[Backroom81]

Honestly, we’re looking at team members to have the level of investment TLs had 10 years ago. But we’re also paying them more than we were paying TLs 10 years ago.

No. We're not. 13 years ago, I was making ~$12.50/hr as a TL. Once you account for inflation, that amount is $16.32. I was also reliably getting 40 hours a week and store payroll allocation was more than double what it is today.

Now, I'm making $12 as a TM. Sure the rate is decent but payroll at my store is budgeted in a way that no TM gets more than 20. The TLs at my store are getting less than 30 hours.

 

[skrepo1977]

This is why ASANTS is a cancer to Target. We're all doing something different but being measured as if we were all doing it all the same way.

This is so beyond true. Bigger stores can hide behind a degree of inefficiency and have a degree of picking and choosing what they want to do with all these schemes that Target rolls out. I see that all the time in grocery and pfresh. While I have to follow that stupid E2E, Grocery Operating Model, and now Modernization to the T at my small store, larger stores that make $50 million or more simply ignore mandates. A great comment was made about this new zealot nature of serving the guest while ignoring the pushing of product that is needed to fill the shelves that would ultimately help the guest. As someone else said they look for short term solutions for long term problems. I could go into specifics that would make you shake your head but I do not want to necessarily out myself.

 

[Kartman]

Once you account for inflation, that amount is $16.32.

What formula did you plug your data into?

I wanna save it.

 

[Backroom81]

What formula did you plug your data into?

I wanna save it.

CPI Inflation Calculator - https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

Bureau of Labor and Statistics updates the Consumer Price Index monthly. The link is a handy inflation calculator that lets you plug in any dollar amount and convert it to a different period of time.

It's great for when my baby-boomer boss likes to talk about how he was getting fucked over for "only" $6/hr in the early 70s with only a GED and those "goddamn Millenial college kids think they deserve $15/hr"....and I show him that "only $6/hr" is equivalent to over $35 today.

 

[Kartman]

Very interesting. I wonder how accurate it is...

 

[Backroom81]

Very interesting. I wonder how accurate it is...

Any time someone talks about inflation in the US, they're using the data gathered by the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The website I linked is a .gov site.

 

[BigEyedPhish]

Anyone hear anything, about BTSurvey this year? If I remember right it is always about this time. My god, I can only imagine how negative they will be, was just wondering as I could see leaders going mum, to just take the hit, on attendance.

 

[RhettB]

Anyone hear anything, about BTSurvey this year? If I remember right it is always about this time. My god, I can only imagine how negative they will be, was just wondering as I could see leaders going mum, to just take the hit, on attendance.

As a TL, I quit taking it when it became online. Here.. log in with a login code that is exclusive to you. Reminder email if you have not taken it.

STL and ETL HR may not know how you answered.. but someone does.

It's not anonymous. Even for TM, if they answer the demographic questions.

 

[danimal]

In a flow stand point, this model is a bit worrisome. That means on days we can't finish, we'd have to keep rolling the push over to the next day. I feel like they should have fixed how merchandise is distributed first before doing this pilot. Essentially, it will be truck to shelf, which will mean more repacks and less casepacks. But I'm still seeing a lot of casepacks and a lot of repacks, especially when they're trying to front load sales..

I foresee an empty salesfloor....

 

[Frontlanegirl]

The whole guest over task... without task, there is nothing for the guest to buy. My STL can't fathom this nuance.

It is not just the STL, it is a company directive. Drop everything and respond to every guest means work will not be getting done.

 

[BigEyedPhish]

As a TL, I quit taking it when it became online. Here.. log in with a login code that is exclusive to you. Reminder email if you have not taken it.

STL and ETL HR may not know how you answered.. but someone does.

It's not anonymous. Even for TM, if they answer the demographic questions.

I could care less if someone at corporate is watching me pee.... let alone my BTS results... I take the quiz truthfully. On top on that, Target would get to learn more about a vertebrate's dick.

a good way for them to wish they had a spine.

 

[Frontlanegirl]

And in the inverse case, we're being given so many tasks I don't know how we're going to have time to say "hello" to guests. (This could be an ASANTS thing. I'd be willing to bet it is, for that matter.)

I think this is an "every store" thing.

 

[YourPPTL]

You have to take what your DTL says with a grain of salt.

If you proceed like that, you will be OK.

Well I'll do what ever i need to. I'm perfectly able to run my own dept, set all the plano stock and do all the price changes. I just don't think it works, end to end teams can't do it now. I guess we'll see.

 

[YourPPTL]

I don't think they are as integral as many of you think they are. Salesfloor can do the job. They basically are. Just in 3' or 4' sections at a time. Not hard to comprehend.

Sorry not everyone can set a plano. They just don't get it! They don't understand reverse. Their slow. I could go on and on..

 

[RunForACallBox]

The whole guest over task... without task, there is nothing for the guest to buy. My STL can't fathom this nuance.

Sometimes I think we are at the same store. My STL is the same way.