MEGATHREAD 2018-2019 Store Modernization Megathread

[Tessa120]

The fact that spot is making stores pay back all the payroll overspend from Dec Wk 1 and 2 is honesty wild to me. Saturday night December 8th, the company was OVER 1.14 Million hours of payroll out of a 46.4 Million hour total. This week the overall company is down to being 668k over.

Sales are on a steady incline but we can't seem to consistently allocate payroll to stores?

Also as for all the talk abt Target and modernization going in the toilet? Company store comp is up 4.46% YTD with higher comps in high-margin categories. So all these end-of-days posts abt Target needing to shape up before we become Sears need to calm tf down.

Flow Centers are coming and then we will finally get the each-level-replenishment we deserve (and hanging comes pre-hung for Softlines!!1!!11), but Target can't just drop billions on reinventing the wheel. Change takes times and reinventing a global supply chain to support just-in-time logistics is something that no one, not even Amazon, has nailed.

Oh and for everyone complaining about "not having Backroom space". I have 27 aisles of light duty, 4 aisles of bulk, and 4 aisles for softlinks/baby at a $56 MILLION DOLLAR STORE. Luckily we have an offsite so when guests order items located at our offsite, we have to ghost fulfill the order, email the guest informing them of the delay, call the offsite to request the item, have it delivered and put into hold by an offsite TM on the next scheduled delivery, then pray that guest service can find it in the pile on the floor called SD001.

I don't think I understand the nature of your post. Your first two paragraphs are very, very critical of corporate. Your second two paragraphs is saying how great corporate is and how all the problems are caused by the store level team members being impatient and demanding too much. And then your last paragraph slams store level team members pretty hard about how since you can make the storage space you have work then so can everyone else, even though you admit at the same time you have lots more space elsewhere that other stores don't have.

 

[BoxCutter]

I'd like to understand why the planning didn't involve switching the dc first.

Cost. DCs can't be reconfigured while they are operational. Closing them would cost millions more with diverting their workload to other DCs. Building new DCs is also millions of dollars. Someone at HQ did not do their due diligence, or, they did and lied.

 

[SitSpotSit]

Cost. DCs can't be reconfigured while they are operational. Closing them would cost millions more with diverting their workload to other DCs. Building new DCs is also millions of dollars. Someone at HQ did not do their due diligence, or, they did and lied.

So I wonder how it will end up happening and when? Why they didn't just leave well enough alone until it was all done at the dc will forever confuse me. 🤔

 

[GlobalTL123]

The fact that spot is making stores pay back all the payroll overspend from Dec Wk 1 and 2 is honesty wild to me. Saturday night December 8th, the company was OVER 1.14 Million hours of payroll out of a 46.4 Million hour total. This week the overall company is down to being 668k over.

Sales are on a steady incline but we can't seem to consistently allocate payroll to stores?

Also as for all the talk abt Target and modernization going in the toilet? Company store comp is up 4.46% YTD with higher comps in high-margin categories. So all these end-of-days posts abt Target needing to shape up before we become Sears need to calm tf down.

Flow Centers are coming and then we will finally get the each-level-replenishment we deserve (and hanging comes pre-hung for Softlines!!1!!11), but Target can't just drop billions on reinventing the wheel. Change takes times and reinventing a global supply chain to support just-in-time logistics is something that no one, not even Amazon, has nailed.

Oh and for everyone complaining about "not having Backroom space". I have 27 aisles of light duty, 4 aisles of bulk, and 4 aisles for softlinks/baby at a $56 MILLION DOLLAR STORE. Luckily we have an offsite so when guests order items located at our offsite, we have to ghost fulfill the order, email the guest informing them of the delay, call the offsite to request the item, have it delivered and put into hold by an offsite TM on the next scheduled delivery, then pray that guest service can find it in the pile on the floor called SD001.

The end of days is a long drawn out process. The hig turn over and empty shelves will hurt the bottom line in the long run.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

The end of days is a long drawn out process. The hig turn over and empty shelves will hurt the bottom line in the long run.

^This. The Target that we all knew is already gone, and the ersatz Target that resulted from its destruction is apparently now on the slippery slope to extinction. Empty shelves and inexperienced staff are not the keys to profitability. It takes more than cutting costs and payroll for a company to be successful.

 

[YoNanas]

SHOULD work and DOES work are two different things. Not enough hours and people who care and are actually trained in all aspects, are the reason Modernization does not work.

And the lack of leaders who actually WORK and you can go to for anything. And the shitty attitude they give us and treat us like we are in prison.

 

[YoNanas]

This! I can sooo relate!!! Never had I ever gotten a CCA in 20 years then this past year I all of a sudden became "stupid" and didn't know s***. I was being ostracized from my own department while the ETL and her "favorite" VM got all the recognition when things went well and when things didn't, it was on me. I applied for unemployment and am waiting to hear back. Never did I think it would come to this... I loved my job and I loved my team. All it takes is a bad STL and an ETL that from the beginning decides they don't like you and a 21 year career can be ruined just like that. I am curious to hear how much better things will be without me there to be the fall guy and who will get the blame now.

I feel ya. That is one of the main reasons that is stopping me from going for a TL. Because I see this shit happening at my store. I got a CA for the lamest shit ever for which I feel was a setup. And an ETL that just says petty shit to me. I've never got this in my 7 years with the company. That's why I just come in and do what I can and that's it. And I'm not stressing over anything here.

 

[YoNanas]

^This. The Target that we all knew is already gone, and the ersatz Target that resulted from its destruction is apparently now on the slippery slope to extinction. Empty shelves and inexperienced staff are not the keys to profitability. It takes more than cutting costs and payroll for a company to be successful.

Target is killing itself slowly. Not much guest traffic in my store this week. We wouldn't even be making sales if it wasn't for online crap. Empty shelves are FORCING people to shop online or go to WALLY WORLD. Cutting our overnite and early shifts to save the $1 per hour extra is backfiring.

 

[YoNanas]

My prediction is that e2e will be "implemented", but HQ will turn a blind eye to stores that covertly keep the old teams in place so they can get the tasks done.

I need to covertly go to my 5am shifts but my TL and ETL are butt kissers who deny that stuff so I wish I could go to those other stores that do it.

 

[YoNanas]

The entire thing is incredibly inefficient. The DCs have two major problems. The first is obviously their daily operations and how this freight makes it to the store. This is why we are "super sorting" our trucks, to make it look like this operation has improved when it has yet to change for decades. The second is the long-term freight strategy for buildings. As sales increase, the DC shuts off the "just in time" freight method COMPLETELY. We aren't talking about them maybe sending something a few days to a week early, they are sending things a month or more in advance at many stores. How much wrapping paper did stores receive in the last week or two? How much grocery freight were stores receiving in early October? It all went into our backrooms, and sat for weeks. Then in peak weeks for sales in those departments (Thanksgiving week for food as an example) we barely received any new food freight, because our backroom was sitting on a month's worth of sales (this is not an exaggeration).

The DC operations in those two categories are killing the supply chain for stores. Then these other operations are getting designed under the assumption that freight is arriving in the building at the time sales take place. For example, October is not a food sales month, yet they are receiving enough freight to last them through the end of November. They are not receiving the payroll to survive that in October, so sink. The areas that are making sales that month are having to give up their hours to help out the other areas. Then each month changes categories and the process continues.

This. Today unloading FDC Trailer. There was a QMOS clip laying in the corner by the dock thingy.

This. Tells. Me. The. Food. Will. Be. Garbage. Too. Soon.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

I got a CA for the lamest shit ever for which I feel was a setup. And an ETL that just says petty shit to me.

Seems to be a lot of that BS going around...🙄

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Maybe spot wants to be all opu stores only?

 

[jenna]

Maybe Spot can’t see the forest for the trees?

 

[starfishncoffee]

Maybe spot wants to be all opu stores only?

That has occurred to me, but at least at my store it will require a major remodel. I had more than one GS shift where I was mostly a runner, because we had to create locations in virtually every empty space. GS lacked the space to accommodate the orders, especially with Drive-Up being so huge at my store (as those orders had to be close to the front of the store due to the time limit).

 

[BoxCutter]

The end of days is a long drawn out process. The hig turn over and empty shelves will hurt the bottom line in the long run.

HQ can feel real good about the sales comp so far this year, but wait until January when stores start charging out their salvage. We have tons from September.

 

[Targetakahell]

No longer working for company since 2010. Could someone please explain modernization to me in simple terms (if that's possible) what this is? Thanks👠 we need a red and khaki emoji. Red pump cool but probably not something to wear throwing freight @ 4AM. 🙄

 

[OldSchoolVet]

No longer working for company since 2010. Could someone please explain modernization to me in simple terms (if that's possible) what this is? Thanks👠 we need a red and khaki emoji. Red pump cool but probably not something to wear throwing freight @ 4AM. 🙄

Modernization is the idea that each department is responsible for everything in that department. Working freight, backstocking, price change, setting salesplans and pogs, etc. The problem is there's not enough time or people to even finish the freight. My store is keeping its head above water by still having speciality teams (price change and plano). And then there's the new more "efficient" truck unload. It might look good on paper but in reality it's horrible.

 

[signingminion]

HQ can feel real good about the sales comp so far this year, but wait until January when stores start charging out their salvage. We have tons from September.

I'd love to check our numbers for damage and salvage. We've decided that defecting out stuff instead of marking down or forcing to salvage early is better than giving guests a chance to buy merchandise. Somebody had to watch that report...

 

[bizziemom]

So, I'm new to The Break Room. I've been at T for 6 years. Of that, I was Hardlines, Softlines, and now I only work on weekends as a cashier. I keep hearing there are changes coming the start of the new year (Feb '19), but, I can't get a straight answer out of anybody as to WHAT the changes are. The only thing I know so far, is my STL told me that his title was changing to Store Director.
Ok, no biggie. Its just a title change. But, what other changes are coming that might affect a cashier, or, possibly a Softlines (Style???) team member that only works on the weekends????????????????????????????

 

[theissueoftissue]

There is a colossal thread about this in the general target chat, pinned at the top.

“Modernization”

 

[Black Sheep 214]

Welcome!

 

[Target Flexer]

I don't think I understand the nature of your post. Your first two paragraphs are very, very critical of corporate. Your second two paragraphs is saying how great corporate is and how all the problems are caused by the store level team members being impatient and demanding too much. And then your last paragraph slams store level team members pretty hard about how since you can make the storage space you have work then so can everyone else, even though you admit at the same time you have lots more space elsewhere that other stores don't have.

I guess it does seem to contradict, but my point was really to say that while the "modernization" of stores are realized at a HQ level, they are fully aware of the toll that it is taking on stores. Still, as long as profitability seems sustainable for the foreseeable future, HQ has no reason to flood stores with payroll/resources to "save" them, regardless of how many doubles they force you to take.

I think that Flow Centers WILL make Target better, but I also think that these kinds of capital investment are expensive and not something that can be built at the drop of a hat. I think HQ has the right idea with supply chain changes, and even tho Sort & Stock has been a nightmare, imagine the ease once stores transition to Flow Centers. Teams will have become sorting experts on the old flow process thus simplifying the new flow process.

I guess I feel that stores level TMs cause issues because HQ fails to anticipate and thus fails to properly allocate resources across its network. Example: B+, B, C+, C, and D volume class stores should not be the only ones able to complete all their process'. That being said, TMs could do a lot to better execute to company standard to the best of their abilities and not be so anti-change.

It's easy, and even a little fun, to point out the issues but I'd be hard pressed to find a recent, substantive post with solutions to any of the problems others have expressed.

 

[Tainted Kool aid]

That being said, TMs could do a lot to better execute to company standard to the best of their abilities and not be so anti-change.

It's easy, and even a little fun, to point out the issues but I'd be hard pressed to find a recent, substantive post with solutions to any of the problems others have expressed.

While I'll agree at first most were resistant at our store including me it was mostly because they refused to tell us how the process should work. That just kept saying we have no idea because we are a pilot store and figure it out. I bust my ass now a days and still fall well short. I go home beat, tired as hell and for what to know I fell another day behind The amount of sales planners and price change to be done by my team after Christmas on top of the work load,helping guest and backups at the lanes are ridiculously out of touch with real life. Oh and don't forget all the transition freight that you have to deal with. I always feel like we're are at least one person away on my team to be in a good spot but you know how payroll goes.

 

[Tessa120]

That being said, TMs could do a lot to better execute to company standard to the best of their abilities and not be so anti-change.

It's easy, and even a little fun, to point out the issues but I'd be hard pressed to find a recent, substantive post with solutions to any of the problems others have expressed.

Imagine being a doctor who has 5 patients with infections but only enough antibiotics for 2 people and being told to cure all 5 people. Imagine being that doctor that had the resources months ago to obtain enough antibiotics for all 5 people, but is now being told that 2 rounds of antibiotics is enough for all 5 people and make it happen. That's where the store level TMs are. We are not anti-change, we are resistant because we don't have enough "antibiotics" (hours) anymore, and two or so years ago we did have enough. We cannot fit more and more and more into the same amount of time, there is a limit as to how much work you can do in an hour.

And that is why we bitch without suggesting solutions. Because there are no solutions that we can enact. Modernization would work wonderfully if there were an appropriate amount of hours allocated to fulfill all the new tasks, fulfill all the needs of the guests physically present in a store, and fill the registers well enough to get them out in minimum time without gutting the sales floor in the process. We have squeezed as much work as is humanly possible into the hours that we are given and we are still leaving with work undone. That is why we are overwhelmed and why we think the process is broken. I've said it before, we are a machine being denied oil, and that means the machine is barely working and at risk of irreparable damage. Give us oil, give us hours, and things would run smoothly.

And now with the whole shipment thing, it's just like the expectations beyond what can possibly be done with the hours given. Stores have only a finite amount of floor space and just like expecting too much tasks than can possibly be worked in the hours given stores can store only so much. We can cram and cram and cram, but at some point there's no more squishing that can be done, no more places things can be put without damaging merchandise from over squishing. So unless what's being sent is scaled back or unless corporate will put money into physical expansion of stores without upping their shipments in return, then there hits a point of ridiculousness that we have no solutions for, all we can do is kvetch over the problem, knowing change cannot happen.

Two years ago the store I'm at had 3 trucks a week. The floor looked good, nothing overly stuffed, nothing but the occasional folded table bare. Now my store gets trucks every single day and double trucks happen pretty often. That's a LOT more product being sent to the store. So if you think it ridiculous to bitch without offering solutions, then offer your own. Where can a store that is getting 2x to 3x the amount of stuff that they had just a brief time ago put all the stuff? What is your solution to 2x to 3x more product but no more space, and it being a solution that store level can authorize and implement? Let's hear it.

 

[Backroom81]

TMs could do a lot to better execute to company standard to the best of their abilities and not be so anti-change.

TMs would be open to change if the process had streamlined the workload to justify the hour cuts. It hasn't.

The unload process is basically the same it has been for at least 20 years. The only major change I can think of is that they no longer have to scan in trucks piece by piece and mark "push/backstock" as they go. This was changed several years before E2E.

Sorting by department is basically the same. You still have to take the case off the line and place it on the designated cart. Since the process was moved to dayside, pallets have been replaced with flats and uboats. This means there's more carts to put cases on to and more tracking required. This also translates to more time spent as running freight to the floor takes MANY more trips.

As stores transition to receiving more repacks of individual pieces, this process will take much longer as the stores will now have to either:
a) Sort those repacks in the backroom by aisle (or 2-3 aisles) so they can stock them more quickly on the floor.
b) Attempt to take a flat of repacks on the floor and work them out there. This means FAR more steps as you might have items from different ends of toys in the same repack.
In my opinion, this part is the worst for Modernization. It's basically turning half of the truck into a giant autofill and has the added bonus of making the DC end take much longer.

Moving almost all flow processes to a daytime shift and eliminating standard salesfloor TMs means all of this now has to be done at the same time as helping guests, backup cashiering, cleaning spills, etc.

Removing the backroom team means too many hands are now involved in the stockroom. This results in a far higher error rate in BRLA and makes any process for finding stock for the floor and SFS take significantly longer. And you can't pin it on the Backroom TL (if the store still has one) because you can't hold a single person responsible for the actions of every idiot with a PDA that walks back there. A dedicated backroom team is a necessity.

The concept of "everyone owns an area" like it's a new thing is laughable because any flow and sales floor ETL/TL who was halfway smart kept dedicated people in each area LONG before Modernization. You don't want a person to go from stocking toys one night to HBA the next to furniture the next and so on. You want your teams to know their assigned areas inside and out. Done right, they develop a sense of pride over time. It also makes accountability far easier. If bedding is consistently stocked wrong and only 1-2 people do bedding, it's easier to figure out who's messing up than if you have a revolving door of people every night.



That's enough for now and I didn't even address how badly this effects pricing and planogram teams too; not to mention fixtures and signing.