Archived Department that needs improvement most!

[RedShirt1]

Which department do you guys think spot needs to improve on, that would be the best choice business wise? For example, I went over to a large furniture store today, and realized how poor our electronics and furniture area's are. The employees were all so well informed of their products too, I've gotta say, I was impressed...

 

[ClearanceMaster]

I think this discussion was somewhere else.. there was a ton of great ideas In it..

Honest to god, since the mannequins, we need to get a ton of fixtures with high capacity. We lost a ton of racks and are still getting the same amount of clothes in.

Also, have you seen the vitamin aisle reset? Every shelf possible should be one of these Instead of the stupid pushers.

If they revamped all the areas like that, what we have wouldn't be so bad. It just looks like crap on the shelf because its not presented that well.

I was in walmart this week. Every aisle was zoned to perfection. It didnt matter that everything on the shelf was cheap, made in china crap, it looked nice and i wanted to check it out.

The problem with my store is the size of it. There's not that much room to add more furniture. I think they should add a little area with a catalog saying what we carry online though. With a display wall of the different finishes. And maybe let us complete a purchase right there from a Kiosk.

Electronics though, definitely. We really need to get out of the cd market. New releases, yes.. lets sell them on an endcap. But nobody is rushing to buy that cd from last year thats still on our shelf.
They need to rip ou the boat, wasted space. get rid of it and make an open floor pad with counters of computers/tablets/cameras/phones/apple products with a few registers on the ends. Then do aisles surrounding that of Blu ray players/video games/printers/computer accessories. The tv wall is fine, they just Need to add lights or something to make it more.. inviting. And for god sakes keep the price points up. Half my Tvs are missing the signs.. Since they added the display cases for cameras, tablets, and video games instead of the old "hey can you get this game out for me so I can look at it" I don't feel like target has done much of anything back there. it's sad really..

 

[unknown]

The mop and broom aisle needs redone with all new fixtures and signing. The signholders there are yellowed. It's a struggle to push because the set up has always been poor. It would be inexpensive to fix and would make a huge improvement with little money.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Revisions done on time will fix most issues. Staffing, poor sales & payroll are the biggest issues for spot.

 

[sigma7]

The problem with my store is the size of it. There's not that much room to add more furniture. I think they should add a little area with a catalog saying what we carry online though. With a display wall of the different finishes. And maybe let us complete a purchase right there from a Kiosk.

Electronics though, definitely. We really need to get out of the cd market. New releases, yes.. lets sell them on an endcap. But nobody is rushing to buy that cd from last year thats still on our shelf.
They need to rip ou the boat, wasted space. get rid of it and make an open floor pad with counters of computers/tablets/cameras/phones/apple products with a few registers on the ends. Then do aisles surrounding that of Blu ray players/video games/printers/computer accessories. The tv wall is fine, they just Need to add lights or something to make it more.. inviting. And for god sakes keep the price points up. Half my Tvs are missing the signs.. Since they added the display cases for cameras, tablets, and video games instead of the old "hey can you get this game out for me so I can look at it" I don't feel like target has done much of anything back there. it's sad really..

The innovation remodels that are rolling out this year are focused on Electronics/Entertainment and Home. These departments are going to be completely revamped. Electronics is going to look like the Apple store and Best Buy had a love child. Entertainment reduces space on the floorpad to make room for this expansion, but it receives updated fixtures and a whole new look. Home is going to look totally different throughout. There are all new focal areas set up like a flat. Almost like a Pottery Barn. New focal displays for the trend runs. They'll now be on cubical tables. The wooden focals and furniture focals go away. Almost all large box stock for furniture gets moved off the floor leaving just displays and more room for merchandise people can actually pick up! So much more too.

My store is cycle 2 for this year, so we start in about 7 weeks. I'll be posting a ton of pictures then!

 

[PassinTime]

My store begins the Electronic and Home remodels next week. The photos showing us how Electronics will look is definitely a step in the right direction. The new look for Home seems very out of place for Target. Just a very different looking set up...trying to look too upscale for Target.

 

[sigma7]

Not to sound like a corporate parrot, but Target is evolving. We're trying to get back to being on the cutting edge of retail. I think all of this is a step in the right direction. Not to mention that my store could stand to look a little more upscale. Maybe then we could get back some of our guests who have extra money burning holes in their pockets.

I really feel like Target is making the right moves to reposition itself as the fun, somewhat whimsical, cheap chic place it used to be. That whole identity was lost somewhere along the way during the last decade.

 

[Sickofspot]

Is it wrong to say HR? Target is taking the humanity out of its business. More and more, they hire an ETL-HR who focuses more on tasks than morale. Happy employees beget happy guests. Positivity is infectious.

Sorry, I don't believe this company is becoming more fun. I still know a lot of people, working at a broad range of stores. All are so miserable. They hang on for dear life, while looking for other employment opportunities.

 

[Patty]

I would Love it if the dept that sends us so many damm tshirts would try and keep that mess folded all day! And more room for shoes !

 

[sigma7]

Is it wrong to say HR? Target is taking the humanity out of its business. More and more, they hire an ETL-HR who focuses more on tasks than morale. Happy employees beget happy guests. Positivity is infectious.

Sorry, I don't believe this company is becoming more fun. I still know a lot of people, working at a broad range of stores. All are so miserable. They hang on for dear life, while looking for other employment opportunities.

I meant fun for guests, not for the workers necessarily. But a lot of having fun at work has to do with your store's morale, leadership, and team. I never thought working for Target was fun because of Target. It's fun because of the people I work with. It's not fun because of people I work with.

 

[PassinTime]

I hate to say I have no idea. I shop at Target and I work at Target and really don't know what departments we have. I kinda know, but certainly couldn't name them all. I am a cashier, I'm paid cashier's wages ( meaning not a lot) and therefore stick to what I am actually compensated for. I also knock out a few Redcards each week since our store rewards us pretty decently for those. So I don't really give much thought to the physical store.

 

[qmosqueen]

it's all about staffing. Cannot do the job if you don't have the TMs ?? What closing this past Saturday night we had 3 Hardlines TMs on a Saturday night with AD take down, and the sales goal was $190 K.... WTF, who makes this schedule >??

 

[Mhugh220]

Mini Seasonal/Seasonal could be rethought. During periods of no obvious ideas (Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter) I get tired of seeing second location stuff. Putting more of the same products on the shelf isn't helpful. They should come up with a better marketing scheme than bulk paper towels, second location cereal and hand soap. Bring in some name brands people want to buy, don't create a mini backroom on the sales floor until a holiday comes around.

 

[Bullselle]

Not to sound like a corporate parrot, but Target is evolving. We're trying to get back to being on the cutting edge of retail. I think all of this is a step in the right direction. Not to mention that my store could stand to look a little more upscale. Maybe then we could get back some of our guests who have extra money burning holes in their pockets.

I really feel like Target is making the right moves to reposition itself as the fun, somewhat whimsical, cheap chic place it used to be. That whole identity was lost somewhere along the way during the last decade.

*gag*

 

[asidius]

The granola bar aisle. At my store it looks like a bomb hit it at night. There has to be a better way to handle all those boxes.

 

[RunForACallBox]

The innovation remodels that are rolling out this year are focused on Electronics/Entertainment and Home. These departments are going to be completely revamped. Electronics is going to look like the Apple store and Best Buy had a love child. Entertainment reduces space on the floorpad to make room for this expansion, but it receives updated fixtures and a whole new look. Home is going to look totally different throughout. There are all new focal areas set up like a flat. Almost like a Pottery Barn. New focal displays for the trend runs. They'll now be on cubical tables. The wooden focals and furniture focals go away. Almost all large box stock for furniture gets moved off the floor leaving just displays and more room for merchandise people can actually pick up! So much more too.

My store is cycle 2 for this year, so we start in about 7 weeks. I'll be posting a ton of pictures then!

That would be amazing to see! Can't wait!

 

[oath2order]

My store begins the Electronic and Home remodels next week. The photos showing us how Electronics will look is definitely a step in the right direction. The new look for Home seems very out of place for Target. Just a very different looking set up...trying to look too upscale for Target.

...That's a good thing. One of the pulls of Target is trying to be more upscale than competition, and now they're actually trying to be more upscale. I like it.

 

[RetailWorld]

Electronics needs the most attention. It needs to be completely ripped apart and rebuilt.

Kill the boat. Give the team members a tablet with a credit card reader and POS software. Option to have receipt sent to email(Collects guests email for marketing as well). Have 1 endcap dedicated towards a register with cash/check reader/thermal printer. Bottom cabinet is for supplies(Pens/Pencils hip printer etc). This'll force the TM to be out and about mingling.

The TV Wall isn't as flexible as it needs to be . You end up with holes half the year, and Target doesn't sell peg board.

Cameras shifted in the right direction. But I think the lock boxes on the bottom look sloppy and unprofessional. Shift to a "Stocked in the Back" model. It'll clean it up.

Cell Phones - Cell phones themselves are merchandised very well, but the accessories are a pain. We have cords/plugs everywhere, iPhone stuff is strangely merged and it's not intuitive at all. Needs a complete rehash.

Tablets...need an entire aisle with tablets with more consumer information. Definitely an expanding market. Printing out infocards is a pain...each tablet needs an ISM card with specs and QR codes to product info. Merge with laptops/netbooks.

Video Games - This model is beyond ancient. It hasn't changed in nearly a decade. Needs new fixtures, reorganization. Infinity/Skylanders needs it's own aisle or island. Amibo needs to be merged into Wii. Shift to a browser set and purge out the backroom. Suncoast it. It seriously looks nice.

Media - CD's HAVE TO GO. Nobody buys physical media except for grandma/grandpa and people getting the new releases. If we're pushing digital media so hard(Tablets/Phones) and shrinking physical players(How big is your "boom box" area? How many portable CD players do you have?), then we need to shrink the physical media as well. Kill the browser, shift to how DVD's / Blu-Rays are stocked. 1 endcap with new releases, 2-3 endcaps with "featured" stuff, and maybe 12-16 feet of inline planogramed.

Books/Movies - Actually these aren't bad. Organization could be better. The kids "layered" shelving really sucks to zone/research but it gets shopped pretty well.

That's just off the top of my head. Electronics shopping is typically an "experience"...getting to try out different fun toys and nerd talk with a team member...and Target doesn't deliver that "experience"

 

[sigma7]

*gag*

Haha! Gag all you want, but this is where Target is heading. Getting rid of the excess at HQ and focusing on its stores and what the guest wants. I think this is smart. I'm sick of being Red Walmart.

 

[TallAPGuy]

@RetailWorld That actually sounds like my store. We opened in October so we have most of the new and fancy setups, and the Infinity, Amibio, and Skylanders all have their own islands.
My biggest problem with the electronic section is that it's split by an entrance into a mall. It's a pain for both guests and electronics team member, and the amount of loss through the door is amazing.

 

[sigma7]

The innovation has tables for different products. Cell phones on three, tablets on one, and laptops on another. All live demos. You get a small Apple store type area for all things Apple. Browser drastically reduces to 12-20ft. Discovery tables for new releases. A TV showcase wall that makes a dramatic impact versus the one or two tvs we have now that play the channel red loop. It looks really good. No major changes to video games yet, but that's something that needs to happen in the next couple of years. If we can get product into the guest's hand, there's a better chance of them buying it.

 

[commiecorvus]

Mini Seasonal/Seasonal could be rethought. During periods of no obvious ideas (Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter) I get tired of seeing second location stuff. Putting more of the same products on the shelf isn't helpful. They should come up with a better marketing scheme than bulk paper towels, second location cereal and hand soap. Bring in some name brands people want to buy, don't create a mini backroom on the sales floor until a holiday comes around.

They really do need to come up with smart, well planned events events to fill that space.
Trying to be Costco during that time is such a waste of space, manpower, and time.

(edited from blows to "is such a waste of space, manpower and time" in the interest of being precise. It still blows.)

 

[Bullselle]

Haha! Gag all you want, but this is where Target is heading. Getting rid of the excess at HQ and focusing on its stores and what the guest wants. I think this is smart. I'm sick of being Red Walmart.

I agree, but did you have to phrase it in such a "fast fun and friendly" way?

 

[sigma7]

I was FFF long before Target lol

 

[RedShirt1]

Wow, now I'm excited to see the new electronics whenever they finally roll that out to my store. Like @Mhugh220 said, that whole seasonal area between seasons needs something better than the mini costco. Creating a bunch of second locations just makes pulls take longer. They could use it to release/showcase new lines of product maybe. Like the Lily Pulitzer stuff, but with more inventory and more products...we all know what a pain in the ass that turned out to be the way it was run.