Fall National Meeting

[Reshop Ninja]

Exactly. I think a lot of people don't realize that at least half of the states in this great union of ours have minimum wages of ten dollars or less an hour last time I looked. Federal minimum is currently still $7.25, which many states follow.

Sure Target deserves some criticism like all big corporations, but paywise they are competitive and better than some. Lots of people like to go on about poor retail workers and their crappy minimum wage jobs, but that really isn't always the case. I get paid over $16 an hour to hang and fold clothes. I'm not complaining!

Target is not competitive at all in my area anymore. You can get hired at Panda Express and make more money working there then Target. Almost every business in my area is advertising a starting wage of at least $15 an hour if not more. I also know for a fact that people on this forum have talked about how the starting rate of the Targets in their area going up.

 

[jenna]

Oh, it's 100% the DCs. If you fold cloths, stuff them in a repack, and throw it around a bit, the folds stay intact for the most part.

I believe they're starting to look into DCs for data integrity issues too. There are far too many mispicks coming into stores and inaccurate loads on top of that (things supposedly being on the BOL for one truck, but physically being on another and getting INF'd or audited as a result).

: head tilt :

Don't forget about break pack labels being attached to products -- and then they can't be peeled off. *defect* right out of the repack.

Or stores getting case packs intended for another store.

Or product being sliced open at the DC, and then sent to stores, anyway. *defect*

ETA: or shit in a repack busted open and leaking all over everything. *defect* x20

prefolding undies is a waste. SFS will just dig through them, anyway. They need to cut back on the amount sent to stores... so there is less to maintain/fold/zone/back stock/leave piled in a repack or WACO.

 

[jenna]

I’m sure it’s a machine but yeah they have to pay for it to be folded at a factory before it gets send to target to be loaded in repacks. It typically looses its fold due to the DC or on the trailer. They actually talked about doing visits to DCs and Stores recently and shocked at how bad the folds were by the time it reaches stores.

I think my eyes rolled so hard they just fell out of my head.

Wait til they see a repack with leaking shampoo, and half or more of the items are now *defected* out due to damage.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

I think my eyes rolled so hard they just fell out of my head.

Wait til they see a repack with leaking shampoo, and half or more of the items are now *defected* out due to damage.

Lol I also laughed but I think when they typically went to DCs they don’t see the details just what they want to see but this time they had to actually dig in and see the reality. First time all 3 pyramids are working together to solve an issue like this. (Store Ops, Merchandising, and Supply chain). Normally someone from store ops roles our a new process or says what they want without actually knowing how it effects the buyers and the supply chain. I’m actually semi hopeful these changes are sustainable because of this.

 

[OldSchoolVet]

Yes, yes, yes to fixing the issues with folded!!!! 🙌🏻 And sort in general! It drives me nuts the way the folded items come in all jumbled up in the repacks. And the panties. I loathe anything folded (but especially the panties) that is a slippery material so if it came in already folded that would be amazing.

The fact that they're folded at all is a complete waste of time. Just sort them by size and style and throw them in the drawers. I doubt the guests care.

 

[Dream Baby]

Target is not competitive at all in my area anymore. You can get hired at Panda Express and make more money working there then Target. Almost every business in my area is advertising a starting wage of at least $15 an hour if not more. I also know for a fact that people on this forum have talked about how the starting rate of the Targets in their area going up.

This: Target is not competitive at all in my area.

My local Kroger struggles in my area too because they only starting at $13 or so.

 

[Dream Baby]

I think my eyes rolled so hard they just fell out of my head.

Wait til they see a repack with leaking shampoo, and half or more of the items are now *defected* out due to damage.

So apparently loosely packed items move during shipping.🤔

 

[MrT]

They must be the same people that think you can open the trailer door without an avalanche of product crashing at your face.

 

[jenna]

They must be the same people that think you can open the trailer door without an avalanche of product crashing at your face.

: slow clap :

 

[balthrop]

So apparently loosely packed items move during shipping.🤔

Also water pallets on top of toilet paper tend to weeble wobble to the trailer floor.

 

[FlowTeamChick]

Could it possibly happen that someone who has some authority to make changes looks at how repacks are packed? Be still, my heart!
Seriously, I get repacks so overloaded with heavy things like vitamin gummies and contact lens solution or bundles of mouthwash and cough syrup that the bottom is unable to support the contents. Or with a bottle of beard oil that's completely empty and all the other contents in the box have a coating of oil. Or fragile boxes of bandaids are crushed by a big jar of MetaMucil. Or a package of panty liners that's been sliced open. Or worse, where a bundle of six packages of contact lens solution is sliced all the way across the top, front and back, so I have to defect out all six.
Makes me nuts.
On the other hand, it makes me nuts when someone who has the authority to order changes is someone who obviously has not ever done the work affected by the change. It still bugs me that my back room space was reorganized so it conforms with what corporate wants, yet it works so badly compared to how I had it set up. Things fall out of the open-ended wacos, sometimes on my head. (No longer using the top shelf of those wacos at all, which means lower shelves are crowded too full.) Losing shelves to closed case pack space means the lazy TMs who pull batches later in the day tremendously overstock to avoid back stocking. Or the waco space is crowded and I pull a 1-for-1 batch just to free up some space.
I know it's only a dream, but it'd sure be nice if the people thinking up all these *great* ideas actually had an understanding of what their actions mean to the TMs who have to work with these changes.

 

[balthrop]

Things fall out of the open-ended wacos, sometimes on my head.

closed faced wacos for life!!

I should get that on a T-shirt.

right along with

all items scanned for life.


side note iOS 17’s autocorrect is actually better. I fat fingered that T-shirt line and it pulled out the correct thing so a win for the ghost Steve Jobs

 

[gsa4lyfe]

Could it possibly happen that someone who has some authority to make changes looks at how repacks are packed? Be still, my heart!
Seriously, I get repacks so overloaded with heavy things like vitamin gummies and contact lens solution or bundles of mouthwash and cough syrup that the bottom is unable to support the contents. Or with a bottle of beard oil that's completely empty and all the other contents in the box have a coating of oil. Or fragile boxes of bandaids are crushed by a big jar of MetaMucil. Or a package of panty liners that's been sliced open. Or worse, where a bundle of six packages of contact lens solution is sliced all the way across the top, front and back, so I have to defect out all six.
Makes me nuts.
On the other hand, it makes me nuts when someone who has the authority to order changes is someone who obviously has not ever done the work affected by the change. It still bugs me that my back room space was reorganized so it conforms with what corporate wants, yet it works so badly compared to how I had it set up. Things fall out of the open-ended wacos, sometimes on my head. (No longer using the top shelf of those wacos at all, which means lower shelves are crowded too full.) Losing shelves to closed case pack space means the lazy TMs who pull batches later in the day tremendously overstock to avoid back stocking. Or the waco space is crowded and I pull a 1-for-1 batch just to free up some space.
I know it's only a dream, but it'd sure be nice if the people thinking up all these *great* ideas actually had an understanding of what their actions mean to the TMs who have to work with these changes.

I do agree that sometimes or often people making decisions don’t really understand things fully but the backroom organizing in terms of casepacks, what wacos and such have been the same for a long time. Stores got a little crazy and did their own thing during modernization and Covid and it kinda stuck and stores continued it. Caseless was never a company standard, maybe a regional thing or group but there was never an official best practice telling stores to be caseless

Those profiles and overall best practices never changed from an overall company standpoint. It worked great long before modernization the only difference now is with no backroom team the lazy tms can screw it up for anyone.

 

[Dream Baby]

When I was walking through TSC there two TLs on a conference call.

Why they didn't do this in our conference room instead of using someone's phone and desk made no sense.

One of the presenters made a comment about engaging the guests more in checkout.

I immediately thought how do you do that if you route everyone through self checkout because you don't have any lanes open.

 

[jenna]

When I was walking through TSC there two TLs on a conference call.

Why they didn't do this in our conference room instead of using someone's phone and desk made no sense.

One of the presenters made a comment about engaging the guests more in checkout.

I immediately thought how do you do that if you route everyone through self checkout because you don't have any lanes open.

Or if your one and *only* cashier has a super long line....

 

[happygoth]

When I was walking through TSC there two TLs on a conference call.

Why they didn't do this in our conference room instead of using someone's phone and desk made no sense.

One of the presenters made a comment about engaging the guests more in checkout.

I immediately thought how do you do that if you route everyone through self checkout because you don't have any lanes open.

As a consumer, I just want my cashier to say hi and thank you, and ring my stuff up quickly in between, that's it. I want them to be cordial and efficient but they do not have to engage beyond that.

That's when I actually go to a register, as I will use self-checkout when available.

 

[happygoth]

Target is not competitive at all in my area anymore. You can get hired at Panda Express and make more money working there then Target. Almost every business in my area is advertising a starting wage of at least $15 an hour if not more. I also know for a fact that people on this forum have talked about how the starting rate of the Targets in their area going up.

Yes but then you are working at Panda Express. Food service sucks, no thank you.

 

[FlowTeamChick]

Caseless was never a company standard, maybe a regional thing or group but there was never an official best practice telling stores to be caseless

I remember a time in the not-so-distant past where we were supposed to be both ladder-less and case-less. And I gotta say, outside of when we were getting scads of hand sanitizer, I was almost always able to do both and do it easily for my back room space. I know other areas had a harder time with the ladder-less part.
My gripe is that I set up my back room space with a lot of thought and it worked really, really well. The corporate standard works far less well. If it worked better than what I had or even at the same level, I'd probably still be a little annoyed that I couldn't do things the way I want to, but I'd get over it. That it's worse and far less efficient is what grinds me.

 

[SigningLady]

The corporate standard works far less well. If it worked better than what I had or even at the same level, I'd probably still be a little annoyed that I couldn't do things the way I want to, but I'd get over it. That it's worse and far less efficient is what grinds me.

This is my current gripe about backroom standards as well as we get A&A hanging located. Told we have to absolutely follow the standards despite them not actually working for us efficiently at my store because we have different backstocking needs at different times. Can't have womens hosiery backstocked in panty wacos- but guess what we have more of to backstock? It's not panties. And with a limit of 3 DPCIs per waco, they fill up fast. Same with mens basics.

And having to label the backroom with the salesfloor locations? Complete fucking waste of time.

 

[Sisyphus]

One of the presenters made a comment about engaging the guests more in checkout.

Shy of hugging them and telling them they love them, I don't see how our cashiers could engage anymore than they already do. They are always laughing and chatting with guests. Besides some guests just want to get through the lane and don't want chitty chat and a redcard spiel EVERY time they check out

 

[animalcrossing]

There are far too many mispicks coming into stores and inaccurate loads on top of that (things supposedly being on the BOL for one truck, but physically being on another and getting INF'd or audited as a result).

I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST MY STORE'S DC DOING THIS OMG
Seriously though, there have been several items that say there were delivered on both the RDC and FDC and most certainly weren't. And then Target wonders why our INF rate for OPUs has been in the toilet for the past two weeks (12% instead of the usual 2-5%)

 

[Dream Baby]

Shy of hugging them and telling them they love them, I don't see how our cashiers could engage anymore than they already do. They are always laughing and chatting with guests. Besides some guests just want to get through the lane and don't want chitty chat and a redcard spiel EVERY time they check out

I remember when I started 8 years ago our red card goal was 30 a day right after Target got hacked.

I doubt if they get 5 a day now.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

I remember a time in the not-so-distant past where we were supposed to be both ladder-less and case-less. And I gotta say, outside of when we were getting scads of hand sanitizer, I was almost always able to do both and do it easily for my back room space. I know other areas had a harder time with the ladder-less part.
My gripe is that I set up my back room space with a lot of thought and it worked really, really well. The corporate standard works far less well. If it worked better than what I had or even at the same level, I'd probably still be a little annoyed that I couldn't do things the way I want to, but I'd get over it. That it's worse and far less efficient is what grinds me.

No I agree with what you’re saying just stating that caseless and ladderless was never a direction from HQ, just a regional or group thing that caught on and a lot of areas did it but there was never communication or a best practice for it. I’be worked closely with the store ops replenishment team at HQ that creates these best practices the past couple of years and that was a big thing.

 

[flow4areasonuno]

Shy of hugging them and telling them they love them, I don't see how our cashiers could engage anymore than they already do. They are always laughing and chatting with guests. Besides some guests just want to get through the lane and don't want chitty chat and a redcard spiel EVERY time they check out

I am told I talk too much and that I don't talk enough. When I go fast I'm told I need to ask more about the redcard or this or that and I shouldn't just ask if they have "the app" (seriously we're in Target, 99% of people know I mean OUR app), and when I talk more I'm asked to GO FASTER because the line is super long. Whatever I'm doing, I'm doing it wrong. So I stop trying so hard.

(And these guys have the nerve to say that I'm "reliable" smdh give me a raise then, or have more than ME on the lines during a rush!)

The line is super long because they keep cutting staffing! I'm being driven nuts. I asked for no 5 1/2s because of blood sugar issues and ended up having nothing BUT 5 1/2s. People have been told to work through asthmatic issues in the heat with no water.

Are they trying to make the whole store quit??? I can't take this garbage much longer! They wonder why people are leaving - the last time someone quit the TL went "please don't" ...ugh. I'm just so constantly at the end of my rope!

 

[Sisyphus]

I am told I talk too much and that I don't talk enough. When I go fast I'm told I need to ask more about the redcard or this or that and I shouldn't just ask if they have "the app" (seriously we're in Target, 99% of people know I mean OUR app), and when I talk more I'm asked to GO FASTER because the line is super long. Whatever I'm doing, I'm doing it wrong. So I stop trying so hard.

(And these guys have the nerve to say that I'm "reliable" smdh give me a raise then, or have more than ME on the lines during a rush!)

The line is super long because they keep cutting staffing! I'm being driven nuts. I asked for no 5 1/2s because of blood sugar issues and ended up having nothing BUT 5 1/2s. People have been told to work through asthmatic issues in the heat with no water.

Are they trying to make the whole store quit??? I can't take this garbage much longer! They wonder why people are leaving - the last time someone quit the TL went "please don't" ...ugh. I'm just so constantly at the end of my rope!

You're not alone at the end of that rope.