Archived I think the end is near for Target.

[HardlinesFour]

There is an endcap with a $600 blender we sell on it.

Nobody is going to buy that!

You mean the Vitamix? Yeah, i wouldn't pay for it either, but, if you convince someone to buy you one as a wedding gift . Best Blender EVER

 

[commiecorvus]

There is an endcap with a $600 blender we sell on it.

Nobody is going to buy that!

You mean the Vitamix? Yeah, i wouldn't pay for it either, but, if you convince someone to buy you one as a wedding gift . Best Blender EVER

I don't live in a neighborhood that can afford one of those (I bought the Ninja for for 1/6 the price and Consumer Reports says it's almost as good).
But less than ten miles away there are $12 million homes so they sell OK.

 

[HardlinesFour]

If its near an area with higher poverty and unemployment, than there is usually a police car parked outside with a shoplifting suspect inside.

Sometimes, they just request a empty car to be parked outside, so they don't have to allocate so many AP Hours.

The town where I grew up the Wal Mart and Target are in the same shopping plaza. Even where I live now, a Target about half an hour away from me has a Wal Mart across the street. Same story as where I grew up.

I've never understood this, Why The He** would you want them in the same exact shopping center? That should be the first thing Target puts in the lease. I just think it's poor planning.

 

[gun runner]

I love target because we do NOT sell junk

I can't count the number of times I've broken merchandise just by picking it up. We certainly do sell some junk. We also sell quality stuff as well, but we also sell fragile garbage.

That's for sure. Pretty much anything I pull out of the HOME isle is pretty junky. It give the illusion of being higher end and that's why people buy it. Even at 50-70% off they're sill making a profit because this "not junk" is so cheaply made.

 

[Life201]

Haha, the company isn't going anywhere for a while. KMart has been dying for years. Target started dying the moment Ulrich retired and Steinhafel took over. The long term vision is gone and it has been replaced by nothing other than short term gain. There is a reason that the slogan "best company ever" isn't around anymore. They're not even trying to hide it.

The thing that disappoints me the most at this point is the fact that Steinhafel doesn't feel as if he's made enough money and hasn't jumped ship yet. Retire dude. You've made your fortune... now get the fuck out, you greedy fuck.

Back to the point... Target's beginning of the end started when Ulrich retired, as I said. If we get a new CEO that is willing to steer us in a direction to remain profitable but not at the cost of the long term health of the company, we will be on track. Will the shareholders even allow that? Probably not, actually. So maybe we are fucked. There is no concern for long term health of the company. It got really big and some leeches decided to come along and suck the life out of it.

The biggest thing Target has going for it right now, and it's no small thing, is that they aren't Wal-Mart. It's literally the only reason to shop there at this point and there are no other nation wide options for a big box retailer.

As to how long it's going to take Target to die off, haha, at least a decade or two... unless the staffing cuts become so incredibly deep that the service dips to Wal-Mart levels or below, there will be a place for it.

But no, the past 60 days are not the beginning of the end because that started 7 years ago and no, we aren't going anywhere just yet.

Gregg hasn't sucked every penny out of this company that he can yet. I think he will still feel safe to continue dragging Target into the toilet as long as the public & media still pretends Target is more reputable than its rival Walmart. Once the public wakes up & sees Target for what it is, Gregg will bail out. The only question is whether Target can ever survive Gregg's destruction?

 

[oath2order]

Here's my shopping center and Walmart

Ridiculous. I've had guests ask me how to get there, no joke. I just say "Head outside, turn left."

 

[Spotter]

Maybe Gregg should step down as CEO. Bob Urich was a great CEO and took care of the team members. All these changes came when Gregg took over.

 

[The Dude Abides]

Maybe Gregg should step down as CEO. Bob Urich was a great CEO and took care of the team members. All these changes came when Gregg took over.

Gregg is taking good care of his own bank account though.

 

[Guest]

Today seemed like another sign of the end of Target. This weekend is Super Bowl weekend and I just laughed when I got into the backroom for my 5 hour shift today. I got a 5 hour shift today and worked my 6th day of the week because the bosses at my store do not know how to make a schedule. I asked the flow ETL if I could work a 4 or 5 hour on this day earlier in the week to help the sole person in the backroom and to pick up some hours. I suggested something like 1230pm to 6pm or 1pm to 6pm because the other person was working 12pm to 8pm. If you have ever worked in the backroom on the weekend, you know that it can be tough to take a lunch before you 6 hours if you clock in at 12pm. I get there and I go to the line and see that barely any of the truck had been worked. There is still freight on pallets and a lot of stuff is shopping carts. I go to the freezer and the FDC hadn't even been touched. The plastic wrap was still on the product on the pallets. So I go to my fellow backroom team member and ask them what was up with the truck. They said that flow only worked 3 hours today. And I was just like "wow". I know the greed is strong at Target but gutting the schedule on Super Bowl weekend is just pathetic. It wasn't just the flow team that cut. The salesfloor only had about 3 people on it for most of my shift and they were stuck on registers for about half of the time. When I left, there were about 5 grocery pulls on the line and they were full pulls too. I also heard that the closers had to be out by 1045pm which is extremely early for a Saturday night. I just want the implosion of Target to be quick and fast. Bring it on.

 

[RhettB]

Reply with quote is not working, but regarding the thin crew yesterday, it was the same deal with my store.

It was the last day for payroll for January, as well as the fiscal year. Many stores are more reactive rather than proactive. Sales are down for the month, so what do you do? Wait until Thursday to cut the 200 hours you are over for the month.

 

[pita]

Not likely

Target will lose a substantial amount of profits, but they are not going anywhere. Yes, I see the store slower than usual, but they will rebound. The security breach is not limited to just Target, loyal guests know that. They will still shop there, but I see a lot more cash/check transactions. What I dislike is working with an employee that does not want to be there. My attitude is that if someone doesn't like their job, then find a new one. Guests become loyal to happy cashiers and will wait in line for them....because they will be greeted with a smile.

 

[daninnj]

 

[Guest]

I have no sympathy for the ETLs when they complain to me about having to cut hours because sales are down. That is not my fault. I am a mere minion or peasant. I am there to get hours so I can have someone enter information into a computer that will be sent to my bank which will make the number/amount in my bank account be bigger. So yeah when I hear an ETL crying about cutting hours, I have no sympathy. If you are an ETL, you are supposed to be a leader. If you are a better leader, then sales will be better. And another thing, maybe ETLs need to stop getting all the bonuses they get.

 

[redandkhaki]

why the hell are you so obsessed with the ETL's getting bonuses? Also, did you realize that when you don't make payroll for the month that it affects your AE score which then in turn affects your pay raise?

 

[konk]

If my raise is based on the team score, I should only work at that percentage.

 

[Guest]

Like I said earlier, I have no sympathy or patience when I hear people give excuses about money issues at Target. Target is number 2 and only behind Wal Mart. The money is there but it's stopped by people's greed, lust, and power trips. And again, I am not an ETL or in a leadership role so if the store does not make payroll, why should I be punished or made to suffer? The ETLs should be better leaders and drive sales in a more effective way. The blame is on them first then the team members.

 

[buck4acanuck]

Up here in Canada there are multiple locations in which Target moved into a plaza/shopping mall with a Walmart already in it. These are some of the worst performing stores.

 

[sigma7]

@Jackswastedlife99 You should care about stuff like payroll and you should also be focused on driving sales. I totally get that corporate seems greedy. The store level does seem to get pennies, but that shouldn't affect your work ethic in my opinion. Not to mention that no matter what position you work in the store, be it anything from trailer unload/flow to cashier, your focus should be driving sales through following processes. If your sales suck that much and your store is consistently missing payroll, then your STL and ETL team won't be around for long. I'm sorry if you have crappy ETLs. The good thing is that you can outlast an ETL in a poorly led store. It can get better with new leadership, you just have to tough it out for a while.

 

[sigma7]

also, even the stores that perform well still get crap for raises.

 

[PullMeBackIn]

Just wanted to add 2 things to the discussion

The first is that Target is actually the number 3 retailer in the US now, Costco has surpassed them.

The second is that the AE portion of the raises for team members are a joke to hold over team members' heads. I've been at the meetings when I was an APTL where we determined review scores. There was never any discussion about AE or payroll/sales performance, putting on the review is a joke because the review score is determined ahead of time anyway. The leadership sits down and determines who they feel like deserves the EXs or Os (if you're halfway competent, they like you, and you're capped out, you'll get an O by virtue of the fact that's the only way you can get a raise otherwise).

Furthermore, what are the raise rates these days anyway? Realistically we're talking the difference between 4 and 6% raise. Couple cents an hour which means even a full timer only gets an extra $10-20 a check at best. For ETLs though? Their missing AE can mean the difference of thousands of dollars.

 

[Barcode]

I used to have high expectations from spot, and as such I would have agreed with most of the points here.

I've just come to accept that Target is a job and not a career (sorry to any TLs here), and I now treat is as such. I know that I'm not going to make a great hourly wage, and I know that my raise is going to be crap. I only work there 1 day a week now (by choice), and instead am focusing on bettering myself for other opportunities. When I do work at Target I do my best to follow policy and drive vibe/sales, and try not to get in a pissing match with spot -- it doesn't help anything.

 

[Retail Girl]

Just wanted to add 2 things to the discussion

The first is that Target is actually the number 3 retailer in the US now, Costco has surpassed them.

When Costco surpasses Target (which it likely did last year, Target will be number four. Kroger remains number two.

Source: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/12/31/5-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-target.aspx

 

[GangulonCyst]

If you have the opinion that the store's AE score does not matter to you, maybe you are part of the problem. If your store is full of team members who are giving lackluster performance because they are there just to get paid, there's your problem!!! If they have the entitlement mindset and think they deserve a cut of their leader's checks and bonuses, which their leaders earn by leading the team, there's your problem!!! The AE score determines the size of the pool from which raises are taken, or your store's "merit budget". When the submitted review scores exceed that budget, stores are asked to re-asses the scores downward(never upward) to meet the budget. ETL raises are determined first, then TL, then TM. It all rolls downhill, and if you want to see bigger raises, move up or move out. Raise the bar on your personal performance and outshine your peers to get better raises and noticed for advancement.

 

[masterspot]

If you have the opinion that the store's AE score does not matter to you, maybe you are part of the problem. If your store is full of team members who are giving lackluster performance because they are there just to get paid, there's your problem!!! If they have the entitlement mindset and think they deserve a cut of their leader's checks and bonuses, which their leaders earn by leading the team, there's your problem!!! The AE score determines the size of the pool from which raises are taken, or your store's "merit budget". When the submitted review scores exceed that budget, stores are asked to re-asses the scores downward(never upward) to meet the budget. ETL raises are determined first, then TL, then TM. It all rolls downhill, and if you want to see bigger raises, move up or move out. Raise the bar on your personal performance and outshine your peers to get better raises and noticed for advancement.

I wish it were that straight forward, but it's not. Not at least at my store.

Most of us raise the bar all the time. The problem is we set the bar so high that we (and I'm refering to a few) get burned out when its always those few. In addition to that, those few don't get the kind of respect the lazy ones get. Those lazy people know the top folks do this for them and thats why they basically come in to chat about others drama and do as little work as possible.

 

[Guest]

Target is a sinking ship. I saw the latest rankings on the sales at the store and they were pitiful. Our store was ranked like 34 out of 84 and we needed 30 dollars more in each guest's shopping cart to make sales. That is pathetic. I can admit that I don't care as much as I used to care in the past. I still do what is required from me in the backroom. I backstock, I pull POGs, research, EXFs, CAF pulls, and price change, and I clean too. I am one of the few backroom team members that is willingly to make bails. I also clean up spills and messes that are caused by other team members. I am not act like I 100 percent care but I do what is required. That is enough for me. If Target wants to be all jolly, positive, and peppy then they should pay me more. Plain and simple.