Super S wrote:So I stopped in at this store again today. I got a mixed signal. The Starbucks was in fact open, but was completely deserted except for the employees. They took out the booth seating and just have a few tables now. But this looked like a very low budget Starbucks compared to what I have seen at other Target stores, and it looked like the regular food service they had is no more.
I also noticed that they repainted the outside of the building sometime within the last two months. However, the rest of the inside is untouched. This location now looks like it could go either way.
Several of the Target stores in Arizona are looking a bit "worn" for lack of a better word. The interior and flooring look well used, the carts have wheels that don't always work great, several shelves are not stocked with merchandise. It's eerily reminiscent of Kmart stores in the mid-late 1990s in some ways.
The other thing I've noticed at most of the Targets here is that the food court area and Starbucks are in different locations (with the Starbucks taking over the former guest service area). Guest service has been moved to the 1st row of registers closest to the entryway.
Target seems very tired. Their men's clothing category is so poor they might as well just remove it. What happened? Also, their prices aren't that great anymore on pet/home/drug like they once were.
The thing that strikes me most at Target is its employees. They are like robots. Zero personality, always asking the same canned questions such as "do you have a red card" or "would you like any gift cards today" in the same order. In recent months what I've also noticed is there is often only one lane open in the evening and it is not unusual for the line to be 4-5 customers long.
In areas with many shopping choices I see little use for Target at all. I feel they are losing relevance. Maybe in a place where there is no Wal Mart around they have some function, but other than that...
On a side note the South Reno Wal Mart is adding a Burger King. Jack in the Box, Del Taco, and Carl's Jr. (struggling franchise who has had a wood board for its receiving door for months now after a break in since they appear to be unable to afford to re-do the receiving door) are all in the parking lot. The space housing Burger King was a very short lived Radio Grill when the store opened, then a Blimpie. It has been empty for quite a while.
I went to both Target and Walmart today to pick up some different items.
I actually found some socks on clearance in the men's department (at a pretty good price) as well as some of their Merona men's polo shirts (they're cheap, but they tend to last a while).
Target's strength is their women's clothing, baby, and toy departments. Walmart beats quite solidly in every other category. Interestingly enough, Target's grocery pricing (even in their "lite" grocery format) is pretty much on par with Walmart (and less expensive than the supermarket chains).
Not to make this a Target vs. Walmart debate, but the Walmart I was in (which was the closest Walmart to the Target I shopped at) was cleaner, brighter, better stocked, and with friendlier employees than Target.
Target has a couple of types of shopping carts (depending on the store) and they're pretty much awful no matter which type a certain store has (feel heavy, hard to maneuver, wheels tend to get stuck).
I've never seen a Burger King in a Walmart. I've seen McDonald's, Subway, or Blimpie.
I find Target seems to have understaffed checkouts and long lines lately. This is in multiple visits in Reno and Sparks lately. They seem to only like to have 1-2 registers open. It takes a line of 5-6 customers before they call for help, and when they call for help the situation is already out of control and it takes a few minutes for their floor help to respond. Then, they are eager to leave the checkout area after helping 1-2 customers.
I also cannot believe how poor the attitude of their help is. Wal Mart has far better employee attitudes than Target (even if the employees at Wal Mart look sloppier). The cashier I had last night did not say one word to me the entire transaction; she had a zombie like look on her face the whole time and did not have one word to say.
Maybe they can add self checkouts like they had in Canada to help the situation.
storewanderer wrote:I find Target seems to have understaffed checkouts and long lines lately. This is in multiple visits in Reno and Sparks lately. They seem to only like to have 1-2 registers open. It takes a line of 5-6 customers before they call for help, and when they call for help the situation is already out of control and it takes a few minutes for their floor help to respond. Then, they are eager to leave the checkout area after helping 1-2 customers.
I also cannot believe how poor the attitude of their help is. Wal Mart has far better employee attitudes than Target (even if the employees at Wal Mart look sloppier). The cashier I had last night did not say one word to me the entire transaction; she had a zombie like look on her face the whole time and did not have one word to say.
Maybe they can add self checkouts like they had in Canada to help the situation.
The store in Novato, CA had these. Say what you want, but I like the self checkout lanes.
I too like the self checkout lanes. I feel Albertsons/Safeway (with major line length issues at the Safeway Stores) is making a MAJOR mistake removing self checkouts from stores that already had them. The Sparks, NV Safeway had its self checkouts removed (corporate told the store management that the machines were "not efficient") and checking out in that store is a disaster. Every competitor nearby has self checkout (including the Scolaris that closed last year). Every time I am in any Albertsons and look off to where self checkouts "were" as I am waiting in line for a regular cashier, I further question this decision to remove self checkouts.
If Albertsons/Safeway is against self checkouts that is fine, don't install them in any other locations and don't install them in new stores. But in the locations that already had them, where customers were using them, removing them is not improving the customer experience in the slightest way.
Retailers like Kmart who removed self checkouts did it for a reason, there were major issues with the machines. But times have changed and the machines are much better now.
storewanderer wrote:I too like the self checkout lanes. I feel Albertsons/Safeway (with major line length issues at the Safeway Stores) is making a MAJOR mistake removing self checkouts from stores that already had them. The Sparks, NV Safeway had its self checkouts removed (corporate told the store management that the machines were "not efficient") and checking out in that store is a disaster. Every competitor nearby has self checkout (including the Scolaris that closed last year). Every time I am in any Albertsons and look off to where self checkouts "were" as I am waiting in line for a regular cashier, I further question this decision to remove self checkouts.
If Albertsons/Safeway is against self checkouts that is fine, don't install them in any other locations and don't install them in new stores. But in the locations that already had them, where customers were using them, removing them is not improving the customer experience in the slightest way.
Retailers like Kmart who removed self checkouts did it for a reason, there were major issues with the machines. But times have changed and the machines are much better now.
I couldn't agree more. I like self checkouts. Kroger doesn't have a problem with them (and devotes a decent amount of space to them). Walmart has success with them. Even Winco uses them.
Self checkouts are great when the machines work without fail and are "manned" with sufficient (commensurate to volume) and expert helpers for the occasional problem (also to prevent theft).
Self checkouts are a disaster when they do not work (mechanically/technologically unsound and poorly programed) and are under manned with unskilled helpers. Case in point: Fresh & Easy! Also, certain senior citizen communities do not take well to them.
As far as Target goes, they have hit a few speed bumps. I believe they have the skill to self correct and rise up to be the best in their category once again.
veteran+ wrote:Self checkouts are great when the machines work without fail and are "manned" with sufficient (commensurate to volume) and expert helpers for the occasional problem (also to prevent theft).
Self checkouts are a disaster when they do not work (mechanically/technologically unsound and poorly programed) and are under manned with unskilled helpers. Case in point: Fresh & Easy! Also, certain senior citizen communities do not take well to them.
As far as Target goes, they have hit a few speed bumps. I believe they have the skill to self correct and rise up to be the best in their category once again.
I hope so. They seem to be a company with a lack of clear direction right now. That failed Canadian expansion really cost them a lot. Right now Walmart is superior to them in every way except for clientele.
The Kroger stores here seem to have doubled down on the self checkouts lately, with the downtown Bellevue QFC doubling their count of self checkouts in their remodel last year. The Walmart Neighborhood Market near here has a few, but there never seems to be more than 1 or 2 lanes open at any time, and the self checkouts are almost always just as bad as anything else as far as the wait goes (combine this with the fact that they don't seem to bother providing baskets and it's just a pain to shop there.) Even a number of the Safeway locations here have added self checkouts lately, but I rarely shop at any of the Safeways here, mostly because the stores don't seem very nice compared to QFC or Fred Meyer, and the prices aren't really any better than either of them.
As for Walmart versus Target, I still think Target has much nicer stores and better selection (somehow even in the relatively affluent area I live in the Walmart stores end up with the standard Walmart run-down feel) but the prices at Walmart are generally better, assuming you can find the stuff you're looking for, which more often than not you can't.
