Sears and JCPenney...a couple of troubling observations

[Super S]

I was in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, WA today and visited two Sears stores, and one JCPenney. I ended up not making purchases, but noted a few things that didn't seem right compared to past visits:

Sears Lloyd Center, Portland. I was in this area and wanted to look at a few tools, so I stopped here. The tool department seemed VERY sparsely stocked with quite a few empty spaces and what seemed like a very limited selection, more along the lines of what you would find at a small-town Sears, not at a three-story store in Portland in what is a very busy mall. I did not spend much time elsewhere in the store, but got the impression that this location could be one that ends up closing, especially given the fact that Lloyd Center is one of Portland's oldest malls (1960), and the fact that the Sears was originally a JCPenney. This location, for what it's worth, also does not have an Auto Center. Very unimpressive for a large town Sears. I certainly will not be returning to this one.

So I headed to Vancouver, WA and the Westfield Vancouver Mall.

The first thing I noticed about JCPenney as I walked in from an outside entrance is that the Customer Service area just inside the door appears to have been completely eliminated. The counters were still present, but there were signs saying that you could pick up your order at any register. There was an "assistance phone" of some sort nearby, but no JCPenney employees close by. Very odd considering that this is a corridor leading into the store, and there were also some products on shelves along this corridor that somebody could easily walk out the door with.

This store has groups of registers in several areas of the store which appear to also serve as customer service desks. One thing that bothers me about this setup, (which is also common at Sears) is that there are usually only 1-2 people at these counters. It's one thing if people are only making purchases, however, if people are picking up orders or are asking about credit card bills, this backs up the line very quickly, especially if an item has to be pulled from the other end or other floor of the store while the customer waits. JCPenney is one of the worst for this. Perhaps this is fuel for the "getting rid of cashiers" thing I have read about, but for now, it doesn't enhance the shopping experience, it adds to the frustration. I see the elimination of the Customer Service area as a cost cutting move and nothing more. In a larger, busier store it works better to have a seperate area for refunds/exchanges etc.

Moving on to the Sears in the same mall...First I encountered the person who is always roaming the aisles trying to sell siding, windows, etc. This in and of itself is VERY annoying, but it's worse when the guy asks several times during the same visit. Yes, this happened. Moving on to the tool department, it was much better-stocked. However, there was a large empty space which is a seasonal area nearby. It really looks bad when a store takes almost a month to change a display, which I assume was previously Christmas decorations. A large empty space, unless a store is in the process of a remodel, is not a sign of a well-run store. I also noticed something else throughout the store. Certain lights had the fluorescent tubes COMPLETELY removed, effectively shutting off some lights completely. Others had only some tubes removed. The Lloyd Center store wasn't like that. This is something I have mentioned elsewhere on here as a cost-cutting move by many Albertsons stores in the last few years.

These might be viewed as small, minor things to some. But when stores look bad, people don't like to visit them.

[Alpha8472]

It seems a little desperate when they have an employee roaming the store begging customers to buy siding or other home improvement services. This might be an idea from the manager who is desperate to meet sales quotas or it could be desperate employees trying to keep their limited life span jobs.

The idea of removing bulbs from lighting fixtures is also another last ditch effort to save cents when there is nothing else to do. Desperation has never resulted in a positive outcome. A dark and dimly lit store is the last thing you want to do when a store is already losing customers. Customers do not want to go to a dark and depressing store that looks like it is falling apart. They are simply turning off customers.

Limiting assortment is another desperation move. It is cheaper to carry fewer items. If there are fewer products you need fewer employees and you also need to restock less often.

Sears is probably thinking that customers won't even notice the difference. Dark stores, empty shelves, less selection, etc. Customers do notice. They are alienating their few remaining customers. If there is a terrible selection, those few customers won't be coming back due to the bad reputation.

Once again, ideas to save money end up losing money in the long run as the customers are driven away.

[Super S]

It seems a little desperate when they have an employee roaming the store begging customers to buy siding or other home improvement services. This might be an idea from the manager who is desperate to meet sales quotas or it could be desperate employees trying to keep their limited life span jobs.

The idea of removing bulbs from lighting fixtures is also another last ditch effort to save cents when there is nothing else to do. Desperation has never resulted in a positive outcome. A dark and dimly lit store is the last thing you want to do when a store is already losing customers. Customers do not want to go to a dark and depressing store that looks like it is falling apart. They are simply turning off customers.

Limiting assortment is another desperation move. It is cheaper to carry fewer items. If there are fewer products you need fewer employees and you also need to restock less often.

Sears is probably thinking that customers won't even notice the difference. Dark stores, empty shelves, less selection, etc. Customers do notice. They are alienating their few remaining customers. If there is a terrible selection, those few customers won't be coming back due to the bad reputation.

Once again, ideas to save money end up losing money in the long run as the customers are driven away.

What really puzzles me about the guy selling siding though is that I have encountered this in stores that are closing. A few years ago, when I visited the Vancouver Kmart as it was holding its closing sale, there was a guy roaming the aisles selling siding etc. I thought it was a bit odd, but the Vancouver Sears was also not too far away so maybe he was trying to create future sales. However, I also encountered this recently at the Kelso Sears as it was closing. This seemed completely pointless to me. Here was a guy roaming the aisles of a relatively small, 55,000 square foot store, selling services. The bad part is that with the closing of the Kelso store, there is no longer a Sears or Kmart presence in Cowlitz County, and people are going to be REALLY hesitant to buy anything from a company leaving town, especially when there are stores like Lowe's and Home Depot in the area, not to mention many local contractors who are needing work.

As for the lighting, that is not a sign of a healthy retailer. I remember Montgomery Ward doing that for several years in stores in this area in the 1990s, and eventually reinstalling all of the bulbs as the cost savings was minimal. As I mentioned, Albertsons has done this in many of their stores in recent years. Many of their stores do not look good at all these days as it is, and dim lights does not help that.

[storewanderer]

I am pretty sure the guy walking around selling siding (they have this in the Reno Sears, but I've never seen it in a Kmart.) is actually working for some third party that is just using the Sears name.

[kr.abs.swy]

I noticed last night at the Grand Teton Mall in Idaho Falls that the Sears store closed at 8 p.m. while the rest of the anchors (JC Penney, Macy's and Dillard's) were open until 9 p.m. and the Barnes & Noble was open even later.

This is (I assume) expensive real estate given that the mall has strong occupancy and attracts strong regional traffic from 75-150 miles in any direction. The fact that this store is closing early is yet another indication that this real estate is being underutilized. Leveraging high fixed costs over 5-7 fewer hours per week is not typically the direction you would want to go. (I understand that if the costs are higher than the sales for that hour, it makes sense to close, but if you're closed while the other anchors are open, that implies that your business plan is bonkers, which I think is a safe statement to make regarding Sears and Kmart.)

This is a relatively new (15-20 years old) store that relocated from the other side of town. The old store was torn down to make way for a new Fred Meyer.

[Super S]

The now-closed Sears at Kelso's Three Rivers Mall used to open earlier than the rest of the mall, but toward the end kept the same hours. The mall itself is dying and closes at 8PM weekdays, not sure of the weekend hours. Sears closing has left me with no reason to visit the mall.

There is also a soon-to-close Kmart in Coos Bay that has a 6PM weekday closing time.

People are not going to go out of their way to visit a struggling retailer if they can't keep convenient hours.

[Super S]

I was in Portland again over the last few days. this time at Clackamas Town Center for clothes, and noticed a few troubling observations at that Sears store, which has typically been one of the better ones in Portland as far as selection, and service.

First of all was the fact that, at 8:30PM, there was basically only one cashier open on the entire lower level of the store. Not by the mall entrance, but in a corner between the south and west entrances by the mens dept. The line was rather long due to people making credit card payments and other things instead of making purchases, and I ended up asking somebody roaming the floor if there were any other cashiers, which one was at the jewelry counter who gladly rang me up, but the main desk by the mall entrance had signs posted "We will help you at the next available cashier" on ALL of the registers. Somebody could easily shoplift and take a purchase out to the mall and run off

The cashier, who was otherwise friendly, also seemed to be rather pushy about the "Shop your way rewards program" and after politely saying I did not participate due to the fact that I no longer have a Sears or Kmart close to my home, was being pushy trying to get me to sign up or get my phone number throughout the transaction. I came very close to walking out and leaving my purchase behind. This is basically their version of a club card, and I do not participate in those programs for a number of reasons.

Another interesting observation was that, instead of bagging my purchase in a Sears bag, I got a generic "Thank you" bag. A minor detail, but made me wonder if Sears did not pay a bag manufacturer or something. They have no problem using up three to four feet of register tape to print out mostly useless coupons on every transaction though.

I generally like Sears, but the surprising lack of service, combined with the card and coupon games, clearly illustrates what is wrong with this retailer. Start by eliminating gimmicks and lowering prices, and finish by having cashiers available at all areas of the store when it is open if there is no centralized checkout location, especially when there are multiple entrances.

[Alpha8472]

Employee hours are determined by how many rewards cards are scanned. The more rewards cards that are scanned means more hours for employees. Sears has totally lost its way. Corporate thinks that the rewards card will make customers come back and shop more. Instead, it is alienating customers and making them hate Sears.

The poor employees are desperately trying to get people to sign up for the cards just to barely make ends meet.

Sears needs to find other ways to bring in customers. They also need to increase the number of cashiers. Customer service should be their main focus. If lines are that long at the lone register, then customers are more likely to dump their merchandise and leave. Sears can't compete on price with places such as Walmart, they should at least have enough cashiers for customers who actually want to buy something.

[Super S]

Employee hours are determined by how many rewards cards are scanned. The more rewards cards that are scanned means more hours for employees. Sears has totally lost its way. Corporate thinks that the rewards card will make customers come back and shop more. Instead, it is alienating customers and making them hate Sears.

The poor employees are desperately trying to get people to sign up for the cards just to barely make ends meet.

Rewards cards determine employee hours? Good grief. Sears needs to make some changes in how they operate, and they need to do it NOW. I am not talking about what JCPenney did, but instead, go back to what the Sears name stood for: good quality at fair prices, and emphasize the established private label brands. The best thing (which I do not see happening) would be for Sears to separate from Kmart and reestablish itself as a separate company. The Kmart partnership has not been kind to Sears.

[steps]

The problem with Sears is their outdated fashions. They need to be more like Macy's but with lower or same pricing. I used to shop at Sears A LOT with my mom when I was younger, but Sears have lost their way just like JC Penny's (2 of my mom's favorite stores growing up).