The first time I was there this fall, I thought maybe someone had been sick or they'd had a really big sale and just hadn't had time to get caught up. Not that either of those would have been legitimate excuses for the place looking like this:
If it was just a rack or two, that would have been one thing, but it was basically every single rack and fixture in the Men's department, and most of the fixtures in the other departments, too. We spent most of our time in Men's, so this is the department that really shocked me. This is Kohl's, the store that had to get rid of shopping carts so they could carry Dockers - because a store with shopping carts is not high class enough for Dockers. Oh yeah, well there are no carts here, but the Dockers are a huge mess.
Along with everything else. Stuff on the floor, unfolded and tossed on the fixtures, and just a huge disorganized, disgraceful mess.
How did they let it get this bad? I'm hoping things will get better and back up to Kohl's-like standards one of these days. The last two times we were in there, I actually saw people straightening and organizing, which I had not seen before. Maybe they got a new manager or someone from Corporate came in and told them they better straighten up. I was going to post these pictures ages ago or send a note to Corporate after we first went in there, but I didn't right away. I just kept putting it off, and then thinking that since I hadn't been there in a while maybe they'd improved, so I should wait and see. Then I went back, and it was just as bad, and I still kept putting it off. Just so you know, it's been bad since at least September. Pictures in this post are from September, November and December, and there was another time in there that I forgot my phone so I didn't get any pictures, but it was just as bad then. I don't know about before September, but it had to get this way sometime. And now, because they let everything get into such a mess, it is going to take a very concerted effort to get it back to the way it is supposed to be.
In the meantime, the Kohl's associates are going to need to keep on top of things, because the customers have obviously gotten used to the total mess of this store and see no reason to change their behavior. Even racks or fixtures that have obviously been straightened recently had a few items thrown over the top or lying on the floor. Customers as a rule seem to be pretty messy creatures, but I'm thinking they're more likely to at least try to leave things neat if they're already that way - but if they're already messy, why bother?
I used to work in those departments. You spend your entire day roaming the department, straightening what needs straightened, picking things up, hanging things back up, etc. (In between helping customers, setting ads, doing markdowns, putting out new merchandise, and all the other stuff that needs done) And, when the store closes, everyone stays until all the departments are recovered.
It never ends! But, if you don't keep at it, it will get out of control. Like this store.
