Black Friday. I always work it.
Staggeringly different this year. No crowds, at least not really. Periods of time being able to walk away from the register. Hardly ran out of anything so no need to worry about rain checks. Periods of time only running one register. Boring. Employees were sent HOME....that's NEVER happened before.
Oh, don't get me wrong. $47,000 worth of business in one day never happens at that store. But we were busier last year and people didn't even know the store was there. Our store plan was $68,000. Meaning, the company projected that it would at least be as busy as last year with hopes to do more business.
Why did it fail?
The ad. It's boring. It has been virtually the same for the five years I have worked for the company. It really never changes. How many chainsaws, leather boots, gun safes, and air compressors does one person really need over that period of time? The biggest business we did was for things that people need or want every day. Such as black oil sunflower seed and softener salt. I think if the company offered more sales on things like horse, chicken and dog feed, we'd have done much better. People need those things. Feeds are high right now.
Our marketing department. The ads are so globbed together and unexciting that hell, just from looking at it, I'm bored. I can't imagine a customer being excited over it.
Our buyers. There is clothing in the ad...but the buyers who buy the clothing must be blind. I can't imagine wearing most of it. Oh, the men's clothing is fine. It's the women's clothing. It is geared to ladies of a certain age and ten year olds. Since most of the female population is neither....a huge chunk of the market is missing. I know I wouldn't buy a damn thing in that clothing department right now unless it was a Carhartt hoodie or something like that. The fabrics are also at fault...they are so thin that if you get cold, everyone will know...and the fit is at fault...manufactured in China (like every thing is now) where boob sizes must be smaller, the sleeves start too close too the shoulder and the boobs have no room, making the smallest person with any boobs at all look dumpy.
The shift to major retailers being open Thanksgiving night. By the time we opened Friday morning at 6 am...and did NO business until 7 am, everyone was either sleeping or had spent all their money.
I also wonder about the ads getting mailed out on time. At our particular location, we have had at least 100 customers on prior ads come in complaining that the ad wasn't in their mailbox until it had ended. My previous manager (we are currently manager-less) honored the ad to make them happy. I believe this could be the case again...but could be wrong since a friend whose daughter works at a different location also said it was slow there...and that store is easily 100 percent busier on a normal day than ours.
The store was quite immaculate when we left last night. And we left nearly an hour earlier than we were supposed to leave. That has never ever happened. On a proper Black Friday, the store will be thrashed for at least a week before it is borderline back in shape, because from here on out, TSC basically does an ad per week to get rid of the Christmas items hopefully before they go to ridiculous clearance prices.
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On another note, I am told we will now be borrowing an ASM from Whitmore Lake until the first of the year. First it was for a week, then until the first of December, and now, until January. I kind of think he is going to be our manager. Sounds like the TSC way...sneak someone in, get them and us used to the situation and then, make the announcement. I don't really care. He's okay, doesn't pick on me, but then, I do my job...but others have taken up arms against him because he gets after them to work hard. I have tried explaining that its because he worked with Cindy who worked with Janet and so they both were perfectionist taskmasters...and that is how the job is supposed to be done. He just is rubbing people the wrong way right now because he's going about it incorrectly. Oh well. Not my problem. I have no problem with it...I also worked with Janet and Cindy. I'm used to it.
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