Someone at work mentioned that this blog existed so I had to check it out for myself...

Yep, those photos look pretty accurate to me! On the morning of January 18, 2007, the regional manager came into the store and boy was she pissed! I wasn't there to see her, but the instructions she left for management was to have every department, recovery and freight employee in the store in the Men's department cleaning.

Now, we all had mixed emotions on this one. Why should we have to help in one person's area when there is so much more to be done in the store? We have our own departments to maintain and they will soon be out of hand if we aren't there for most of a workday. But whatever. If Miriam (sp.) wants to see the Men's department cleaned up because of some pictures posted on the web, then fine. Just don't expect the rest of the store to look good as a result.

Let me start at the beginning. There are several factors which play into the condition of this particular store, three of them being:

1. Store Management
2. Lack of staff
3. Customer demographic

If you've ever shopped Kohl's you already know they're a fast-growing discount retailer. Just this month they've reached the billion-dollar mark for one-year sales. That said, there is always a sales and people looking to get even more of a discount.

Your average Kohl's customer shops the store with Wal-Mart money and expects Barney's service. They take several pieces of clothing into the dressing rooms, try them all on and then leave them there. Okay, this happens. But then you all expect us, the employees, to clean it all up because "that's your job," you say. Right? Well, as long as we're having to go behind each and every PIG that shops, we aren't able to assist you on the sales floor, aren't able to get more product onto the floor (replenishment), and we aren't able to keep the sales floor in pristine condition. And don't get me started on the KIDS that run through the store! Sure, you say it's never YOUR kids, but we see differently. How many times have you turned around and had to call your child's name? You don't know what they were doing, but we do...more on that one later, though...

Then you have those customers who get to the front registers, decide they don't want something and just leave it at the front. Okay, no big deal, but what happens when you - the BUYING customer - wants something that was left at the front? We can't get there fast enough to put things back bacause of those customers who left things in the fitting rooms for us to clean up!

You also have impatient customers who complain about having to wait 3-5 minutes in line on a SATURDAY AFTERNOON!  H E L L O!! If we're all cleaning up after you all who don't put things back where you got them from, how do you expect to be helped out of the store quickly? Simple, it just doesn't happen.

Kohl's is what you call a Self-Service Store - you find what you need on your own and put it back where you got it from. When you need help, the associates are there to help you. Oh. There aren't any associates around to help, you say? Well, we've been called to the front registers to help check people out. Surely you understand that we can't be in two places at the same time, right?

And then there's the Customer Service desk...people return things for all kinds of reasons (nothing wrong with that) and we (department associates) are supposed to make several trips a day to the service desk in order to grab those undamaged returns to put them back on the sales floor. No big deal, but we're also supposed to be 1)on the sales floor helping customers, 2)replenishing said sales floor, 3)helping out on registers, 4)cleaning up your childrens' spills, 5)getting UPC numbers for customers who have merchandise without tags, 6)cleaning out fitting rooms, etc.

Not everything can be blamed on the customer. I am not suggesting that at all, but you all do need to take some responsibility. It isn't every customer, but it is the vast majority of Dallas shoppers. Some of you blame it on the mid-to low-income customers with little money and several children. You aren't looking at the Highland Park and Plano shoppers we get each day, the ones who expect to be waited on hand and foot, the ones who think they deserve more than the next customer.

We try to be fair to everybody that shops there no matter where you come from. We do our best with what we are given.

Now with that said, there's the management team. Oh boy. In a nutshell, they're pretty much good for nothing. They leave everything up to the department supervisors and part-time associates while they sit in the office eating donuts and taking lunch breaks. They are so concerned with their vacation time and what they're doing over the weekend, that we're left to figure things out on our own. We do a pretty good job considering we have NO help from management.

*Only two of them really care and they know who they are. Thanks for your help, you suggestions and concern for us little people.*

Have you all met the store manager? He's the one whose name and picture you see up on the wall at the Customer Service Desk. You may direct all complaints to him if you want instant gratification.

Instead of hiring more staff, they leave shifts uncovered and ask employees from other stores to come help out. It really is embarassing to those of us who are there and do what we're supposed to. The store has been understaffed from day one. The company doesn't want to put the money necessary into payroll to hire new associates and they don't want to spend the money that is available to have current associates scheduled to work.

When you have people that are only scheduled to work 5-10 hours a week, do you really expect them to be cheerful about their jobs? I certainly don't. When we're at work all we hear are complaints from managers, customers and even other employees about how nothing is getting done. There's only so much we can do before management steps in and takes responsibility!

Yes, there are those associates who are there simply to collect a paycheck and do nothing to deserve it, which in turn means the rest of us have to pick up more slack!! When does this end? Unfortunately, it is a never-ending cycle! We have to come in and bust our bottoms each and every day for customers who will never notice (for many reasons), managers who never step in and for a company that doesn't care anything about its associates.

Do I think it was wrong for the person to come in and take pictures of the store for the sake of embarassing the associates and company as a whole? Absolutely not, but I do feel it was necessary for a response.

I am now off to the company's "After-Christmas Party" at good ol Dave & Busters. I was pressed for time in writing this and will be back after work tomorrow with more.

-Kohl's Dallas Employee

P.S. If any of you wondered why you don't get a "Thank you for shopping," it is because those of us who go above and beyond don't get a "Thank you for all your help."

AND --- It was right AFTER CHRISTMAS that the original blogger visited! What do you expect? People were shopping our store until after Midnight and most of us had to be back there as early as 6AM.

In case you missed it, this is a response to Hurricane Kohl's.