http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3493380Oh my.
TwixVoy Donating Member (185 posts) Fri Jun-20-08 07:59 PM
Original message
I think we may be in trouble...
I work at one of the largest retailers in the country. I am in store management. For the past few days sales at most stores tanked by a HUGE amount, including mine. I mean I have never seen sales tank this much in all the years I've been here.
But what worries me is all of a sudden corporate has pulled EVERYONES ability to view sales at stores. Everyone has basically been denied access to it on the corporate intranet. Not only can we not see other stores sales, we can't even see our own. I called our corporate support line and was told we will be kept in the dark for now, and was not able to get a reason for it.
This has never happened before. Makes me think that something major is happening and they don't want anyone to know about it. I can think of no other reason all stores would be forbidden to view sales all of a sudden. In retail this is unheard of. Sales are something we view every single day. It effects what choices we make at our stores. The fact they have now denied access to this overnight company wide with no warning is very very unusual. It makes me think the people at corporate see something about the economy coming down the line and they don't want it to be seen.
I'll keep everyone posted.
I dunno. I never paid much attention to retail management.
Might any decent and civilized person have an explanation for this, as the primitives don't seem to be taking this, uh, troubling development seriously?
notesdev (590 posts) Fri Jun-20-08 08:02 PM
Response to Original message
1. Sounds like...
Home Depot. Tanking sales should be expected in this environment, nobody has any money left and there's no one to sell the end product to.
TomInTib Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Jun-20-08 08:05 PM
Response to Original message
2. Tell us who you work for so we can buy short.
Seriously, though, I have read several of your recent posts on your sales environment and I see that you know your stuff.
This is a really strange development and cannot be anything but bad.
kestrel91316 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Jun-20-08 08:07 PM
Response to Original message
3. If it's Home Depot or OSH or Target, please tell them to not go out of business until I do my errands tomorrow. I especially need some window tint film to block the heat from my apartment windows so maybe I won't go bankrupt from the AC bills.
kestrel91316 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Jun-20-08 08:08 PM
Response to Original message
4. If you are in SoCal it could be that sales have tanked because people cannot handle shopping in 115+ heat.
And then the twinkle toes primitive gives us a nice little stretchy:
TwixVoy Donating Member (185 posts) Fri Jun-20-08 08:20 PM
Response to Reply #8
11. Trust me I am scared as shit
The things that are coming down from corporate say nothing but trouble, and now this which keeps us in the dark. The interesting thing is we are one of the few retailers that the news is always saying is doing well... and we were for about the past month and a half. Sales were overall ok. Then all of a sudden they tanked worse than they were before.
But half of what scares me is walking through our store located in the middle of a major city and finding it almost completely empty some days when years past it would be full of people. We have a HUGE line of registers at the front of the store, and we can get by fine with just two registers open these days.
QuestionAll Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Jun-20-08 08:42 PM
Response to Original message
20. i saw an analyst predition a few months back that sears wouldn't exist by the end of the year...
What, no more Sears, Roebuck and their big mail-order catalogue?
