My suggestion, see if you can locate a "mood ring" to give to "The Gestapo" as a joke. Then when you are trying to figure out how to respond, make a show of looking for the ring so you will know her "mood."
It might help to just tell her that's what you want to do, if you can catch her in the right mood! The theory behind the suggestion is to try to bring to her awareness the fact that she is unpredictable, and therefor makes people nervous and apprehensive. The downside is, that may be what she wants!
Your retail people are in a death spiral and don't know it. Every new manager will be infected with the same attitude, and the problem will continue. If you care, you could try going up the chain with your concern, (request anonymity!), explain that the nervousness of the management is being communicated to the employees. There is a faint possibility that the store could be saved by a corporate cheerleader, but it seems unlikely.
I have been very busy at work this week. Sorry about the delayed response.
LOL! I laughed out loud at your suggestion of the mood ring, but I don't think the gestapo would find it funny nor introspective. I think she's kinda sadistic. There is a very long hill plus 23 steps (stairs) between our parking lot and the door. The gestapo parks in handicap parking, no hill, no steps, and less than a hundred feet from the door. I get very winded getting up the steps and hill and many times am still breathing heavy when I get our office. This happened one day and the gestapo laughed and said, "what's the matter, did you run?" I was ticked, but only said in an innocent voice, "no, there's a big hill between here and the parking lot."
I'm not certain if the root problem with the way the owners handle their employees at my p.t. job can be completely attributed to their new investment. They must be making a lot to have invested in an expansion so quickly. It's not exactly corporate since it is owned by 4-5 individuals who also work f.t. at the store. There are 2 owners who are brother-in-laws, one has his wife and son working there, the other has his elderly mother working there. The wife does the books. When they want us to know of a policy or procedure they leave a sheet next to the "time clock" with everyone's name on it (except the owners and their family members) to initial. One day the owner's wife left one with the procedure she wanted us to use on a special gift certificate and ended it with, "I feel like I'm grading papers in grade school again." All the employees are pretty upbeat in carrying out their jobs. The cameras are a source of teasing among us if someone is 'misbehaving'. The manager is frustrated because they have now installed combination locks on the office and the computer room, only the owners have the combination. The other day the manager was disgusted because the son got on the intercom with customers in the store and asked, or demanded, whoever put junk all over his desk (in the locked computer room) to come and clean it up. The manager has told me that the son comes and goes as he pleases and she can not even tell when he is at work since he can lock himself in his office and does not always answer his phone. Since the locks were installed, the dept mgrs have said it is taking them months to get the son to put their new products in the system, where it used to get done immediately. On top of this the people who are related, and many of the employees, belong to a denomination that seems to be rather legalistic, and has some false beliefs regarding the finality of Christ's sacrifice on the cross (i.e the price is paid and works won't get ya into heaven), etc.
Thank you for the advice and for listening to me! I still try to have fun while doing my job when the miserable bosses aren't looking! My cat is very important to me when I get home and need some cuddle-relief. Don't know if I'll be back here before Monday, so have a wonderful weekend!