Attention shoppers, we're not really open (Blue Light Special)

Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre PA) ^ | 12/26/2003 | Unattributed

[Born Conservative]

EDWARDSVILLE - With perhaps the best blue-light special ever, a few shoppers found the Kmart on U.S. Route 11 open but unmanned on Christmas Eve. Store workers accidentally left the store unlocked after they finished work and closed the store at about 9:30 p.m., said Edwardsville police officer Shawn Brown.

With the lights still on after workers cleared the store and left, new customers were drawn in. A few went inside but then exited and called police when they found the Mark Plaza store empty.

Brown said a man and his child were discovered inside shopping, but they were shooed out without incident.

Police called a Kmart manager who arrived to lock the store properly, Brown said.

[ClearCase_guy]

I have often observed that the folks who work at K-Mart are (shall we say) not of the highest quality. Walking away from an unlocked, fully lit store? I'd suspect chemical impairment -- or massive stupidity.

[Born Conservative]

It says a lot for the work ethic (or actually LACK of work ethic) of many in the workforce.

[ReagansShinyHair]

I can just imagine the scramble to loot if this had been in my old neighborhood.

[MinuteGal]

What's the difference? My K-Mart store is virtually unmanned even during business hours.

If you're lucky enough to even spot clerks out on the floor, try to catch up them to ask a question. They have an uncommon ability to look straight ahead, walk fast no matter how short their legs are, turn a corner and disappear forever.

One of their greatest talents is to pick their way through minefields of merchandise on the floor without ever once restoring the stuff to the shelves.

I call them the Artful Dodgers.

Leni

[mewzilla]

I was in our remaining local K-Mart right before the holday. They was very little on the shelves to buy or steal.

[MarkL]

It says a lot for the work ethic (or actually LACK of work ethic) of many in the workforce.

Actually, having worked at a Monkey Wards back in highschool as Christmas approached, it's probably more from exaustion than anything else...

I worked in the hardware dept, which was next to sporting goods and toys... And this was during the "Cabbage Patch" craze. YIKES!!!!! I know that I worked many 12+ hour shifts in a row, and I wasn't a manager! The store was open from 8:00am till 10:00pm, and everybody was working at least part time stocking and straightening the toy department. We weren't even able to go to lunch or dinner... They brought in sandwiches and drinks, and gave us 15 minute breaks to eat.

And the few days before Christmas, we opened at 6:00am, and closed at midnight. It was awful. I certainly don't know if that's the case with this K-Mart, but retail before Christmas was not a whole lot of fun back then.

Mark

[Choose Ye This Day]

I agree with you. You couldn't pay me enough to work retail around Christmas and put up with shoppers who are rude, uncivil, condescending, demanding, insulting and stupid. Been there, done that, never going back.

[dljordan]

Several years ago I was working construction in Nashville, Tn. and saw two fully stocked new stores locked up by twisting a wire through the lockhole. They hadn't installed the locks yet (back doors) and didn't even hire a guard.

[Independentamerican]

I once thought walmarts customer service was poor until I visited a Kmart. I will never visit another Kmart again unless looking for a soft drink and no other store is in a 5 mile radius. What is even worse is that the workers at Walmart are not on par with the workers at Target.

[Independentamerican]

Last time I went to a Kmart I sat there for literally 20 minutes asking reps there if someone could assist me in the electronic department. Came back the next day because I had left some film there to be developed and It took another 1/2 hour to have someone locate my pictures.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I have to tell you a funny Montgomery Wards story -

I was calling to check on an outside storage building we had ordered - it was supposed to be there and we had lined up help to pick it up - no one would answer the phone!

I tried for hours - no one was answering!

So, I called the Optical Department and said, "This is Donna Anderson (generic sounding name) from the Regional Office. The Regional Manager has been trying to get in touch with your location for over an hour and no one is answering the switchboard. Get someone in there now to answer that phone!"

Within 5 minutes someone answered the switchboard and I was connected with the department I needed.

Yea, I know, it was a dirty trick.....

[Don Corleone]

So, I called the Optical Department and said, "This is Donna Anderson (generic sounding name) from the Regional Office. The Regional Manager has been trying to get in touch with your location for over an hour and no one is answering the switchboard. Get someone in there now to answer that phone!"

Brilliant!

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Thank you.....;^)

[BJungNan]

What's the difference? My K-Mart store is virtually unmanned even during business hours.

We have I think the only KMart where the employees walk you to the item you are looking for if you ask them where it is. And they know about the product when you get there.

[mlmr]

but retail before Christmas was not a whole lot of fun back then.


The people at WAL Mart dont ever look like they are having a good time. Interesting that I have noticed that our local target only hires good looking young men and women,