This Place is a Mess!

I think I know why Walmart does so well. Yes, they have stores all over the world and that surely helps, but for the most part their stores are clean. I've seen the store contradict me on that statement but I would say that 75% of the time they're clutter free (restocking time doesn't count). The reason I bring this up is because 3 stores come that just made me very uncomfortable because of their problems.

K-Mart - The one in my home town seems to be the only one that's just completely unkempt and they surely know how to do that right. The toy isle is the worst of all. They had plastic shelves that stood about hip high up in the middle of the isle with an abundance of unsorted toys strewn about all over the top of them. Then in the food section where the drinks are there was a big puddle of soda pop being blocked off with over turned empty boxes. Let me tell you, the entire store has similar problems as well.

The another thing that truly irks me about K-mart is that friggin alarm that sounds when you walk into the claustrophobic electronics section. Why can't they just expand that section or maybe make it so that the employees that are in charge of the section can see the customers that are looking at the electronics.

Another funny thing about the K-Mart here is that they still have an N64 and Xbox display up that no longer functions. Furthermore, the Xbox part of the display still dawns the bear controller that Penny Arcade famously made fun of. In fact if I ever get a chance, next week I may photograph the display and show you. Keep an eye out for an update.

Random Consignment Shop: This shop is stacked from floor to ceiling with Everything! That's how thrift/consignment shops work of course. This one mainly focused on media like books, movies, and music but the problem with this store is not that it was cluttered exactly. They have things pretty well in order. It's just that they have decided to pack the store with SO MUCH. It's so claustrophobic in there, you barely have shoulder room to walk through it all. I guarantee that if a Fire Marshall stopped by they'd have a problem with the place. Plus it seemed so packed that it might even be dangerous in that something may fall on someone. Just thinking about the place makes me feel uneasy.

Old Retail Store:
I recently watched Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices and they showed how a local retail store was going under because Walmart moved into their town. It had thrived and did quite well for many many years. They showed footage of the inside of the store and it just seemed so barren. I don't know if it was because they didn't have the money to pay for any more merchandise or if it had always been that way, but to me having very little merchandise is a big turn off. I just find it so depressing and because of that I won't go back to a store like that. A big reason for having a store is so people can go there, look around, and to buy things, but if there's nothing to look at it kind of defeats the purpose.

So if you decide to get into the retail business, walk around in a few others first so that you can know what works, and what doesn't work. Now, off to contact someone at K-Mart HQ to tell them that something needs to change. It won't be the first time I've contacted companies about their products. More on that subject later.