When husbands, boyfriends, and sons go shopping for womanly gifts, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel for store clerks—these guys usually want to get in and out of the store as quickly as possible, and either they’ll decide in a snap what to buy or they’ll happily take your advice on what makes for the best gift. Either way, it’s easy money with little hassle. Somehow, though, Kohl’s jewelry counter clerks missed this bit of retail advice—here’s how they lost a $300 sale from a guy who was ready to buy and bolt earlier this week.
I usually don’t bother to go ahead and Google for an email address, however after leaving your store on Powers Blvd tonight with $500.00 still in my pocket I felt like Kohl’s was missing the boat on their male shoppers in general.
I’m 35, in sales, two kids, wife etc, and am basically the kind of male that goes into a store if its a holiday, potential disaster, or I’ll be leaving with some electronics or golf gear.
Tonight I was going into your store with the thought in mind that I can pick up a nice set of earrings or something between 200-400 dollars for this Sunday. As I walked in at about 6:40 or so, I made the quick right, walked around the counter and decided that we’re going to end up spending about 300 on a pair of earring that I thought the wife would enjoy. Now I don’t know about you, but for me this kind of decision takes about 2 minutes (Please don’t let my wife know this, as she would misinterpret my ability to quickly choose something for her as not caring enough)
So I looked up and around to locate the counter person so that way I could make the purchase, and quickly exit the store before I got caught between a crowd and a sale (This did happen to me the time I brought my daughter into your store to get a new coat because she lost her old one. I accidentally was standing in the aisle waiting to pay when had to push my kids to safety because a restocking of some items was going on in the ladies dept.)
Anyway, back to the jewelry/earrings – I am watching the counter person empty out and count up her drawer (It’s about 6:55) and it turns out she can’t hear me, or the other two gentlemen at the counter at that time. Now I am all for hiring people w/ handicaps but I do not believe this counter person was deaf, however I am unable to prove that due to her not flinching as the gentleman next to me was surely heard by someone 50 ft away.
After this, I just left.
Now, I have ran a dollar store for two years out of school for my family, I even worked for Lord and Taylors before they turned into just another store, and I can’t help but feel that if employees where trained or reminded before holidays like xmas or mothers day that people like myself would be coming into the store, usually they will have the $$ to spend and where just to come right up and say something like “Hi, do you need some help finding what your wife wants?” that you’d be doing your shareholders a favor.
A 35 yr old male who doesn’t enjoy shopping has the attention span of a 3-year-old when he is buying something that he normally wouldn’t. If you could somehow capture them as they walked though the door or wandered the aisles you’d do even better. If there is a store that does that for you that’s reasonable please let me know, I still have my $$ in my pocket tonight.
(Photo: net_efekt)
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I don’t know… Why wouldn’t you just walk up to the person and asked to be helped.
Initiative is a good thing.
But, you know it would not be out of line for anyone to suggest that a vclerk ignored the guy, too…
Who goes to Kohl’s for jewelry?
Speaking from experience with this store, I am not surprised. I’m actually surprised there was someone at the jewelry counter in the first place, because I’ve actually never seen anyone there when I’ve visited the store. Cashiers are at a premium even in the normal checkout lanes, and the store often looks like a war zone.
@Eels: I consider myself and my girlfriend to be well off, but if she ever made a comment as asinine and shallow as yours, I’d first take whatever amount of money I was going to spend on the gift and give it to the Red Cross, then tell her she can find all her stuff on eBay. Thankfully, she’s expressed numerous times that she’d rather me make that donation to the Red Cross than buy jewelry/other not-so-practical gifts.
Seriously, you not only fell right into the hands of the marketing people at the jewelry firms, but you seem rather petty and materialistic.
As much as people on this thread are enjoying giving the OP heat, you have to give him credit for going through the effort (even if it was last minute) of trying to find a gift, and then taking the time to contact the store about the incident that got in the way of getting his wife the gift.
Feel free to take your stimulus check to your local Costco to get a membership, and a bulk pack of Midol.
Holy crap – this has to be one of the worst non-news story. Ever.
@LUV2CattleCall: Wow, that joke went a mile over your head.
@Superawesomerad: And a shitty PMS remark, too! Your girlfriend is a lucky woman.
I would have walked out too. If a store doesn’t want my business, I’ll take it elsewhere. Unlike the lady trying to purchase Adobe software online who was willing to be ignored for two weeks, at least this guy was smart enough to walk away from a bad situation. Bravo to him for not being a victim!!!
Store probably closes at 7. Sales people have lives too, sometimes we wanna go home to our families and not spend an extra hour shutting up shop so you can walk in at the last minute and try to buy something. Like I care if corporate makes more $$$ today?
@Eels: Yep. Everyone knows that’s what love is. The number of zeroes after the price of the shit he buys you.
I have taken my shoes off, so you can walk in mine for a day at Kohl’s
Yep I am an employee.
Our store is bare bones on employees, now we can bring in more employees for sure, but those employees would be there to be making up prices of mds to cover the cost of payroll.
So live with a little inconvience and get low prices, or get full service and pay the price for it. But remember the cashiers do not do the scheduling. management does.
Thank Goodness the majority of my customers are great, but you always have the one or two that think they can bully their way thru.
300,00 earrings , please. do you really think Kohls lost 300.00?
And I have to say what a guy, waiting until 5 minutes before a store closes to buy a Mothers Day gift. The gift was a chore for you not something you WANTED to do for a loved one.
So I assume thus your “I am in a hurry” attutude.
Waaaah, you didn’t work hard enough to make me spend my money.
Wait… a wage slave gets paid $7/hour and works a ten hour shift ending at 7:00. She’s yelled at all the time by customers and staff. She has to clock out at 7:00 sharp or her boss gets pissed at her for “wasting” company money. If she works over to help a customer, she doesn’t get paid and misses the bus. She doesn’t get a commission or have any incentive to help rude, arrogant customers.
So… A rude, arrogant customer comes in. Instead of politely asking if she could help (or, if she were ending her shift, call someone else to help him), he stands there passive-agressing. Then he walks his rude, arrogant, rich, 3-year-old attention-spanned self out to his car and writes a letter referring to “shareholders.”
This poor lady has never been a “shareholder” in her life.
W. T. F.
OOOOOOO…Impatient man keeps his money, and why is this a story?
What time does Kohls close? There is nothing more aggrivating than a customer who comes in at the last minute, assuring everyone that he will be quick omly to hang around after close, preventing everyone from going home.