Terrie finished up her shopping at her local Kmart and headed for the checkout. She was horrified to see that each open checkout had at least dozen customers in line, and the store had no intention of opening any more. When she inquired about making her purchase at the jewelry counter or opening some more registers, she learned exactly how important customers are to this particular store.

At (or slightly before) 9:00pm I was shopping at the Kmart in [redacted], CA. Although the store wouldn’t be closing for another hour, they were down to two open checkstands and informed me that they would not be opening any more despite the fact one had 12 customers in line and the other had 14.

I went to the jewelry counter to see if perhaps she could check me out, but she too was closed. When I asked her to please inquire as to whether another line would be opening, the party to which she was inquiring must have asked her who was asking, to which she replied, “Oh, just a customer”. I have never been nor will I ever be “JUST” a customer.

In addition, the Manager on duty, “[redacted]” was nowhere to be found.

Yes, why should the wishes of mere customers be important in a retail establishment? Judging from my recent trips to Kmart, this store should be grateful that they have twenty-seven simultaneous customers in the first place. Continue treating them this way, and the customers will go away, thus solving the problem of long checkout lines! Excellent planning, management of the [redacted] Kmart.

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