Recently, when shopping in mall outlets, I have found a few things different from when I used to work in a retail store. When I worked in a retail store, you greeted any customer that walked in the door, regardless of being busy with another customer. A simple greeting such as "welcome, please look around, and let me know if I can help you when I am finished with this customer" was essential. It was and is called great customer service to be aware of everyone who comes into the store and making sure to greet them with enthusiasm. Upon my recent shopping experience, I was not greeted by the staff. Most stores had one employee per a space of 200 square feet or more. If I had a question, I had to locate any employee and hope it was not another customer milling about. Name tags are apparently not required anymore as an identifier of the employee versus customer. I have to give most retail stores in a mall as being clean. The racks did not have clothes strewn about and the floors were clean. The downside was sizing. Apparently sizing is not necessary anymore either. Certainly 10 comes after 8, but not in most retail stores where 4 can be in the back with 24 in the front. It is yet another example, of where an employee needs to focus in their job to make the sizing from small to large as most consumers expect. The good news is, when asking questions of that elusive employee in any of the stores, an answer and a decent one is usually given. Of all the shopping experiences, I have to say World Market and Bed Bath and Beyond have the best customer service out of any retail store I have been to. Their employees seemed to care and be on hand.
