Kmart is not pleased with recent news reports about the chain’s imminent doom, and today posted a blog post of its own in response. The prediction of fearful employees that the chain is about to shut down is inaccurate, the chain’s leaders say, and the stockroom purges aren’t a first step toward liquidation.
To be fair to the employees who shared their fears, that is exactly what a company would tell its customers and employees if it were trying to shut down slowly and quietly. Sears Holdings has appeared to be in slow-motion demise for years, and hundreds of Kmart stores have closed in the last few years.
So what’s the deal with the alleged stockroom purges? Kmart’s leaders explain that it’s a process to keep stores running more efficiently, without any stock or employees unavailable to customers.
“[O]ur store associates are currently rolling out a phased project that gets our newly-delivered products on the stores’ shelves immediately rather than in the stock rooms and ensuring that the member does not wait in line at the checkout.”
Consumerist visited a Kmart store over the weekend, and didn’t notice excess inventory stacked to the rafters, but did notice that there were multiple very friendly cashiers on duty and no customers waiting in line.
Closing underperforming stores is a good idea, and sometimes a necessary one, as RadioShack learned in the last year before its bankruptcy when lenders wouldn’t let the chain make necessary store closures.
As always, our e-mail box is open to employees and shoppers of any retailers who have something that they want us to know.
Attention Kmart Shoppers! [SHC Speaks]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist
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