I have used this space in the past to describe my families oath of allegiance to the blue light retailer. Over the last 10 years, the retailer, and my families allegiance to it, has been in decline. First, there was the declining stock price. Then there was the bankruptcy. Then there was the lousy service, and the crummy products. Then there was the great divestiture.
Now comes the final straw. There was exactly one reason why I continued to shop at K-Mart – it was convenient for me. I knew that I could grab something and get out quickly. No, this had nothing to do with the quality of service provided by it’s employees. In fact, it was convenient in spite of the employees. It was convenient because I could get in and out without having to deal with a single employee directly. Yes, they had self-check out registers. On several occasions I brazenly bypassed the long lines of lemming like shoppers waiting for assistance from the K-Mart cashiers. A quick scan of my one or two items, a swipe of my credit card… and I was ready to leave retail purgatory behind me.
Now imagine my disappointment when I picked up a few items this weekend. I walked through the facade that is older than I am, passed the jewelry case that looks better suited for displaying lottery tickets at a 7-11, walked through the isles that look as if they were organized 15 years ago by an intern from G. Pierce Wood, picked out my selections, and prepared myself for self-checkout; only to face rejection in the form of an expanded magazine selection. The self-checkout stations were gone, and so is my patronage
It is finally time to abandon the sinking ship.