Category: Target

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Keeping It Brand, Part 12

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Toys, toys, and more TOYS.

T’is the season once again, when hordes of people descend upon retail establishments, searching for the latest and greatest in electronics, entertainment, toys, and games. These kindly folks are given lists by their diligent children, or grandchildren, or nieces, or nephews, or godkids, lists of items for Santa to bring them. These items range from beats by dre headphones, to BMX bikes, to Lego Chima, to Monster High dolls, to basically anything else you can find on the shelves with a price tag on it. And each year, the “must-haves” are different. This year’s “must-haves” were:

 

  • Playstation 4
  • Zoomer robot dog
  • Doc McStuffin’s Checkup Center
  • Razor scooters
  • Logo Party board game
  • Lego Friends sets
  • Our Generation dolls and accesories
  • Rubber band bracelets
  • Crayola Crayon Maker
  • Flutter-bye dolls

I know they were the “must-haves” because of the plethora of phone calls to the store from 8 o’clock on every morning since November 12th, asking for the availability of said items. That’s of course in addition to the people wanting bungee chairs, rocker chairs, microwaves, Kitchen-Aid attachments (and mixers), vacuum cleaners, Keurig machines, and beer making kits. It honestly blows my mind the sheer numbers generated by a retail store just in that month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Numbers of guests in the building on any given day, at any given hour. Numbers of guests through the checkout lines. Numbers of average items in each cart. Numbers of dollars spent on those items. Numbers of team members assigned to the electronics, entertainment, and toys areas of the store on any given day, at any given hour.

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So THAT’S what Zoomer looks like!

And this year I was responsible for two major areas of the store for the holidays: perishables, and TOYS. Now, if you’ve been following this series, you’ll know that my primary job at Target is the perishables assistant, meaning I am responsible for making sure all of our fresh food is indeed fresh, that it’s full on the floor, and that an order goes in systematically so we can maintain the other two. I think many people forget in the maelstrom over in electronics, entertainment, and toys, that food is a huge seller this time of year as well and helps to maintain the other areas of the store. Anyway, though, I was asked this year to expand my talents and take over the daunting task of also maintaining Toys. Continue reading “Keeping It Brand, Part 12”

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Keeping it Brand, Part 10

*I work at Target. You know, the store. And I’ve worked at Target for the past ten years, on and off. During my experience at Target I’ve learned so many different things about the store, about people who work there, about people who shop there, and how it is so much different from all the other retail stores out there. We aren’t employees; we are all team members. And we don’t serve customers; we serve guests. The biggest difference is the culture, the language, and the atmosphere of the store, which I’ve expounded about in this series. It’s all about Keeping it Brand.

I told someone about the coupon faeries the other day at work, and they looked at me like I had just grown three additional heads. Then a new team member asked me to help her with a guest who needed to find something. Later on that same day I had a rousing discussion about the new signing we had gotten in to highlight the summer experience (even though we’re setting Back to School within the next couple of weeks). Those are the discussions I love to have, with guests, with fellow (and female) team members, and with other people about the experiences I have. Continue reading “Keeping it Brand, Part 10”