I think we may be in trouble...

[TwixVoy]

I work at one of the largest retailers in the country. I am in store management. For the past few days sales at most stores tanked by a HUGE amount, including mine. I mean I have never seen sales tank this much in all the years I've been here.

But what worries me is all of a sudden corporate has pulled EVERYONES ability to view sales at stores. Everyone has basically been denied access to it on the corporate intranet. Not only can we not see other stores sales, we can't even see our own. I called our corporate support line and was told we will be kept in the dark for now, and was not able to get a reason for it.

This has never happened before. Makes me think that something major is happening and they don't want anyone to know about it. I can think of no other reason all stores would be forbidden to view sales all of a sudden. In retail this is unheard of. Sales are something we view every single day. It effects what choices we make at our stores. The fact they have now denied access to this overnight company wide with no warning is very very unusual. It makes me think the people at corporate see something about the economy coming down the line and they don't want it to be seen.

I'll keep everyone posted.

[notesdev]

1. Sounds like...

Home Depot. Tanking sales should be expected in this environment, nobody has any money left and there's no one to sell the end product to.

[TomInTib]

2. Tell us who you work for so we can buy short.

Seriously, though, I have read several of your recent posts on your sales environment and I see that you know your stuff.

This is a really strange development and cannot be anything but bad.

[kestrel91316]

3. If it's Home Depot or OSH or Target, please tell them to not

go out of business until I do my errands tomorrow. I especially need some window tint film to block the heat from my apartment windows so maybe I won't go bankrupt from the AC bills.

[AlCzervik]

12. Home depot used to be a good company until Bob Nardelli ruined it.

i worked at HD and HD expo for 7 years and now i wouldn't even buy anything there.

[kestrel91316]

4. If you are in SoCal it could be that sales have tanked because people

cannot handle shopping in 115+ heat.

[AlCzervik]

5. is it Macy's? I have a friend that works for them in HR.

i talk to her at least twice a week and she tells me what's going on.

[TwixVoy]

6. No

I won't say who because I like my job. But we are general merchandise.

[TwixVoy]

7. Also what is going on at Macys? nt

[Systematic Chaos]

8. Your posts scare the shit out of me, but then they're not at all surprising.

I don't know what you may have posted in the intervening time, but I remember your post a while back saying that your company was going apeshit over every expense. That one spurred a huge discussion.

No matter what happens, I hope that at least you will keep your job, a roof over your head and food on your family.

[TwixVoy]

11. Trust me I am scared as shit

The things that are coming down from corporate say nothing but trouble, and now this which keeps us in the dark. The interesting thing is we are one of the few retailers that the news is always saying is doing well... and we were for about the past month and a half. Sales were overall ok. Then all of a sudden they tanked worse than they were before.

But half of what scares me is walking through our store located in the middle of a major city and finding it almost completely empty some days when years past it would be full of people. We have a HUGE line of registers at the front of the store, and we can get by fine with just two registers open these days.

[TwixVoy]

24. Also the interesting thing is that

EVERYONE sees it. Everyone I work with is constantly commenting that things don't feel right. Constantly commenting that the changes corporate is slowly sending down, even though they are trying to pass it off as nothing to worry about, logically IS something to worry about. They changes they are making feel like they are preparing for a new economy almost. Like they are expecting this to be a long term situation. Some of the changes they are making are intended for long term roll outs. (as in the next 1-3 years) They are changing slowly the entire structure of how they see future shoppers.

For example, we are being told we don't need express lanes anymore. Why? Because people will be buying so few items in the next 1-3 years that "every lane will be an express lane".

These changes are being rolled out by the people at the very top of the company that deal with billions of dollars... and I don't think they would be making long term changes all across how the company expects to do business the next few years unless they were sure this was going to be the situation.

[DJ13]

9. I hope you arent on commision since you cant even see your own sales

Best of luck!

[MadMaddie]

10. Any bet they are cutting you off because they are preparing

to sell out to a Foreign country? It's happening all over America. Frankly it's destroying America.

[TwixVoy]

14. Not very likely

But I wouldn't be surprised if some of the corporate executives were preparing to take what they can and jump ship with some of the moves they are making.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. You may be right

and the economy is not doing well

I just hope it ain't Target... it is at bikable distance

[durablend]

19. I'm thinking Kmart

Just a hunch

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Well I just hope is not target, for very SELFISH reasons

:-)

At this point

[AlCzervik]

27. i'm thinking Sears.

[SmileyRose]

15. Our sales are down too.

I work accounts receivable for a medium sized business in home furnishings - in the last month all of the sudden the bottom has dropped out of money coming in. I don't think even the accountant has realized how drastic and sudden it is, although I've mentioned it. Sales out the door are down a good 20% but we are very high end and can survive that if it doesn't get worse. I think they could survive 50% sales cuts but they'll have to let some people go (probably me).

What worries me the most is how little money is coming in on sales 30-60 days ago. The designers and stores we sell to are not paying the bills. Not even the big boys like Neiman Marcus, Macy's and La-z-boy

[Breeze54]

16. Is it TJ Max? Maybe they got hacked again!! -- Date breach- Consumers screwed!!

:shrug:

[AllieB]

18. What a pain that was

Two credit cards and my debit card were on their list. Thankfully, they weren't compromised, but I had to get new ones.

[AllieB]

17. It's hitting Main Street and high-end stores

There was an wrticle a few months back in the Boston Globe how a new swanky mall out in Natick was doing poorly, except for Nordstrom. I've been there a few times and it's even quiet on the weekends.

In my town and surrounding area, a lot of Mom and Pop places have closed shop in the past year. People don't have the cash to spend anymore.

[Breeze54]

21. That mall has just been reburbished but it's not new except for Nordstrum

I worked at that mall in '71 & '72 while in high school.

A lot of people in MA are out of work except scientists and biological researchers. :eyes:

That was announced last week on TV news in MA... :grr:

[AllieB]

25. Yes, I know that, but that whole other wing (Natick Collection) is new.

It is really bad in Mass-you're right. My husband's company may pull out of the country and leave 100 people without jobs. :-(

[dysfunctional press]

20. i saw an analyst predition a few months back that sears wouldn't exist by the end of the year...

:shrug:

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. Twix...what are some reasons a company might do what yours is doing???

Just off the top of your head, say..............?


A suggestion for anyone with job and health insurance
If you can afford it, get any health issues taken care of NOW, while you have coverage.
If you change or lose your job, pull your retirement plan out of the company, roll it directly over into a money market or savings account.
Trust me on this one.... learned the hard way.

[TwixVoy]

26. We have been told

that the company is preparing for a new consumer. Basically that the fundamentals of how people buy things will be changing in the next 1-2 years. They are expecting much lower volume. For example they are telling us we won't have to worry about express lanes anymore because people will be buying a quanitity of items that will make every lane an express lane.

So basically the corporate execs are telling us that the fundamentals of people buying things are going to be different, and that we are going to make changes to accomodate that. At least that is the reason given on a lot of the documents explaining the changes they are making.

[nilram]

28. wow...

You said most stores had tanking sales -- When you did have access to the sales figures, was one part of the country doing better than others? This is a national retailer? Wow.

[sce56]

29. Well we know it can't be that no one has any money left to spend now days after all they predicted

$23 dollars a barrel of oil after we invade Iraq!


The people have to spend all of there money for fuel to get to work nothing left for buying stuff now especially those road warriors driving big Saudi Ultimate Vengeance (SUV) trucks! They are trying to unload them and get fuel efficient cars yet they can not get a good trade in on them now..

http://web.archive.org/web/20021013181055/

[unblock]

30. they may be on the block.

shutting down flow of information can be a tipoff to m&a activity.

DO NOT REVEAL THE NAME OF YOUR EMPLOYER AND DO NOT TRADE ON THIS INFORMATION.

[bluesmail]

31. Your last post and this one should be a big-ass warning

Collapse=enronomics=deregulation=speculators=manipulations=the word that is meant to 'Terrorize' equates DEPRESSION. (OK, I feel lifeless).

[bluesmail]

32. OK It seems I do have a bit of life in me to say that I work for the

Post Office. This is my 35th year and I've never seen the volume of mail be so low-ever. Looking at the few catalogs gives me an idea who may be hanging in there, and there aren't many!