I din’t get the sense the line was about congeniality, rather about control in a situation where the customer was not right, and a burden to the clerks. I’d never seen retail with such a hostile attitude.
I’ve seen ornery individuals in retail, and this experiece across a few shops wasn’t that. This wasn’t an individual choosing in the moment to be meh… it was store design and policy, and encouraged a stand-offishness rather than a sense that the customer was being served. Wasn’t at all clear the customer wasn’t jumping through some hoops for the privilege of shopping.
I’d never before seen a line behind which I was expected to be trained to stand, other than on a public bus or military. It didn’t feel humane or normal.
I’m used to a lineup of folks in line for a register, not at all used to a waiting line behind which i must wait or I will not be served. Will not be looked at or responded to, unless I am behind it.
Did I not mention I was the only white customer? It was a sears. I’ve been in a lot of sears, never seen that north of DC.
This is how they do the check out queue at Old Navy, Kohl’s and JoAnn Fabrics around here. I have no idea why they do it this way all year round. The staff is typically not hostile or surly about it, though.
Sure, but what relevance? You may have mistaken me as creating a box around something to describe it, and fit things into it? There is no box, just a thing to describe. My experience is mine, not a projection of what other may have known.
So, thank you, i now know that this technique is used elsewhere than where I have seen it.
What’s the general mix of races in the stores you’ve seen it in?
I’m trying to understand if this is a regional thing, having or not having such lines. Is it done in Detroit? In Grosse Pointe? Etc.
Hailing from Spokane, Burlington Coat Factory does this as well, though our Kohl’s don’t (and I’ve never been to Old Navy). As for why they do it, the “single queue for multiple registers” approach technically provides better customer checkout throughput than letting customers pick their own queues. It seems a bit overkill most of the time at places like JoAnn’s, but I guess it’s easier to be consistent than to continually switch gears for busy periods.
(Weirdly, the local Costco pharmacy and food court use this approach too, but their retail checkout lines don’t.)
I don’t know if it’s done across the metro. I live in the Ann Arbor area, and it’s about the American average for racial make up with the exception that we have a higher middle-eastern population than most areas of the country. I don’t frequently shop much further east than Westland, so I’m not able to speak to the rest of the Metro.
The Pan-African flag is red, black and green; there are African flags with red, black, white and green. You might do better to consider alternative palettes, since the one you’ve chosen implies a stop light sequence to most people, and strongly suggests progress from danger/worst to safety/best. Implying that things are OK now seems to be the opposite of your intention.
