From a personal point of view, I have worked in retail for a good decade and a half before hanging up my gloves and getting an office-bound job/career. So I know the sort of things that people working in retail put up with: long (or in this current climate frequently short) hours, rotten pay which must feel even worse if you live in the Lake District, abysmal management (usually classical management styles or semi-American styles that just don't fit in with our culture) and having to run around and man the fort due to shortage of staff.
However these considerations just didn't prepare me for the miserable experience of visiting the Outdoor World store in Keswick on Sunday afternoon. I can honestly say that the overwhelming feeling of misery, depression and being made to feel unwelcome was apparent from the very first second I stepped inside the store. My first impressions were tired and neglected decor (think Fine Fare circa 1980, dirty and broken polystyrene ceiling tiles, ridiculous American-style banners erected throughout the store(Clothing Down Sale, I mean come on), sellotape being used to stick various wires/cables to the wall, grotty and grubby surfaces wherever you look, exposed electrical wires petruding through the ceiling), one member of staff (male) who seemed throughly p***ed off with his work and the customers in the store, extremely poor merchandising (socks mixed in with coats, waterproof jackets trailing on the dirty carpet).
My partner and I ventured inside for what seemed like a month; in reality we legged it out of there within 5 minutes. Whoever runs this store should be dismissed ASAP, and the staff need proper customer service training. In an environment when every penny counts, and the move towards online trading is gathering pace with ever increasing ferocity, this sort of store just doesn't cut the muster unless you are stupid enough to part with your money without doing some sort of comparison. The old adage that you pay for good service is quite right, and I would not spend a penny in such a disgraceful and abysmal environment, where we were made to feel so unwelcome.
Please sort out this abysmal store! It is truly crying out for someone with vision, leadership, and a good idea of how to treat the customer! read more