Retail Staffing Blog

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Not long ago, my husband and I dined at restaurant we’d never been to. It was packed—there seemed to be a lot of regulars who were greeted warmly, but even amid the hustle and bustle of reservations and walk-ins on a busy Friday night, the hostess and manager found time to notice and welcome new customers. 

Snagajob reported retail job ads placed in May 2013 on their Career Website saw a nationwide decrease of 2% over April 2013. 

The May store openings and closings numbers from Chain Store Guide show lots of activity this month, with a total of 113 store openings and 336 closures. Industry-wide that is 223 net closures, which is substantially down from last month's 624.

In this age of market fragmentation and competition from a myriad of clothing retailers, not to mention exclusive online retailers, is it wise that an apparel store be exclusionary in its demographic focus?

If brick-and-mortar stores want to stay on top, they need to improve their customer service. According to the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ASCI), online retailers are receiving high marks in this area. In the e-commerce arena, more “real” people are answering phones, being responsive to customers’ needs and handling returns in an efficient manner.

With many brick-and-mortar retailers losing customers to Amazon and similar online channels, more are also realizing that store pickup programs could be the way to recapture the customer.

The April store openings and closings numbers from Chain Store Guide show lots of activity this month, with a total of 103 store openings and 727 closures. Industry-wide that is 624 net closures.