I Don't Like the Layout of the Store

[purplecat41877]

Yesterday, I asked a customer if she found everything and she complained about the layout of the store* and that it took her forever to find what she needed. I offered to get a supervisor for her which she declined and she even mentioned that she wouldn't be shopping at the store again.

*The store I work at has recently been redone and copies of the directory are with the flyers at the entrance. Lots of items have been moved and the grocery aisles are now long aisles.

[sms001]

My grocery recently underwent a major renovation/rearrangement. It's awful. (For instance, there's now the "Bread, Peanut Butter, Feminine Hygiene, Shampoo Aisle.")

But you know what? I hiked my big-boy underoos up a notch and dealt. I go up and down most of the aisles anyway, I have a list, and I allow enough time to shop. Couple of months, and BOOM - I know where everything is again.

Hope people settle in quickly for your sake, Purple. Good luck.

[bhskittykatt]

Here it seems to be "store remodeling/reorganizing season". Everyone's getting changes! But most have maps, and for the ones that don't I either ask an associate or take the time to explore myself. It can be annoying in the midst of moving things but once it's all done it's not that hard to adapt. Some people just don't like change.

[EricKei]

What sms said

The only grocery I've ever been to where I might have complained about the layout was one where, for some reason, half of the aisles were Y-shaped with a big gap at the junction point. Never did get the hang of that place >_<

[raudf]

I used to get that all the time when Mart of Walls was changing from a small store to a super hell. We were in the process of putting up the new areas and yes there were maps of where things were going to eventually wind up at the front doors.

I finally decided to take a light hearted approach and quip, "Sorry you'd don't like the layout! But don't worry, it won't be this way for long, because we're constantly changing things!"

[Headset Hellion]

My main grocery store is also remodeling and rearranging things. I went in earlier this summer when they first started and things were a mess, but they had signs all over the place apologizing for the inconvenience and showing where items were located.

I saw a woman leaving the store while yelling on her cell phone, throwing a fit because they had changed the layout and she had a hard time finding her coffee or something. "I can't believe this! I'll never come here again!"

All I could think was, "Please do these poor clerks a favor and keep your word!"

[Trixie]

A couple years ago our store went through a major renovation. Even though the layout changed the majority of stuff stayed in the same area. Dare I say that some of the aisles were improved? More stuff was grouped together to make more sense though. We had people come in and say they want the store the old way. Even now people will still come and say they can't find anything. There are signs over every aisle and there are usually employees on the floor. There are ways to find stuff.

[MoonCat]

I think people come in tired and they don't want to think or look around or read signs. I could say "lazy" or I could be nice and say "stressed out." But all stores do this from time to time, it just takes a little time to get used to the new layout.

[roxtar]

the grocery store to which I often go for lunch recently re-arranged their "cafe" section (area with sandwiches, sushi, salads, pizza, soups, hot buffet). still getting used to it.

this was me last week:

[Chromatix]

Currently, the nearest store in "my" cooperative retail chain is closed for renovation. Honestly, it was due for it - sometimes the open-top freezers went on the blink, for example - so I understand.

Simultaneously, however, the next-closest (and MUCH bigger) store in the same chain is undergoing a major reorganisation while remaining open. This is, I think, because it is literally still in the middle of being built - the first and second phases have been open for a while, and now the third phase is nearly complete and is gradually being opened in turn.

The practical upshot however is that not only do I now need to do more of my shopping than usual at the larger, further-away store, but I honestly have trouble finding things in it now. The layout for even the relatively common things is in flux from week to week, and the place is simply too large to just wander up and down every single aisle (which, in a normal-sized supermarket, I consider a valid strategy).