Wednesday, July 23, 2008

attention shoppers: it's better in the midwest

As I think I've mentioned, I've grown inured to lack of customer service, grown accustomed to sales clerks who avoid eye contact as they ring up my stuff, chatting loudly in a language I can't understand, not to me but to the clerk in the next aisle; I've come to expect that returning something to a store is such an onerous process that I'm inclined to keep the unwanted item if I can't mail it back…so imagine my delight to discover that customer service still exists, alive and well in the American Midwest. Here, clerks make small talk, looking you straight in the eye. Friendly folks greet you as you walk in the door. Savvy retailers, instead of relegating customer service to a dim, dusty closet in the back of the store, build huge, brightly lit counters positioned by the front door! Like New York stores attracting shoppers with Euros made fat by the devalued dollar, Midwest stores could lure streams of jaded shoppers from New York by advertising lower prices and upgraded shopping experience.


Joker said...

There is a sushi place I go to twice a month, an Italian restaurant I do the same and surf spots I frequent. What do these three things have in common? Nice people making me feel at home while I enjoy the things that make me happy in life. Service with a smile, hellos with a hug or kiss on the cheek, small talk and basically every excuse to give 20% tip rather than 15%, and I do. Because I give a damn and to me it makes ALL the difference. If the midwest had surf, I'd consider swinging by.

Anonymous said...

The midwest may be one of the few places where people can afford to live on a retail salary. They just aren't as pissed off as retail folks everywhere else in the nation.

I went into a Sears a few years back (just after Kmart bought them) and couldn't get any service. Turns out alot of the people had to take pay cuts down to lower Kmart levels for their existing postions. They were not happy campers.