Christmas Shopping

Last Friday night I went Christmas shopping for Joyce. There is nothing worse then hitting a mall in mid-December but, I figured I would get it over with. I wound up going to four stores. Here is a brief summary of my experience with each.

Sears – The store was crowded (as all stores are) but seemed to be organized. I found what I needed without much of an issue. I then went to the checkouts and I was happy to see that there were plenty of cashiers. I waited about two minutes before I was being rung up. The young girl who rang me up was pleasant and offered me a gift box and receipt without me having to ask her for one. All in all my experience at Sears was about as good as it can get for late December shopping.

Bed, Bath and Beyond – My next stop was BB and B. I was clueless at this store so I found an employee on the floor and asked her if she knew where a certain product was. Not only did she know, she also walked me to the aisle it was located in as opposed to just giving me directions. There were plenty of sales associates on the floor looking to help clueless shoppers like myself. When I found the goods I wanted to purchase, I went to the checkouts to find that every register lane was open. I didn’t have to wait one second in line, as a register was open with no waiting. Again, I was offered a gift receipt without asking. So, I have to give Bed, Bath and Beyond mad props as well.

Kohl’s – I needed one more item so I was off to Kohl’s. The store was in a word, a zoo. Merchandise was thrown about everywhere. I walked past the checkouts and the line was a mile long. Still I needed one more thing so, I tried to find it. At Kohl’s there were hardly any employees on the floor to ask for help. When I finally did find a woman and I asked her about the product I was looking for her response was "That is not really my department, but if we have them they would be by the front of the store." So, after looking for a couple of minutes I gave up and left that nightmare. Kohl’s gets an F as far as I am concerned which is unusual since most times I go there I have good luck.

K Mart – Since Kohl’s didn’t have what I was looking for I was forced to go to K Mart. I was not looking forward to it, but I was pleasantly surprised by the results I had there. In years past I have found K Mart to be a nightmare. So, I was braced for the worst. Instead when I got there, the store while crowded seemed to be looking good. Aisles were clean, and merchandise was organized. While, I didn’t see a lot of sales associates, I was ale to find what I was looking for rather easily. I then headed to checkouts where I was surprised to find every register open. I was able to checkout without waiting. I was not offered a gift receipt and was told that they don’t have them, so that sucks but still the Mart did a pretty good job overall.