Hurricane Kohl's! The Resolution, sort of.

Please know that it is our top priority to provide you, and all of our customers, a quality shopping experience. I’m very sorry that you recently encountered an unacceptable store environment, and from your pictures, clearly not up to our standards. I have advised our senior level management, they’ve been made aware, and they’re highly committed to addressing it. So, thanks again for letting me know. I do appreciate hearing from you and we do value your patronage.

                        -VP Public Relations, Kohl's Corp.

Excuse me while I feel a little unsatisfied. After a few phone calls, that was the response (via voice mail) I received from Kohl's.  And, ever since, I've been sort of scratching my head.

Why even respond?

Now, she sounds like a very nice lady, as most PR folks are, whether they really are or not. But, seriously, I'm not the New York Times, and I think my rambling phone message made it abundantly clear that I'm not a skilled interviewer. Is that really the right response? Would no response have been better in this case?

Really, I have no doubt in my mind that nothing will happen in any store, even though this was obviously not an isolated incident. I doubt the representative leaving that message really has the power to push the right buttons to fix X and O problems like staffing. I realize they can't just say that, but, I can't help but feel empty from that message.

Take a look through the slide show. I've aggregated some comments from around the blogosphere in response to this Kohl's story, spliced with the bullshit spewed from the Kohl's website.

Anybody have a take on this one?

 

Comments

[CK]

I am so proud of all you did here. The slidehow is so well done--and you culled all our comments (how cool and kind of you). You did the right thing in reaching out to Kohl's...you gave them a fair shake to own the problem and, as my quote says, "use this as an opportunity".

And they blew it. Times Two.

Bad enough to have their stores in disarray but to not jump on this and give you the sterile "I'm sorry" speech just almost, to your point, makes them look worse. But it makes you SHINE--and you/we marketers can use this slideshow and your follow-up action to teach others. So maybe not all is lost. Plus the NRF is citing your good acts; that's huge!

But, my patronage to Kohl's is definitely shot. Tho' admittedly I don't know if we have one in NYC. BRILLIANT job.

[Tim Jackson]

Great job Paul. The slideshow says so much- both in what it says and doesn't say.

The response from Kohl's is tepid at best. Like my bad experience with Saturn, it's essentially a form letter to brush you off.

They had a chance and...well, blew it.

Just use your new-found fame and popularity for good and not evil.

[Gavin Heaton]

There really is an art to suchking meaning out of the language ... and the corporations with their form letters and formalised responses are bleeding us dry.

Do you think you can raise a pulse, Dr Hee-Haw?

Looks like we lost another one ;(

Nice work on this Paul.

[CK]

I just pointed the BC to this post. Again, excellent execution for all of us to benefit from.

[Sean Howard]

Can we add music to the slideshow?

I'm thinking of Sarah McLaclan's "Train Wreck" or how about Devo's "Big Mess"???

I think Gavin's right. This one may be DOA.

[Bob Glaza]

Astounding show and documentation, Paul. What a shame that the response from Kohl's is so empty. I'm a saddened because they are moving into our market soon. If this is truly an example of ALL the stores it will come as no surprise when they are no more. Simply put - there are far too many options that offer better value.

On one of the slides Mack Collier asks "if you were CMO what would you do?". First would be to call you and thank you for bringing attention to the store. Second would be to contact the VP Public Relations and ask what they were thinking about? A voicemail message? Third, I'd go to as many Kohl's stores I could in the next 30 days. Evaluate and then execute a plan to get it fixed.

[Kate]

Paul .. great slideshow!

If I were a retail CMO (Kohl's or not), I would duplicate this exercise and show it to my staff. You really bring the disconnect from fancy words and reality into sharp relief.

This all just shows the incredible need to reinvent marketing. Real marketing. Real customer service. Stop investing in ads; invest in what matters most to people. The *experience*.

[Lori Magno]

Good work Paul! The mess starts with "management management" - the idiots who never leave the home office and get into the stores. Then the district managers (who in almost every case should be shot) and then the store managers who have not given their people ownership or empowered them to handle the problems, make decisions on their feet and most importantly provide CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Retail has forgotten to service the customer - and customers have noticed. (Insert whining Christmastime retail sob stories about sales being down...waahhhh.)

A tidbit from Macy's in downtown Boston - the financial district to be exact, where nearly 500,000 well-compensated people work within a walking mile of Macy's. Here's a test for you. Visit Macy's downtown Boston at lunch time - when the working world shops (between Noon - 2pm.) Now look for a cashier. Don't look hard, they aren't there. Now find a manager and inquire where the cashiers are. Maintain a straight face and stifle the WTF when you are told the cashiers are at lunch. Nice business model. Pure, savant-level genius.

[Cam Beck]

Give it til after Valentine's Day and do a follow up at the same store. I'd love to see if there was some improvement.

[Tim Jackson]

Lori- I could just kiss you for that! That is a perfect analogy.

Yes Paul, Cam's right, go back in a few more weeks/ month and see if the store looks any better. Dimes to donuts, I'm willing to bet it won't be any better... but that's just me and I'm a savant-level genius (I love thatone Lori).

[Paul McEnany]

CK- Thank you so much for being so cool about this one!

I really would have liked to see them just show a little personality. They didn't have to feed me some bullshit line. All of us here know PR liners when we hear them. If she had just taken the time to talk to me like a human, they could have come off looking much better.

And, Tim, you're right, they blew it. But I still think Saturn is worse, they really screwed you, I just have to go down the street and shop somewhere else.

Gavin- They should have called you! Tt would've been nice to see the servant himself add a little eloquence to their response!

Sean- Maybe I should just add some Britney Spears. They're both an equally huge mess, so I think that would work...

Bob- I think they could add a fourth, (4)Actually start giving a shit. A response like that, and stores like that, not just in Dallas, but across the country, just speaks to the inherent laziness that must exist in their corporate structure. Definitely no excuse for having stores that look that bad. Thanks for coming by the blog and commenting, Bob!

Kate- Thank you! So true! Too often the marketing budget is actually just a budget to go buy ads, not to actually make the company marketable.

Lori- Are you serious? They just send the cashiers to lunch? What a bunch of fucking idiots. That's annoying, even from down here in Dallas!

And, Cam and Tim, it will be done! Follow-up to come in a month...

Thanks everybody for coming by and sharing your thoughts!

[Tim Jackson]

Saturn screwed me pretty good alright. I have heard nothing. CK was kind enough to point out that I started off the wrong way, by not attacking with an action plan- lesson learned. Your actions have been much more effective, so good job. Now I'm tempted to visit my local Kohl's and get some pictures to add to your merry little bonfire. I wonder if that would help...

Oh, this is cool, a friend of mine here has a blog. About 5 of us read it, but he's a great guy and funny. Anyway, he changed the name of his blog to "Saturn Sucks!!!" in my honor. How fucking cool is that?
http://changuitoville.blogspot.com/

[Katharine]

At first glance I thought these were photos of Kohl's in Woodbridge, Virginia. It looks exactly like this. I stopped shopping there several years ago. My sister still goes from time to time and reports that it is still a disaster area. Seems Kohl's has a nationwide problem.

[Lewis Green]

Paul,

And the saga continues. Can we assume at this point that Kohl's just doesn't get it?

[Michael Daehn]

I was just in a Kohl's the week after Christmas and it did not look much different. To be honest I kind of expect it now. I do remember thinking that the place sucked and why was I in there.

Do they not know that they will be busy around the holidays? Were they surprised at the need for more staff to keep the store neat?

You are dead on that it does no good to drive people into a store that looks like poopy.

[CK]

Way to get covered on Church of the Customer, Daily Fix, Viral Garden, Servant of Chaos and Seth's blog (and at the Book Club)...and the NRF keynote! And I'm sure the list goes on.

EXCELLENT execution. Our responsibility as blogger--who are also marketers--is to lead by such a great example. So proud. Sniff.

[Bruce Prokopets]

Amazing. First off, great work. 2nd, kudos to even having the drive to create the two posts in the first place, hopefully more consumers will take after you. Third, Kohl's should be sending you a thank you letter and the CMO should have you in a conference call with his staff, so they can hear first hand WHY this bothered you.

[Eric]

Great job all around. Many people covered giving you kudos earlier but I wanted to say again that this was a great use of both your camera phone + blog. I am sure you have been watching your stats over the past few days too:)

I would say that they should have responded differently, and perhaps even had the manager from the store contact you directly. It shows the corporate disconnect that occurs when you have such a large footprint of stores. If this happened at a smaller mom+pop store you would have gotten a totally different response.

[Paul McEnany]

Frank, via email, asked me to post this...

"I actually think Kohl’s response was excellent.
They acknowledged the problem.
They promised to fix the problem.
The didn’t make any excuses.
They were concise.
They were respectful.
So I say they actually DO get it.
But what else can they reasonably be expected to do?"

[Paul McEnany]

Well, alrighty, thanks everybody for taking the time to come by and share your thoughts. I really do appreciate it.

Tim- That's badass! I'd change mine to Saturn Sucks, too, but then you couldn't call me a hick anymore. :)

Katherine- You aren't kidding! I've heard from people all over the country complaining about the state of Kohl's stores (and not just after Christmas). I think they've got a bigger problem on their hands!

Lewis- Yes. Ha!

Michael- I have heard from some Kohl's apologists making the comment that it was after Christmas, so they should get some sort of free pass. To which I say, don't they know that it's just after Christmas? If you don't want to spend the money to staff it, don't open the store in the first place.

CK- And, it's all thanks to you. You're the wind beneath my wings, my dear. And,yes, that would be sarcasm, but heartfelt sarcasm nonetheless. :)

Bruce- Thanks! But, I'm not expecting for them to peel back the curtain anytime soon. Unless, of course, its's to give me the finger!

Eric-Yeah, it's been a little crazy around here! That is an interesting take. You're the first to say that someone locally should have gotten in touch with me. Of course, I would call into question the job the manager is doing when a store looks like that anyway, so I'm not sure if he or she would care enough to.

Love the blog, Eric, and thanks for coming by!

And, Frank, my response to you...
I guess if I were the Dallas Morning News, and that was the response, I'd probably just shrug my shoulders and say, "whatever." I guess that's the thing, it sounds like a very corporate response, with no meaning or personality. And this just isn't a very corporate sort of place.

They could have done worse, but if that's all they can say, I think they would have been better off just being quiet and waiting for this to blow over.

Thanks everybody for commenting!

[Jake McKee]

Personally, I've seen the power of one person inside a company - at any level, and sufficently motivated - to make real changes happen. I have every belief that this person COULD have possibly made change happen. Who knows if they will, of course.

[Mike]

First, props to Seth Godin for pointing to this story. But I have to say that my family and I have been shopping fairly regularly at the Kohl's in South Charleston, WV for several years and I've never seen it look remotely like your photos. Pretty sad that any store would get trashed like that. Perhaps the fact that you're NOT the NY Times is why you got the semi-canned response, or perhaps the total embarrassment doesn't leave them anything to say that won't sound stupid. And yet you can't say nothing, cause then the customer feels ignored. Catch-22 and all that.

[Paul McEnany]

Jake- You're definitely, right. Sometimes all it takes is one to start a snowball effect.

Mike- Yeah, I guess so. If I put myself in their shoes, and some blogger was calling me, I can't say for sure that I'd snap to attention. But, I definitely would have at least had a conversation like a normal person. Those canned responses just drive me crazy like nails on a chalkboard.

[jkantor]

If they had a well-run company, they wouldn't need PR VPs to fight fires.

[Jake McKee]

jkantor - that's not at all true. No matter how fantastic the company there's ALWAYS issues, problems, concerns, hiccups, etc.

Your comment reminds me of web development clients saying "Why do we need usability testing? Why aren't you going to design it right in the first place?"