Camera Store - The Hell of Retail

Take A Number

Remember how, on an earlier post, I said that I wish our store had a “take-a-number” thing like banks do? So that, you know, when there are more than a few customers in the store, they get in some kind of order instead of milling around impatiently. I was kinda kidding – only banks and consulates have those things, no store of any kind I’d ever seen has one. Well, the camera store near my parent’s place has one! It’s super busy too – each of the 3 or 4 times I went in there (several batches of pictures to give as gifts, albums being adjusted, etc), there were at LEAST 4 or 5 people in line at any time, more sometimes. And they had 5 or 6 people working at the store at any time, some of them telling customers about cameras, despite the long line! (It must be nice that they have more salespeople than cash registers, so the salesman that is talking to a customer about cameras doesn’t feel like the people in line are all waiting for him to finish up already and help the line move along. Two of the cash registers were continuously manned). My store is the same chain. I wonder if there’s any hope of us getting a get-a-number system. Nah, probably not.

posted by Remus