When Wal-Mart gave the largest single-day, private-sector pay increase ever last month — to nearly 6,000 employees in central Ohio and more than 44,000 across the state — it was a happy day for Doug Yost.
As regional general manager for the retail giant, Yost is acutely aware that the competition for employees is becoming a factor in Wal-Mart’s efforts to evolve beyond a chain placing a premium on low prices.
“We want to reinvent service,” Yost said recently. “So we’ve started investing in three areas: people, e-commerce and improving the store experience.”
As Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers are increasingly hard-pressed to compete against the likes of Amazon, customer service has become the next great battlefront.
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“Amazon and Google are now opening stores,” Yost said. “Digital companies are realizing experience is something you can’t get online. So customer experience is something we’re really focused on. Even in big-box stores, there are some things you can focus on — hardware, sporting goods, garden center. You can stack mulch or you can give an idea how it looks.”
In order to provide better customer service in stores, Wal-Mart has realized the truth in an old retail adage: If you want to treat customers well, treat employees well.
“Our ability to adapt has everything to do with people,” Yost said. “We know we have to have talented people. So we’ve gone to a different level now with our entry wages. That lowers our turnover, and our productivity increases.”
The company wide raises also have been seen by observers as part of Wal-Mart’s efforts to counter those who criticize the retailer’s foreign product sourcing, treatment of product suppliers and environmental practices, among other things.
In environmental practices, for example, Wal-Mart has responded by committing to generate and use more clean energy. Earlier this year, Wal-Mart installed an array of solar panels on the roof of its store on Sawmill Road, which just became operational. It’s the 16th location in Ohio – and only one in central Ohio — where solar panels have been installed.
“We’re by no means perfect, but we’ve made a lot of progress,” Yost said. “If we can keep it simple, we’ll be fine.”
More furniture
Furniture Bank of Central Ohio has opened its first thrift store.
The venture, called Furniture With a Heart, is located in an old Rite Rug store at 2165 Morse Road, and carries used furniture and household items that have been donated to the nonprofit but are too large or otherwise not a good fit for Furniture Bank’s clients.
Furniture Bank, founded in 1998, provides 1,400 pieces of furniture a week to about 80 families, three-fourths of whom earn less than $12,000 a year.
The nonprofit has modeled its thrift store after a similar business operated by the Cleveland Furniture Bank, which brings in a profit of as much as $1 million a year for the northeastern Ohio organization.
With funding always a challenge, Columbus officials saw the thrift store as an improvement on the nonprofit’s online auctions, which previously served much the same purpose as the store.
Furniture With a Heart is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.
Mini-merger
After being two stores under one roof for almost a decade, New Albany retailers Tailfeathers Boutique and Three French Hens have merged their businesses and formed Elliott Cooper.The store, at 220 Market St., New Albany, in the Market Square district, takes its name from co-owners Katharine Elliott and Cheryl Cooper.
“It clarifies for our shoppers and the community what we are about,” Elliott said. “We noticed it was difficult for customers. They’d say, ‘What store am I in? Whose register is this?’ “
Elliott launched her accessories store in 2006. Cooper and her then-partners wanted to open an antiques business and approached Elliott about renting space.
Then, after Cooper’s partners moved on to other projects, she began working more closely with Elliott.
The shop offers items for men, women and the home, including clothing, accessories and gifts.
Date: April 17, 2016