A couple weeks ago a group of retail store managers
converged on a mall in Gastonia, NC to open a new sporting goods store.
Someone forgot to coordinate the event with the
one in charge of weather. Y'know those seasonal ice storms that seem to hit
the Carolinas at least once per winter? Freezing rain left two tractor trailers
full of merchandise parked along a closed I-81 somewhere in northern Georgia
... for two full days.
Meanwhile, back in Gastonia, the setup crew twiddled
thumbs for those two days doing everything we could to stay busy. By the second
day, we resorted to shopping and a horrible movie.
Finally on the third day, the trucks arrived at 7AM
and the unloading began. For five solid hours, the motley group of 10 unloaded 1500
boxes of merchandise that included more than a thousand caps, over 5000 pair of shoes,
15,000 pieces of apparel, heavy bags for boxing that weigh 100 pounds, dumbbells,
basketball backboards, and 300 lb. weighlifting sets. Ouch!!! My aching back.
You might think 1500 boxes would be like one big
Christmas party, but the opening and organizing is quite tedious and time consuming.
About 10:30PM, when there was a freak power failure in the mall, we gave it up and
agreed to reconvene at 7AM the next day.
On the fourth day, the walls began to take on the
appearance of a retail store. Balls were arranged by sport ... soccer, football,
basketball, and baseball. Those thousands of boxes of shoes were filed appropriately
in the stock room. Apparel racks and rounders received hangars full of urban wear,
jerseys, tees and sweats. Once again, we called it a night at 11PM, grabbed a very
late dinner, and literally crawled into bed.
Under a deadline, we had to get the store finished
on the 5th day because it opened the next. Emptying the remaining boxes of apparel
was the primary task. You grow quite tired of hangars, size rings and secure tags.
The tips of my fingers were like sandpaper from cardboard boxes and pin pricks.
In a daze from exhaustion and hunger, the crew worked
like zombies until midnight to finish the job. Amazingly no one was injured or
sickened during this process. Nothing worse that a few nicks, scrapes, and bruises.
Right on time, the new sporting goods store opened
at 10AM Saturday morning. At first, the customers were trepidacious ... wondering if
we were really open ... but eventually they began exploring the new kid on the block.
About 11:30, the three of us from my town left to head home. We heard later that
sales were quite brisk that first day.
All in all, a good learning experience. There's no
doubt putting together a new retail store is hard work. It seemed endless at the time,
but the finished product was rewarding. I even have pictures.
