Dear Supermarket

Dear Generic Supermarket

I say generic as you're all a bad as each other on this point *glares menacingly*

Tonight I have had to do a shop after the time of 7.30pm. This used to be a regular occurrence when hubby and I were both working day shifts and is likely to become a more regular thing now as I cannot bear dragging little people around the shop who really do not want to be there!

Your evening shoppers are more likely to be professionals that have to shop after a long day at work and therefore are more likely to spend quite a lot of money.

What we don't want to see are empty shelves. That said we also do not want the whole shop to look like an obstacle course with countless cages of stock blocking our way.

Having worked in a supermarket for more years than I care to admit, I understand that past a certain time of night it is easier to drag ALL the cages from the warehouse onto the shop floor to get the best productivity from the staff. But parking them all in front of the milk causes a lot of customers to grumble and shove them out the way into other customers.

I also understand you have wage targets to hit which are constantly being cut, but letting 75% of your checkout operators go home before 8pm is ridiculous. Yes you have self service tills but I have a FULL trolley!!! As an ex checkout manager even I struggle with the self service tills even with a few items in a basket!

Yes, yes I know ALL your shop-floor staff are till trained and I can hear you calling them to come and help at the checkouts. But you must know that when they hear this call they run in the opposite direction and hide anywhere they can find - how do I know this - because I used to have to go and hook them out of these places and frogmarch them to the checkouts!

And then we go full circle - the gaps on the shelves - they're not filled because your shop-floor staff are on the bloody checkouts (or in hiding!!)

Please please sort it out!

Yours

A disgruntled shopper