Customer-friendly format puts focus back on service

Discount Store News, Jan 4, 1999

ALPHARETTA, GA -- The most significant aspect of Toys "R" Us' new C-3 format has nothing to do with lower gondola heights or category adjacencies. It has to do with customer service. The company has recognized that its customer service was as disappointing to shoppers as the layout of its stores.

"We know we needed to change the culture of service at Toys," said Mike Heffner, a TRU general manager with responsibility for 65 stores in the Southeast, including all nine of the C-3 test stores.

"When customers asked if we had a product, we used to point and tell them where it was. Now, we take them, show them the product and put it in their hands."

According to Heffner, store managers and department heads at the test stores participated in three days of offsite customer service training. They were charged with instilling in their subordinates a renewed focus on taking care of and listening to customers. Associates at other stores being converted to the C-3 format will be given similar training, Heffner said.

Lest any TRU associate forget the lessons, a wallet-sized cheat sheet card reminds them of the company's customer-focused mission statement and six other commitments to customer service. Most of it is basic material--smiling and greeting customers, never letting a customer leave dissatisfied and treating everyone with respect.

The C-3 format should help store associates fulfill the service commitment because the layout makes merchandise easier to locate and wider aisles help with congestion during peak shopping periods.