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Have fun for your money and save......


The Ohio readers of this blog will recognize that slogan. One of my friends here has even worked for them. It's a chain of deep discount stores called Marc's. I was shopping at one recently and it reminded me why I don't do it more often.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against saving money. If I did, I wouldn't be going to the Evil Big Box Store(tm) as often as I do. but at least Wally World has some hint of organization.

I had to buy some items for WIXYjr. A bottle of body wash and a bottle of shampoo. I walked into the store and got me a cart. First thing I saw was some pens 35 for $1.00. These were assorted pens with advertising for many out of town businesses. I went through the display and got 14 different ones for Mrs74WIXYgrad as she likes those type of pens. I then went to look for the needed items. The shampoo was easy to find once you understood the layout of the store. Marc's stores are like snowflakes, there are no two alike. Now you would think the soap would be nearby. zzzzzt! Wrong answer. I saw this sign in the far corner, front of the store that said men's toiletries. I go there, no body wash. I go to this aisle that had dish soap, laundry detergent and that had bar soap, but no body wash. I was about to admit defeat when I accidentally stumbled upon the aisle with the body wash and it had what WIXYjr wanted.

Now to the checkout. Seeing that I had just 6 different items after getting 2 bottles of pop and 1 bottle of tea, I decided to go to the express register. That leads me to my next question. Why do they always put the slowest cashiers in the express line???? I think my cashier was Grandma Molasses!

Lady in front of me, when Grandma finally got to her(I think they do a time study of her work, using a sundial) her purchase came to $7.02. Customer hands her a $10. Grandma asks if she has 2 pennies. The customer doesn't. My turn at the register(I was in line so long, I thought I was going to have to start paying rent!)My purchase comes to $12.07. I handed her a $20. I was asked if I had the 7 cents. I didn't. To whomever makes the coffee in the breakroom there:after you clean the coffee maker, do not use vinegar water to make coffee. Grandma is not happy with me because she has to make change. She hands me my change and gives me a look that would freeze alcohol. No thank you, no nothing. And no, I did not thank her for working at Marcs. To those new here click here for the inside story on that.

I won't tell you where the store was, but I will gladly give you three clues. One is Struke is from there. The second is this was the hometown of legendary football coach Paul Brown. The third is that good Catholics go to Mass unless they are ill on Sunday.

Comments

Anonymous said…
You must have been at the mighty Amherst Road location. That's literally five minutes from where I grew up.

If you weren't at that one, you might have been at the one on Lincoln Way next to the Hall of Fame lanes bowling alley.

That is so true about Marc's...No two are alike. Very funny.

Thank you for shopping in Massillon!
Anonymous said…
cliff--sounds like you got bit by the tiger tail to very badly paraphrase the old buck owens song---lol--david5258
YEKIMI said…
I used to go to the Marc's that was on Romig Road in Akron till it closed down. I got six items and it took over half an hour to check out. The absolute last time I ever shopped at a Marcs some old lady was disputing the price on everything the cashier was ringing up; after 15 minutes in line I ended up leaving my cart full of groceries sitting there and walked out of the store. Ridiculous! And did you ever notice...that all their security cameras are pointed at their employees and the cash registers? There's an old saying: If you don't trust your employees, then they shouldn't be expected to trust you!
Cliff said…
Struke: It was the Marc's on Amherst Road. Very disorganized. And thank you for reading WIXY's Gone Bananas!

David: This is a situation where you either walk out shaking your head and vow never to go back, or write it up in a blog post because you know you will be in a Marc's again. There are some good Marc's stores.

Yekimi: I had some of the same experiences at the Rolling Acres Marc's. I did notice that that store had a handicapped accessible check out line that was never open. Of course if I wanted to go off on the Rolling Acres area, I would have to start a separate blog.

If Marc Glassman happens to get a Google alert about this post, take some things here to heart and set up some sort of motivation for those employees that actually show some personality.
Diamond said…
I am not a fan of slow cashiers! Last week I went to get stuff for my son's party at Walmart and I pulled my cart into a lane only to see the cashier sitting on a stool! I knew that was going to be trouble so I backed out and went to the next one over. Needless to say, the person with the sitting cashier was still there when I was leaving! To top it off, I had one other person in front of me.
Liquid said…
I have to meditate before going into these types of stores.

I am probably one of very few women who DESPISE....shopping.
Anonymous said…
WIXY...I just had to read the post. I'm too sorry you had a bad experience in my hometown. Next time you're in Massillon, get a Kraus' pizza 330-832-2242 on Amherst Road, across from the hospital. Great pizza! I get one everytime I'm home.

I have spring break starting March 21st...pick a day the following week (except Wednesday) and I'll be on the way for some Barberton chicken.
YEKIMI said…
I'll clarify a bit. I've been in three different Marc's stores. Once the Romig Road one closed, I went to the one in South Plaza on Waterloo rd and another in Fairlawn. EXACTLY the same as the one on Romig Road, slow to no service at the checkout lanes, lines 10 carts deep and only two lanes open. I didn't even bother shopping, I just turned around and left. My time is more valuable then the money I may save [which, by the way, isn't that true at Marc's,I found some items way cheaper at some other stores and that's not including the one that rhymes with Ball Tart] I also realize that the are discount stores but is it so hard to keep the place clean? Some of these stores are absolutely filthy! Where's the health department at? I run a business that deals with food, and if it was as dirty as some of the Marc's stores, I'd be shut down!
I know how you feel Cliff, but they are second only to Walmart! The cashiers are slow, and I have a hard time communicating with them. I always have to check my receipt because they add a couple of things I haven't purchased. Then they send me to the Customer Service window to get my refunds on either I didn't purchase. When I ask why they can't correct it, they say, well "you will be holding up the line"!.

Oh well, I don't know why stores have so many cash registers and not enough folks to operate them? I use to get pissed off when I had to wait in line so long, now I just take a book with me when I go grocery shopping. I found that I can catch up on a lot of my reading.

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