I try to shop locally so I went to KMart on Sunday. I actually was able to find what I was looking for, so I was happy about that.
BUT, the store was like a madhouse. Large families with kids in tow. Throwing shoes around in the shoe section. Playing with toys in the toy aisles. Some screamers. RUNNING!
One of these unruly children came close to knocking down an elderly shopper. Thank goodness the lady was holding on to a cart.
But even worse....as I was waiting to pay, a young toddler wandered out of the store and her parents were not even aware of this! The KMart "greeter" ran out to retrieve the tot! That child could have been kidnapped or run over. So "thank you" to the greeter lady! You might have saved a life. You looked exasperated and thank goodness you were there.
Since when is it acceptable to let your kids run wild in stores? It's a recipe for disaster.
I am going to speak with the Manager to see if there is anything he can do. The parents of these large families need to teach their children how to behave in public places. These parents need to learn parenting!
Originally posted by LinKay: I try to shop locally so I went to KMart on Sunday. I actually was able to find what I was looking for, so I was happy about that.
BUT, the store was like a madhouse. Large families with kids in tow. Throwing shoes around in the shoe section. Playing with toys in the toy aisles. Some screamers. RUNNING!
One of these unruly children came close to knocking down an elderly shopper. Thank goodness the lady was holding on to a cart.
But even worse....as I was waiting to pay, a young toddler wandered out of the store and her parents were not even aware of this! The KMart "greeter" ran out to retrieve the tot! That child could have been kidnapped or run over. So "thank you" to the greeter lady! You might have saved a life. You looked exasperated and thank goodness you were there.
Since when is it acceptable to let your kids run wild in stores? It's a recipe for disaster.
I am going to speak with the Manager to see if there is anything he can do. The parents of these large families need to teach their children how to behave in public places. These parents need to learn parenting!
I agree with your post 100%, it is the reason I avoid the store. I will say, don't hold your breath waiting for KMart management to do much of anything to "quiet" the noise. Short of a "floor worker" walking around asking parents to keep their kids in check, it just isn't going to happen.
I've never had any problems like that in KMart and I'm not sure that is a problem even related to the store. Any parent of a toddler can tell you that even the best behaved children still have melt downs- I experience them almost everytime I have to brave a shopping trip with my kids in tow. Yes, some people need some parenting guidance, but I hardly see this as KMart's jurisdiction.
It IS up to the store manager and store employees to make sure their customers have a pleasant and safe shopping experience. This is important for repeat business.
If a child is running down an aisle and knocks down a customer and she breaks her hip, who gets sued? The store. If a child runs into a display and heavy boxes fall on his head, who gets sued? The store.
Retailers should always be aware of any potential problems or dangers to their customers. If they have to confront kids out of control.....they can do it in a nice way.
You wanted to shop "local" so you went to.... Kmart?
Yes walk2k, I do consider shopping at KMart local. I also shop downtown whenever possible. I think it's better to shop at KMart than drive to Target in Novato or Rohnert Park. I hope that SOME of my tax dollars stay in Petaluma. I wouldn't want the KMart location to end up dark and empty like Mervyn's, Couch's, or Shoe Pavillion. I actually find better prices on certain items at KMart than at Costco.
Petaluma doesn't have a sales tax. Sales taxes are done by county, so it's better than going to Novato (Marin Co.), but about the same as going to Rohnert Park...
Only Santa Rosa and Sebastapol (??) have addtional sales taxes beyond Sonoma County sales tax.
Petaluma (like most cities) does have a city Business Tax (aka Business License) based on yearly revenue but it's like 00.2%. In other words you'd have to spend about $5000 at Kmart for Petaluma to get 1 dollar in taxes.
Point is, all profits go to the national corporate Kmart.
Don't get me wrong, I buy stuff at Kmart sometimes too, just because it's there and they have what I want. Otherwise I did most of my Xmas shopping at local-owned stores in downtown Petaluma like Copperfield's books and a couple others.
Your information is not accurate. California has a sales tax, not the County of Sonoma. The same percentage of any dollar spent locally, whether at K-Mart or the smallest independent retailer, comes back to the City of Petaluma to fund local government services. When those dollars are spent in other cities, the sales tax increment goes to those other cities. We should all shop locally to support our community, but Petaluma's inventory of retail shopping is still not sufficient to make Petaluma economically sustainable.
This is following the change of topic here... For every dollar you spend at a place like K-Mart, kohls, etc; Petaluma gets about twenty cents. For every dollar you spend at a place like Petaluma Market, Cafe Zazzle, or Pet Arcade, (I miss my mom's store!!!) etc; they give about eighty cents back. That is just an example. But shopping locally does help our Town stay afloat. If you want to know more there is a book on box stores available at copperfields. I have yet to read it but my mother has, and recommends it to any local store owner. There is a very interesting part of the book that tells us that some towns give those big box stores a TAX BREAK!!! screw that...!!!
Posts: 7 | Location: Petaluma | Registered: 17 December 2008
