It's not the location. Although this Office Max is located in the nowheres-ville zone of a freeway overpass, its neighbors on each side of the street (Best Buy on one side and Rainbow Grocery on the other) enjoy a booming business and lots of customers all day long. No, Office Max's problems are: bad attitude, bad service, and lack of innovation.
Let's talk first about their attitude. They don't seem to have issues with the hordes of people who go to the Best Buy on one side of them, but they're really hostile to the health-food store customers from Rainbow Grocery on the other side. I realize this is because they can see the Rainbow customers parking in their lot when there's no more room in the health-food store lot or on the street. In fact, it bothers Office Max so much that they put up a big, handwritten sign in their front window (what could be more impressive than that?) that warns Rainbow customers that they'll tow them away if they park there, and they have a tow truck stationed in the lot most of the time to make sure no vegetarians go untowed from their lot.
Here's an idea: why not "welcome" the Rainbow customers by offering any Rainbow shopper a 15% discount in their store with proof-of-purchase of Rainbow groceries? Imagine that--they'd increase their walk-in customer base substantially, because this area of the city has neither pedestrian traffic nor adequate bus service. There's NO walk-in traffic. The only people walking around the area (besides the aforementioned customers getting out of their cars for the other stores) are the legions of bums who live under the overpass. So that's my first bit of advice, Office Max: drive business to your store by offering your neighboring customers a discount...d'oh!
Well, but then there's problem number 2: customer service. The store is huge, wide, and monstrously bright. The ratio of customers -- at least any time I've been there -- to Office Max employees seems to be a solid 1:1. But try to get any of them to help you, or to ring you up at one of their many empty cash registers...forget it. In fact, you can be the very next person in line and wait 10 minutes for the clerk to help you. I'm beginning to wonder if they don't have a policy that makes you wait in line for a cashier simply to make their store look busier. So my second bit of advice to Office Max is: train your employees to serve your customers in a reasonable fashion, in how to talk to your customers, and make your employees knowledgeable about your products. Right now it seems like some of the people who work there couldn't get a job anywhere else and barely made it through high school.
Problem #3 is innovation. Let's talk about customer demographics for a minute. You're in a city that has progressive politics and you're sitting next to a hugely successful, employee-run health food store that's been in business for almost 35 years. Maybe you might want to think about providing some services that might draw them in (besides the neighbor discount). What about offering services that help people recycle their old computers, monitors, office equipment, and batteries? What about selling "green" office supplies? How about working on your store's Feng Shui, so you feel drawn in by appealing window displays (instead of a crazy-looking, hostile sign) and an inviting layout? And what about the aesthetic appeal of some of your products? Is there some reason why you have to sell the ugliest possible laptop bags, storage systems, day timers, and other gear? What if you sold appealing brands and styles, instead of just sacks of black vinyl? A lot of your merchandise has a 1970s "you don't have a choice" aesthetic. So my third bit of advice, Office Max, is that you offer services and merchandise that fit your demographic area.
Best of luck to you.
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