Closing Time

– Doug Fleener

Someone recently asked me the following:

I have a question about your thoughts on closing announcements in a retail store. Is this a good idea or is it old school? We currently have "May I have your attention please, (Store Name) will be closing in approximately 10 minutes. We would like to thank you for shopping with us and we hope you have a very pleasant evening."

This is one of those questions where I can agree with almost every answer. As a person who worked the retail floor for years, I know what it is like to work the closing shift and want to get out of the store on time. Quite often we're in a hurry to leave as we may have to be back in the morning to open up. Years ago when I managed a store in Boston I took the commuter train to work. If I didn't leave by a certain time at night I would have to wait over an hour for the next train. You can imagine how much I resented the customers who kept us late, especially those who didn't even buy!

As a consumer I've also experienced some extremely rude closing announcements. Last summer I was in Chicago at The Sharper Image store in Water Tower Place when ten minutes before 7:00 p.m. an employee started walking around the store announcing in an obnoxious tone that “The store is now closed.” Of course the mall didn't close until 7:00 p.m. but obviously the Sharper Image employee had plans. I'm sorry, but you don't close ten minutes early. This is a great example of how NOT to close the store.

I find the toughest part of the closing routine to be balancing the needs of the staff with delivering the appropriate experience for the customer. Rushing customers at closing time can cost you sales and result in a customer who feels annoyed and unappreciated. Telling employees they have to let customers stay as long as they want at closing time can often lead to employees resenting the customer and the company. It can also cause hardship for some employees. In one store I managed I had an assistant manager who was a single mother. Her childcare ended at a certain time and if she didn't leave work in time to get her children by that time it caused her extreme stress and an additional financial burden.

Most of us need a process that strikes a balance between the two. For most specialty retailers, the best way to close is to close a door no more than 5 minutes before closing time and then tell each person in the store that you'll be closing in five minutes and you'll be happy to help them. Marching through the store loudly evicting people the way The Sharper Image employee in Chicago did is both rude and poor business. I wouldn't keep any customers from coming into the store but I would politely tell them that the store will be closing in just a few minutes. I would never make an announcement or flash the lights unless your store is over 10,000 square feet or you have a very large amount of foot traffic. I managed a store in Faneuil Hall in Boston that would be so packed at closing time you had to flash the lights and stand on a pedestal to make a closing announcement or people would have stayed until midnight.

While I'm not a big fan of telling customers they have to leave, that isn't nearly as bad as doing your closing routine while customers are in the store. Vacuuming while a customer is in the store is in my book a major offense. Straightening up, cleaning glass, and counting down registers are misdemeanors but ones that I would have to personally plead guilty to. The staff must always remember that if make closing time a less than pleasurable experience for the customers, we may not only miss out on a sale but lose a customer for life.

Editor’s Note: I would love to hear your opinions and ideas on this subject. Please e-mail me at lindad@jdapos.com.