Will People In Texas Even Go To The Store If The Merchandise Is Locked Up?

I've about had to with "big box" stores.

The CEO of a major chain recently said that customers "thanked" him for putting merchandise inside locked boxes because It somehow kept the items in stock (it was so ridiculous I rolled my eyes and moved on).

Let's talk about how corporate America got us here. The stores cut staff, people shoplift because there's no one around, the merchandise gets locked up, and now I'm supposed to find a non-existent employee to get the item for me. This process is truly madness and could only be thought up by someone with no grasp on reality.

Here are a few real-life stories from a certain hardware store that I visited. This past Sunday I saw a drill set displayed and on sale and I waffled on the purchase a bit. I finally said, the heck with it, I need it and I'll get it. I then looked over and saw it locked up. I thought there was no way in hell I'm going to track someone down to get the drill for me so I decided to just shop online.

A few months back I needed to speaker wire and I was surprised to see that all of the spools were locked up. They were behind a mesh screen so dense that I could not compare gauges or types. I finally looked about the locked-up merchandise and saw the rest of the stock sitting on a shelf about ten feet up. I then went and got a piece of pipe, knocked the spool off the shelf, and finished my shopping after engaging in his potentially dangerous process. I then purchased my next spool from Amazon.

Rounding out this trio of tales was finding out the razors at my local drugstore were kept under lock and key, so I joined an online razor service.

It's only a matter of time before a number of these understaffed stores start going away. The only way to save brick-and-mortar stores is with service, and locking merchandise up is a very poor start.