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| - Staples! I remember getting too excited as a kid coming here with my mom to buy school supplies. Composition books; #2 pencils; pens; coloring pencils; wide-ruled paper; and a shiny, new, colored binder! The store was brightly lit, very organized, clean, and well-stocked. The employees were happy to assist us, even though they were probably extremely stressed. There would be people in every aisle, at the Copy & Print Center, and at the computer and electronics department; in other words, Staples used to be pleasantly upbeat and reasonably busy.
All this being told from my experience at a different Staples store.
This Staples store is quite the opposite. I came here for the first time to mail something and to buy a couple items. I walk in and I'm hit with a sense of...hollowness. Sure, the aisles and departments are where they usually are (the layout of every store is similar) and they have items on display around the store. But I felt that there was no energy at all. I couldn't find more than two or three employees working in the store. The music coming through the speakers lacked color and spirit. Even the lights seemed dimly lit.
I thought to myself, "Okay, well, maybe if I walk around some more, I'll find it is not so bad."
Quickly, I realized I should have kept my expectations low. Not all the aisles were organized and clean. Some items were misplaced and/or mislabeled. The layout of the store seemed a bit clunky. For example, from the Copy & Print Department to the paper aisle, I have to walk past shelves of shredders and cardboard boxes, and maneuver myself around pallets of miscellaneous items that are on sale.
I mailed my stuff, I got what I needed, and headed straight for the checkout area. Considering I was one of two or three customers there, I wasn't surprised to see just one person working the register.
I'm actually a little sad to see a store that I have fond memories of in such a dilapidated state. I probably won't come here too often unless I need to mail something and I'm lazy to go to a UPS store.
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