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| - In the time since my first review, this Walgreen's has gotten too big for its britches. The staff who used to be nice are long gone, replaced by kids who think it's funny to allow line jumpers and staff who move at the speed of slow and look resentful at doing their jobs.
Prices are up dramatically, while the fresh fruit is gone, many of the fresh foods are gone, the housewares section has lost its verve. You can still get bargains in the beauty section, but otherwise you will be paying through the nose for convenience (plus the privilege of being treated rudely).
Quality has also generally declined. The house brand cat litter, which used to be great, is now as useless as beach sand and exists solely so you remember how the box stank all week and pay double the going rate for Tidy Cat. The $15 rayon dresses -- wonderful for summer around the house -- are now so skimpy that I can barely get my arms through the arm holes (they used to err the other direction).
As the place has declined, the clientele has gotten sketchier, too. You now have less chance of being hassled and hustled at Fortess CVS down on McDowell, which is adjacent to a homeless encampment.
Next time I need cat litter, I'm setting the alarm early and going to Walmart when it's not hotter than the surface of the sun here. When your service makes the Christown Walmart look like Nordstrom, you're doing it wrong.
(The funny thing is, before the Great Recession, stores cared about customer service. Now that same-store sales are in the low single digits, if not actually negative, and chains are struggling to hold stable against the behemoth of Amazon, the prevailing customer service attitude is "Don't like it? Feel free to take your money elsewhere." They know all they have to do is outlast their lone remaining bricks-and-mortar competitor.)
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