I hope some major stores are taking heed of this article and its sales and customer service staff. It is very frustrating to go in to any store and ask for customer service help to locate or find out if the sell an item you need. This staff is the lifeblood of a store and if they continue the trend to hire help that has no knowledge of store products is does have a drastic affect on their bottom line. In the past year I have gone to several electronic stores and had a hard time to find any help with any knowledge of what I needed. It was a zero and left without making any purchase disgusted at the stores. Experience and knowledge is very important when it comes to dealing with the public, especially for DIY customers which is their primary customers. Price Savers, Home Depot, Sears, K-Mart, and many others do not have very knowlegeable staff and these stores seem to be in borderline bankruptcy. Customers should be overwhelmed with knowledge and experience of its sales and service staff, it'll keep them in business. This staff also helps a store to stock what sells.

I'd agree with your comments on many of the companies you mention above, BUT, have you been in a Home Depot in the last six months? I get swarmed lately by employees and more help than I could ever want.

Yes, I have noticed the drastic change in customer service. Before the recession, local businesses including my hairstylist had the attitude of "you need me more than I need you." Now I've noticed more customer friendly salespeople (except for Walmart) going out of their way to make sure you find what it is that you need. As for my hair stylist, I used the recession as a way to depart ways. She always viewed discounts as something for lower class people, now she regularly advertises coupons in her salon...