Stores Are Jumping on Welcome Wagon to Move Merchandise

As the Anaheim couple walked into Wal-Mart, their twins in a shopping cart, employee Gerrie McComb sprang into action.

“You’re a cute one, yes you are,” said McComb, 71, eyes crinkling as she jiggled the plump cheek of one baby with her forefinger while the other infant slept. She pressed a bright yellow happy face on the strap of the baby’s safety seat.

Parents Virginia and Humberto Marrufo beamed at the attention. “It’s something you remember when you come into this store,” the father said later.

That’s just the reaction the giant chain wants.

As a perceived antidote to the impersonal nature of shopping, more retailers are employing greeters--workers like McComb who hover near the entrance to welcome customers. The concept flourishes in Asia, where department store employees stand near doors and elevators and bow dutifully to shoppers. Greeters in the U.S. tend to be more lively and mobile, and they also perform more pragmatic duties--directing traffic, encouraging sales, sometimes checking the contents of shopping bags as customers leave the store.

Some customers find greeters annoying, but for retailers they are a relatively inexpensive way to build customer loyalty and boost the bottom line, especially during the harried holiday shopping season.

“It’s just amazing the amount of goodwill that person can bring,” said Woody Gray, vice president of San Jose-based Orchard Supply Hardware Inc., which uses greeters in most of its 70 stores in California.

Retail experts said there’s no way to accurately measure how much greeters add to a store’s sales, and it’s unlikely that a smiling employee stationed at the entrance will make up for a lack of help in the aisles and at checkout stands.

But as stores get bigger and more strapped for employees in a tight labor market, analysts say, greeters can play a key role in creating a down-home feel at places that might otherwise seem cavernous or overwhelming.

Some companies, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., have long used greeters, but more retailers have begun adopting the practice recently. Wal-Mart uses greeters year-round, but others do so for specific occasions or during high-traffic times. Kmart Corp., which has been polishing its image, has stepped up its use of greeters, as have many mall-based specialty stores.

“Most retailers are trying to mold . . . their image to be more family-oriented and more friendly,” said Prashanth Nyer, associate professor of marketing at Chapman University in Orange. “It all harkens back to your good old neighborhood bartender and the nice old guy in the barbershop patiently clipping your hair and telling you a story.”

But not everyone’s keen on the concept.

Target Stores Inc. tried using greeters years ago but rejected the idea. “Quite honestly, we thought we could more productively use those resources elsewhere,” said Dave Slingsby, Target’s regional director for the greater Los Angeles area.

Customers complain when greeters get too aggressive, whether trailing them through the store or pressing them to buy something. Carolyn Scruggs certainly didn’t appreciate having her bag examined by a greeter at Wal-Mart in Westminster as she left with her “It’s a Wonderful Life” video.

“I find it obtrusive,” the Huntington Beach resident said.

Many customers, though, seem to gravitate toward greeters, saying they appreciate a smile or a timesaving tip.

After a busy day at the Wal-Mart in Westminster, McComb’s legs often ache and her sighs are audible as she nears the end of an eight-hour shift. The Fountain Valley resident works up to four days a week, making $6 an hour. Some days she’s there until 11:30 p.m.

But the job has its upside, McComb said. She particularly likes visiting with “the older people,” who like talking about their grandchildren or spouses.

“They want to tell you everything,” she said.

For stores such as Wal-Mart, which often hit resistance when they open in communities because locals fear mass merchandisers will run mom-and-pop shops out of business, greeters can help by making the new business seem less threatening, more folksy, retail experts say. Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart says it uses 30,000 greeters in its more than 3,000 stores nationwide simply to provide customer service and a friendly atmosphere.

“If you go back many years, the local store proprietor knew virtually every patron by name,” said David Stewart, a USC marketing professor. “One reason a lot of the smaller stores stayed on for so long, even after the big mega-stores moved in, is people tend to be very loyal to the folks they have relationships with.”

Other stores have turned to greeters to stay ahead of competitors. In the cutthroat home-improvement industry, for example, OSH, a unit of Chicago-based Sears, Roebuck & Co., began using greeters two years ago, calling them directors.

Gray, OSH’s vice president, said he couldn’t quantify the value of greeters. But he said shoppers have responded favorably on customer comment cards.

“Ultimately, that’s going to lead to better financial numbers,” he said.

Richard Staiger may be OSH’s most successful greeter. The dapper 78-year-old, who works in Capitola, Calif., has won praise from shoppers and management for his cheeriness, helpfulness and sales acumen.

So many shoppers have filled out comment cards about Staiger that his file is overflowing, said his boss, store manager Jack Shimonishi.

“I’d be willing to bet that more people know him in the community than the mayor,” Shimonishi said.