Closing manager walked out on us right before close last night

I worked a closing shift last night along with five other associates and the softlines ASM.

Around the last hour and a half before we close, the closing manager is supposed to go around checking to see if we need register replenishments or cash pickups. The softlines ASM was not responding when we called for her over the PA system.

One of us checked the office, she was not there. Another checked the parking lot, her car was gone.

Closing time rapidly approached and we didn't know where she went. We all came to the conclusion that she finally had enough and left because she has been telling everyone for weeks how much she hates being here at Sears and how she "didn't go to college for this s--t (she's in her late twenties).

So we were frantic because it was almost time to close the store and we had no one with keys to lock the doors or codes to arm the alarm system. We close at 9:00 but the doors were still unlocked. So we had the idea of pulling up a chair to each "entrance" to guard the doors. We found giant zipties in the stockroom (seriously!!!) to find a way to secure the doors somewhat. We also called the police to let them know what had happened and to have an officer swing by the store to check on things so no one broke in and robbed us.

No one had any way of contacting any other manager. We had no choice but to stay in the store. Thankfully, by 11:30, mall security arrived to ask us why our mall entrance was not secured. We explained the situation and the security guard got in touch with mall management who had the store manager's number. Since the store manager lives about 75 miles away, it wasn't until 2:00 AM when the store manager arrived to close the store. When he was in the cash office to check the cash bags in, sure enough her keys were in the drop box.

It's real frustrating that this had to happen. I have a husband and two young kids that were worried about me. I had been at the store since noon, the others around a similar amount of time. I can understand being frustrated with Sears so much to be driven to quit, but is it really that bad to go to the lengths of abandoning store associates right before close, leaving us stranded before another manager was able to lock the doors? All the way until 2:00 in the morning?

I hope she reflects back on what she had done. Things are bad but she could have just quit after she closed the store.

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I hope she realizes that every store has issues and yes they do layoffs at Home Depot, look it up people. Employees complain about the things that happen at these stores they work for also. So just because you change jobs doesn't mean the issues go away they are just different pertaining to that company.

Wow... what the hell. What an incredibly stupid move. I can't blame a person for wanting to walk out of a job they have had enough of, but to not think of other people?? If it gets out there and impacts her future employment - oh well!

At the very least she could have alerted the store manager or another that she'd be walking out and just give them time to show up first.

I wish everyone was smart enough to walk out and stop letting eddie become more wealthy off of selling all assets out from under you and your pending layoffs approach.... and trust that you will be laid off, i think i must have read on this site a million times by now, the words get out, and its coming and yet some people still look at the wall du mb founded when they are called in the office to be laid off...

@2jwk. It is not about whether the company is around or not. It is about the people you work with....people talk all the time about others they work with....were they nice, reliable, etc. It is about being honest not bad mouthing. I would just say the responsible thing to do is be good to your co workers....also everyone said the store manager was a nice guy, and she wasnt good to him by doing that to him. Nastiness and irresponsibility comes back to the individual at every level. It is karma that what you put out as an individual will come back to you. If unhappy an individual should leave but in a responsible way.

Of course they never give "bad references" but that doesn't mean ANYTHING. It's all about talking in a universal code. If the employee was not great the only thing you tell the caller is "yes, so and so worked here from this date to that date" and if they ask what kind of employee they were you just keep repeating the dates. On the other hand, if the employee was a good worker then you tell them how great they were without fear of legal consequences. Believe me, anyone following up on references can read this loud and clear.

Who knows why the lady left. Maybe some upper manager give her crap over the phone? Since Sears will be gone there will be nobody to talk bad about her in HR. FYI No company gives bad references do to the legal liability of doing so. The generally give only length of service and nothing more. Nothing good ever comes to a former employe forr bad mouthing a former employee

The problem with what she did is this, when they report why she left and in the manner that she did it it will come back to bite her. If their are gaps in your employment then people want to know why, and they figure if you do that to an former employer then whats to say you won't do it to them. If she doesn't think it won't matter because she will never work for the company again then she is mistaken. I'm not saying she didn't have a right to leave but, the way she did it is the problem especially if she's been with this company a few years.

@ebh- totally agree. I'm a lead, and we have so few managers that I close my store alone 2-3 nights a week. I'm looking for work elsewhere, too, but I will still give appropriate notice when I leave, even though this company hardly deserves the courtesy. Regardless, I still respect my coworkers.

No matter how terrible a job is, it shows a dreadful lack of professionalism under pressure, not to mention discourtesy, at least to those who were ostensibly her subordinates, for her to have done what she did. I'm not trying to make any excuses for the company, as I hate it just as much as anyone else here, but leaving your coworkers in a huge lurch just because you can't handle sticking around for just one more fraction of a shift is the mark of someone who I would not want working with or for me in any scenario. If you must walk out for whatever reason, be it out of frustration as in this case, or even actual justifiable reasons such as emergencies, you at least let somebody know where you're going, preferably in a manner that allows someone to resolve your absence in a timely manner, not in one that leaves your presumably lower-paid coworkers stuck in a store for several hours into the dead of night, or that forces someone to drive out seventy five miles out of their way to pick up after you for what I guess took an hour or so, only to then have to drive all the way back home.

I'm sorry, but if I knew who this person was, I might feel petty enough to let their new employer know exactly what she'd done just so they could know exactly what they might be in for should conditions in her new workplace not be to her liking.

A QMT could have been called

In and secured the place with some bulk chain and padlocks.

Oh, that's right, they laid all of them off.

Talk about handwriting on the wall.

@1lqw I agree with @1euc if Sears wants to dispose you they will dispose you ASAP I think she got a job offer screw it she has nothing to lose. This is what has been caused from Sears they are laying off left and right glad she got something and jumped before the shipped fully sunked.

handled it better? i think she handled it perfect, they are giving us 5 mins notice when they cut us why should we give them any better???????????????

I'm happy for her then. I'm the one who asked if she was drug addicted. Home Depot tests so no. She could have handled it better regarding ending the shift but she's in a better place. If she matures and works hard she can make something of herself there.

I am the original poster, turns our my backroom associate heard form her, the manager was called by home depot and offered a job she had previously interviewed for, she stated that she took a deep breath jumped in the air and fist pumped, walked out the store and thanked God he got her out of there before the bottom fell out

A manager and a lead?? A year ago, sure. Not sure how many managers and leads are in your store, we only have 3 total.

There should be a Manager and a Lead closing the store at night. Sometimes things happen and there is only 1 closing manager. Hopefully things will work out for you guys.

@xnn I think it depends on each store one time my manager wanted me to stay since the lead left early and the manager is not suppose to close alone. She told me to go to exit door I waited for her and she seem to set the alarm at that point.

Very interesting read OP thanks for sharing. Its kind of sad I don't blame your closing manager maybe she saw something on the system or was told something and she just broke lose. Although she should of done it more professional given her notice and rolled out. If you can keep us up to date OP I be interested what actually happened and if she ended up quitting or she stayed.

Yep you are right on the alarm, that's the way they have it programed in some markets.

This type of "on the edge" attitude is becoming more and more prevalent as the company goes down hill more and more. When I first started working for Sears seven years ago the managers were stressed but it was just the typical stress you get from any job especially retial. Now I see them at the breaking poing. Too many metrics to meet that have nothing to do with store sales i.e. credit card sign ups, customers feedbacks, SYW, PA/MA's etc. Too many meeting and conference calls taking up too much time during the day. The constant reporting by email or phone on how many metrics are being met. Too many changes each day for signing, too many vendors not shipping, too many customer complaints and no one at corportate or customer service will help, too much reorganizing and rearranging displays and shelves (each day, multiple times a day) to fill spaces because vendors aren't shipping. and on and on I could go. Our manager is nice but I can see the breaking point is coming and our store is one of the few that make money so I can't imagine what other stores are going through

one interesting flaw in your story: I know for a fact that if the alarm is not set by a specific time the alarm company automatically contacts the store manager. Something doesn't seem right here

I'm confused why you didn't call a neighboring Sears store once you figured out what happened before closing. I'm sure which ever key carrier at a near by sears could have contacted someone to get the ball rolling a bit faster.

I commend you guys for staying. Most at my store drop everything and run at closing on a good day. Do you think that manager is on drugs? You said she's disappeared before. Drug addicts do that.

I work in ecommerce at corporate and the leader went awol months ago. it's what sears leaders do

Just part of the ongoing transformation.

I work for Sears at the moment, as a FJ/CAC Lead... I thought I had a future at Sears, but it doesn't seem that way. After months of training in their (GEM Program) for the Softlines ASM position, applying, and getting an interview with the Store manager. He lets me know that the position is going to be removed completely. My manager (softlines ASM) is due to move next month anyways because of her husband's work. WTF!!! Now duties/responsibilities are going to be redistributed and I'm going to get a new title but the same pay. Why would I do all the work for the same pay?

I will try to be funny and serious about my reply.

Yes it is sickening that Sears FLS, ASM walked out. On a positive note everyone was safe.

On a funny note at least you guys literally had mattresses to sleep on and all you had to do was make up the bed with sheets and pillows so you could sleep till the store manager got there at 2am.

I am wondering this, if hardware had chains and padlocks you could have grabbed those and lock the doors that way? You could also have baricated the door with something heavy like a huge tool chest. If it was double door set you could have chained the first set of doors and rolled a tool chest in front of each set of doors that led to the exterior and pulled down the mall entrance and chained that shut?

I am just puzzled why you guys used zip ties of all things?

Make SURE you get paid for ALL that time, including meal time and overtime!

Can't believe you all stayed. My coworkers and I would have clocked out and left at our designated times. Especially the consultants.

She sounds unhinged. I can't say that truly reflects on the people that they are hiring. Perhaps that's the quality of people they can attract, or perhaps she just had a nervous breakdown. Too bad.

I'm not upset per se, I think we all took that situation in stride last night. I just don't understand how two hours was a lot to ask. Not to be insensitive or anything, but after those two hours she would have been able to lock the store up, let us go home and hand in the keys the next day or whatever What is two more hours?

She's walked out before, only then it was just during store hours. She would lock herself in the janitors closet and cry, or go out to her car. She has been known to disappear for an hour or two at a time. She was also very edgy. Customers complained about her attitude and how she was always unfriendly.

Our store manager is an older guy, and really nice. She didn't leave because of him or anyone else at the store from what I can see.

I do feel bad for her if she felt stuck, or unappreciated, and so on. I just think she could have handled this situation more amicably. There wasn't a precursory "event" that knew of yesterday evening. She didn't give any indication of walking out right then and there, though she complained of wanting to leave for months. It seems a little random.

I can understand both sides of views. From your p.o.v. I can see how you probably felt abandoned and confused. I would also be highly upset because of someone's else frustration and the fact I was there until 2 in the morning. That's not fair to none of you. I don't want to sound hurtful but life isn't fair. Bright side you still were getting paid. Maybe from her p.o.v. she spent years in college and probably feels she should be further than where's she at. It was probably built up from her frustrating not being where she wants to be in life,other life factors,and the realization that working for this company most likely isn't going to get her where she wants to be. Most of us are frustrated with the company and we all handle it different. At the end of the day that is what makes us human. You're right to be upset,at the same time calm down and relax.

This is amazing. Thanks for sharing. I feel really bad for you, it's a very sad story!

Thread regarding Sears layoffs

Closing manager walked out on us right before close last night

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