After 30+ years of service and being laid off, it is sad to see that a once great company who used to care about their employees like family, has fallen to such a low level. William Wallace Grainger must be rolling in his grave to see how his once great company has come crashing down so far and so fast.
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They can die a slow death like the dinosaur they are. The he-l with people, the he-l with PST and FT help. Steve R the DBSM in New England is just a drone spinning what they want, and he uses his position to push his ho-o agenda. So glad to be gone- my rear is a lot less tender now from not being literally and figuratively an-l ra--d.
DG is turning things around
MAKING GRAINGER GREAT AGAIN
WWG has failed to change with the times, and when they do they are unfashionably late to the party. Closing some branches makes sense, but not as many as they did in the last 4 years. Sell off Acklands if you want to stay solvent! WWG likes to keep trying the same things over and over with a "we will just try harder this time" mentality, leadership has an arrogance about them that is what leads to their downfall. Tenured employees all get the shaft because they cost too much and it's cheaper to give them a package and let them walk. I have seen over 170 years of combined experience walk out the door in the NY/New England area alone, and it only leads to customer frustration. Too many idiots that will work for less and know a lot less managing things way over their heads and can't handle it. If I have a choice of where to buy something, WWG is an absolute last resort, it isn't worth the frustration. It was a good place to be for a lot of years, but not so much anymore. I hope that AMZ buys them.
Stop looking in the rear view mirror
Google Grainger WalMart Amazon BABA
Great news
stock up 70%
Leaders who know what to do
Forget the BS past
It is done
Looki forward , support & kick some a. s
Well said, and when we used to answer our own calls (in branch) from our own sales territory, the customer knew that Tom, D--k or Harry, or even Cindy and Sally (on the phone or at the counter) would take care of the issue and follow through to completion. Because of that personal service and attention, the customer would overlook the fact they were paying a premium price at Grainger.
As someone mentioned in a previous post, Grainger once owned the market. They bullied the mfg’s because they could. They could easily deny a cost increase from the mfg’s because they were the only player in town. At the same time, they had employees who were proud to admit that they worked for GWW, at the same time GWW respected their employees. Some had 20+ years, some had 3 + years, they were all treated with respect. Then came the internet, mfg’s then realized they had an option and Grainger became just another outlet to distribute their product. At that point, Grainger panicked. Their solution was to close some branches and create a call center(Gurnee call center, ie: Grainger Custom solutions) which went over like a fart in the wind. Fast forward 20 years they did it again. Now there’s call centers and more branches closed. Point being, Grainger was the only player in town because of their customer service (local branches where the counter employees knew their customers by name and the customers knew the counter folks on a first name basis) that was Grainger’s advantage. Fact is, in the MRO market, customer service and knowledge of your customers is key. That doesn’t exist anymore at Grainger, their sales reps are rotated every few months and they no longer have the advantage of local presence like they did in the past. Internally they treat their employees like crap which is sad because the employees like they treat like crap are the reason why Grainger was, at one point, the king of MRO. If not now, very soon, they will be another victom of Amazon.
At this point, I am grateful to have been laid off, the severance package and full value of my PST. A tremendous benefit, during my 30+ year tenor, which has now been diminished to a shadow of the former program. Now as a customer I have to ask why it is when I call Grainger with a request other than a "cut and dry" order I am placed on hold for 10+ minutes while someone tries to find an answer, or how to process a request. For example, how to process a "free of charge shipment" to replace an item that did not arrive, however, I received a completely empty box sealed with a packing slip inside.
Maybe there is something to be said for experienced employees.
Yes it is sad
I bleed Grainger red too
Grainger was a awesome company
After much grieving and anguish I am now able to say I was blessed to have worked at Grainger
You will too
While I think AMZN & GWW will hook up Playing it safe sold most of GWW and bought AMZN
What are you hearing ???
The Ryan era was a disaster
It’s is unbelievable things have turned around so fast
Hats off to the leadership
It is GREAT TO SEE
Agree getting E Watson on Board is major move
Watch for more 21 century executives being hired and GWW hooking up with AMZN or others
Save your printed catalogues they will be collectors items
Grainger’s platform is in for a revolutionary upgrade that will turn company around
Don’t count GWW out
Take a hard look as to what has happened since DG replaced Ryan
Sales & stock price 😄
E Waston a 21 century ex added to Board
😄😄😄
One could argue its the weather driving sales but getting E Wason is something else
2018
. Will 2018. be the turn around ???
Don’t count DG out
Grainger is stuck in 20 century business model with old school leadership
Loyalty is long gone
They are another Sears
Move on , sell your stock buy AMZN and count your blessings
Good post