LISSA’S: Thoughts on Spring, by "Moondog".

Spring fever
birds on the make
blossoms spray perfume
bees working their asses off
is spring like xmas at waally whirld
frantic pollinating between displays
watch out for the racing teens
darting for prom dresses and tooth whitener
talking on cell phones, texting at 75 on the highway
caution caution caution spring fever, hasn't this happened before
man guess I am getting old
I got no fever
give me a filter
I don't want to catch it

LISSA’S: Wal-Mart Ranks Lowest Among Discounters in Survey

Wal-Mart Ranks Lowest Among Discounters in Survey (Update1)

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ranked lowest among U.S. discounters and department store chains in an annual survey of customer satisfaction as shoppers said they found less value in the world's largest retailer's prices.

Wal-Mart fell to 68 from 72 last year on a scale of 1 to 100, according to the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index, released today. Minneapolis-based Target Corp., the second-largest discounter, held steady at 77. The average score for department and discount stores was 73, the lowest since 2001.

Customers may be increasingly dissatisfied with the goods Wal-Mart is carrying, said Claes Fornell, the professor who led the study. Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott has turned the company's focus back to groceries and household items after an ill-fated attempt to boost sales by luring fashion-conscious shoppers with silk camisoles and distressed jeans.

``It's perceived by the customers that quality is declining but price is not coming down correspondingly,'' Fornell said. Wal-Mart's score for customer service was also the lowest among discounters and department stores, Fornell said.

Scott discounted more items earlier in the holiday season to drum up revenue last year. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer's sales at stores open at least a year rose 1.7 percent during the fourth quarter, outpacing Target for the first time in 3 1/2 years.

``We survey more than 2 million customers every quarter, and they're indicating new highs in all five of the areas we measure, including faster, friendlier and cleaner stores,'' spokesman John Simley said.

Bargains Vs. Service

Growing customer dissatisfaction probably will have less impact at Wal-Mart than other retailers because shoppers visit its stores for bargains, not service, said George Whalin, president of Retail Management Consultants in Carlsbad, California. Consumers have trimmed spending in the face of falling U.S. home values and rising food and energy prices.

``The customer just doesn't stop at Wal-Mart because they know they're going to get this great Neiman-Marcus experience,'' Whalin said. ``They're going to get a big selection and low prices and they're going to get in and out of there.'' Whalin isn't affiliated with the University of Michigan survey.

Consumers in the survey gave Nordstrom Inc. a score of 80, placing it first in customer satisfaction among discount and department stores. Wal-Mart's grocery business tied with Winn- Dixie Stores Inc. for last place among supermarkets, with a score of 71, up from 69 a year earlier.

Wal-Mart has been at the bottom of the supermarket category in all of the four years that the university began tracking it. In the year ended Jan. 31, 2007, groceries comprised 31 percent of the discounter's sales, according to its annual report.

source: Bloomberg

LISSA’S: Wal-Mart customer service slips

Wal-Mart's service has been sliding for many years, according to an annual survey conducted by the University of Michigan. The most recent information from Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index shows Wal-Mart dropped to a score of 72 last year, down from 81 in 1995. Many of Wal-Mart's workers feel outright hostility toward the company, and, by extension, they often treat customers with indifference or worse.

source: Business Week