In which the reader will find disconnected jottings and musings that wouldn’t make much of a post on their own …

As you may know, I’ve worked in retailing for quite a part of my life, from small specialists shops to large department stores and timber and hardware companies. I accompanied my sisters in shopping for an extra bag today in Liverpool, and, having difficulty in finding a decent suitcase merchant in the city we eventually ended up at John Lewis’s department store.

Janet picked the bag that she wanted and then we had to find a sales point. The obvious sign was to Customer Services which could, reasonably, also be a sales point but no, we were directed to another section of the floor where, hidden behind merchandise, were the registers.

It’s all very well getting the customer to self-select their goods, but to then make it difficult to pay for the item is very poor retailing practice.

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