I recently started something new in my life, and was fortunate to land a position as a Print Specialist at Staples. I was excited over the next couple days, so naturally I browsed /r/Staples and was blown away by the mismatched negativity. This trend holds true for most things, although not universally. There are some communities out there, like the comments section on Classic Rock YouTube videos.

It just proves that the number of people who comment just to criticize and complain is generally ten times more than those who share positive remarks.

Notable Memories

• Met someone who play chess.com! ^~9/03/24
• Using Staples computer, I designed, learned, printed and cut my first set of 250 business cards, a $23 value! ^~8/27/24
• Received / loaded up on 7 cucumbers, gifts, from Manager, that he grew from his garden. ^~8/27/24
• I met a customer, she came in on her birthday, while her daughter sat in the car, to return her daughters clothes… these kids man… ^~8/27/24
• Learned about free Iced Coffee (and tea) Refills at Starbucks, all of a sudden, a $6 order, including tip, turns into a little over $2.50. ^~8/26/24
• Processed customer with 20+ Amazon Returns
• It’s been a wild since I’ve been out in the public, but, I’ve seen half-naked girls, baked-up Jamaican mon and elders using technology like they are 15 year old kids.
• I’ve met/seen a co-worker walk around and work with a George Costanza wallet ^~8/26/24
• Meeting someone who’s dream it was to clean the Delaware River Coastal/Port

Things I Plan To Do

• Get 4 New Domain, Hosting and Websites Customers
• Get better uniform, current T Shirt is trash.
• Special Funnel Offer
• Use the internal intranet tools to make a couple more friends
• Learn about Cardstock Weights
• Bike 100 miles worth of round trips
• Print QR Business Cards for Returns
• Integrate Calendar AND Schedule
• Add coffee maker to the break room and have beans on-demand for grinding
• Swap shipping station monitor out with Touch Screen
• Load up break room with fresh fruit (and maybe even vending machine)
• Create more QR codes to “answer common questions”
• Get $25 back in rewards points and buy useful something
• Learn about Raised Ink / Thermography printing (Embossing thermographic powder)
  • Example Store
  • Example Tutorial
• Create a proper checkbox “routine flow” for when I first step on the floor and punch-in
• Ride public transportation and see how it compares to biking / driving
• Submit feedback on a few things:
  • Dark Mode on Mobile App / Website
  • Modernize business card templates during checkout
  • Business Card checkout options like Foiled Edges, Kraft Paper and other Etsy.com options

Things are going well so far, but I have some thoughts I want to jot down:

Products I Think Staples Should Sell/Have:

• Water Cool and Subscription
• Hands Free Door Opener for Bathroom
• Precision Screwdriver Set
• Tape Measure
• Teacher Planner

Things I enjoy:

• Close to my house, great for biking and staying in shape
• Every coworker I’ve met seems chill. I’ve worked at a few places, but I’ve never experienced anything quite like this. I think the hiring manager did an excellent job of filtering out any bad apples… or so it seems.
• The starting salary, $16.25 is reasonable. At a previous job at Lowe’s in either 2011 or 2013, the minimum wage was $7 and I was onboarded at $10(ish), yet the cost of milk, gasoline, and many other items has not changed much since then. Inflation isn’t as impactful as some people might think.
• Indoor AC job with good foot traffic to meet new people and make friends and find leads.
• Some of the training was funny, yet silly.
• Reading about Staples History… I can’t believe both founders already passed away.
• The hub offers a huge potential to meet with everyone staples, the community forums and ease to communicate is cool
• I had fun shopping on eBay for 3 Polo Uniform Shirts

Questions from Customers & Me 💭

• Where is the closest UPS drop-off store?
• How much does it cost to make copies, a fax or some prints?
• How do I use the self-serve kiosk?
• What are the Employee WiFi Login Credentials?
• Where is the bathroom?

Things I dislike:

• Too much gear, a heavy iPhone, a headset with wire, a walkie-talkie, a lanyard, my own phone and wallet, gum, pen with notepaper… I mean WTF?
• No water fountain (or cooler) in an office store sort of seems like a sick joke…
• No Cushioned Anti Fatigue Mat for people who stand at the Customer Service Counter and Return Center — https://amzn.to/3XvvNgt
• I see Staples as a tech company, yet none of their workstations have touch screen monitors, which would enhance efficiency.
• Unable to access Staples resources, or email address when I’m not connected to the Work Wifi / Internet location
• I’ve seen some lavish spending from Staples as a company, when there are many other things that need improvement. For example, the Shaq partnership to sell ink, or branding launch party, etc
• Unable to adjust brightness on Cashier Checkout POS
• There aren’t many benefits, particularly when compared to the Starbucks across the street, or the USPS nearby. https://careers.staples.com/en/benefits
  • 401k is worthless, no public stock, don’t need/want dental/health so what’s left? Learning new skills, meeting new people and closing leads.
• The break room has potential to be cool, maybe even great, but right now it’s pretty pathetic. If someone takes a dump, everything is cooked. It be, what it be…
• Bad uniform onboarding, I was hoping for something more professional instead of jenky designed purple shirt.
• Some training, like Active Shooter drills, Woke Diversity segments, and awkward videos, seemed odd, possibly due to Canadian influences. Though Staples started in the U.S., it’s now Canadian-based. While they likely have legal reasons, they could take a firmer stance.
• The HUB is a mess, more or less, but the potential is great, everything is hosted on different platforms, with different designs that compounds into a trickle of other problems.
  • Consolidate, organize and merge everything into a single design/location instead of across multiple hosted domains

Areas for potential improvement

• Efficiency across the board is hindered by obsolete hardware, technology and perhaps even thinking patterns that are aimed to solve customers
  • Amazon Returns Area
    • PC does not have a touch monitor making it more time consuming to use a mouse and click buttons
    • Stickers, Printer and Boxes used all require addition steps to solve tasks because whoever designed “the flow” does not know how to play chess and only plays checkers.
    • The iPhone handling returns is locked down with bad settings (small font, extra swipes and duplicate taps to get shit done)
  • Cash Register POS requiring too much time just to log in and get things done

It’s worth noting, if working the Amazon/UPS return hub on a very busy day, you’re not truly employed by Staples.

In reality, you’re an outsourced Amazon employee in this role. You are performing similar duties as a Postal Service employee without the same level of benefits.

There is a huge ratio of women returning clothes, and the stereotype on /r/Staples about “amazombies” is 100% accurate. During a 4 hour session you’ll get a nonstop stream of customers returning junk.

How I Improved Things… 🌟

• Submit feedback for Dark Theme on Staples.com website and Mobile App
• By using the scan gun, I’ve been able to streamline the process for performing returns. Previously, in order to access the computer system, you would have to manually type in a generic password. Now you anyone can scan a barcode I printed out and taped to the printer auto login, making the process much more efficient.
• Font size on mobile phone was small, now it’s larger and easier to read.
• The shared computer in the back now has updated bookmark links for quick access to common sites like Kronos login, The Hub, Email, and Training. Previously, you had to navigate through the start menu and remember where each link was located.
• Redesigned the Business Card to simplify the email and printing process. Previously, customers had to save files as attachments, open their email app, compose a message, and attach the files. Now, they can simply scan the card, which auto-composes the email for them; they only need to attach the file and send.
  • QR launches “mailto:Staples Print StationStaples@PrintMe.com?subject=Print%20Attached%20Files”
  • Business card also shows common print prices