Focus / Do It All (Shop) > Reviews (12)

I’m a Ex-employee, 1 year working, when I started it was a tip, my store was the mockery of the entire working group, while I there the store manager had a nervous breakdown, and 4 managers left, morale was beyond down in the dumps and only the garden area got good reviews. After I had left, I returned only 6 weeks later to say hello and had a pleasant surprise, the shelves were filled, the people were working with a purpose, and still it was getting bad reviews??

The craft section is going, a bad choice in my view I was constantly helping people in there even though I knew little about it, the range of stock in there though was huge and it was impossible to know all the Craft section and the rest of the store. Its range was the best part of it but also may have contributed to its demise ill miss you Craft Section(RIP).

The staff don’t know much for about 3 weeks after joining then they settle in and know what the customers will want to know, we employed many part-timers every year usually for a year maybe even less, what they don’t know they can always ask one of the senior employees who always helped.

A description as I remember it :-

Outside in the garden section you will find, well watered plants, fountains (equally well watered), Trolleys for carrying Compost, Compost, grow bags, sand(course fine and play pit), pebbles(varying sizes from 10-22mm), , slabs in Red, Yellow and Grey colours, decorative bricks(in similar colours), bird tables, fence posts(in both 4" and 2" or 8.8 cm and 4.4 cm sizes), fence panels(which come with or without trellis at the top), spikes to hold the fence posts, there are(for example) slabs which create a circular decoration or star arrangement(difficult to explain but looks good), there many sheds which unfortunately you will need to get a member of staff to get for you, the sizes range from garden tidies at 2 foot(depth) by 4 foot(width) by 4 foot(height)to corner sheds at 8foot cubed(with one corner cut off and a glass panelled door across), canes, wire mesh, garden gates(metal)(admittedly hard to find but they are there), Clay/oversize pots. There is always at least one member of staff outside during light hours(8-4) watering plants and moving slabs.

Inside the garden section, you will find Garden tools(wolf cub, Spear and Jackson etc), fertiliser(miracle grow), weed killer, pest killer, gardening gloves, fountains boxed, pumps for the fountains, pumps for indoors fountains, mesh for putting over fish ponds or anything else, interior greenhouses including a thermal greenhouse, all plastic and were very good for money. Rubbish bags were also out there along with rubble sacks, plastic pots, Watering cans (if there isn’t any on show ask a member of staff they will probably have some out back), Hand pumps, Hoses reels, hose attachments(many), and possibly a clearance table(this should have only gardening stuff on it, it may have other goodies, these are still good quality but removed from the shops shelves due to suppliers/HQ decisions).

Further inside, you will find Lawn mowers made by Flymo, Qualcast, and Champion. Champion is our own make so you will not find it anywhere else, its good quality and very good value for you money. You will find a display with lots of chairs and lounger’s, possibly a BBQ or Christmas display(depending on the season), some of the BBQs last year were very very heavy, please ask for help before trying to lift 40kg+!! I was very stupid and didn’t realise, and broke a trolley by over loading it, (I’m far to strong for my own good).

Next to this (in my old store) you will find the bathroom area, this has bathroom suites(shock, horror)(these will probably need ordering, ask the front desk), Towels, bathroom cabinets and bathroom decorations, along with shower equipment, be wary of the shower displays (none of them work) they may not be in stock or need ordering. Furniture department (which is next to bathroom department) is always well stocked and staffed, prices range from very cheap (£5-£45 per piece)(plain white boring) to more expensive (£5-£65 some of the others), we do not install nor send a planner round for you, we will deliver the goods for a price, it helps if you know the dimensions of the room you wish to make into the kitchen of you dreams, the staff are always willing to help and only need to get a piece of paper and a calculator (a pen helps too) and they can help you plan what you want over a few minutes (I helped a lady design her kitchen from scratch in under an hour). Worktops are part of the kitchen, they are a heavy part of the kitchen and should never be moved by one person alone, they require special trolleys (Known as A frames), there is about 10 designs to choose from all can be ordered and delivered to your door, we sell in 3metre lengths (2m white) and 1.5m lengths, we can cut them to length (my store had a timber saw others may not).

Moving towards the front of the store came tiles(heavy work), plumbing, crafts(RIP), wallpaper, lighting, hand tools, power tools, pipes and guttering, wood(mdf, ply and hard board), pets(yay), ladders, paint, and the front desk with accompanying tills and Vending machine. I would expand into these areas but I may run out of space/time.

Questions I Got asked too many times(in order of frequency)

Where are the Batteries?
At the front of the store by the tills
Where are the Torches?
At the front of the store by the tills
Could You help me?
No (I wish once I had said that fortunately I didn’t or I would/should have got the sack immediately)
Where is plumbing?
Over there where it says plumbing(points at sign)
(this irritated me as customers only had to look up 12ft in the air to see signs pointing to every area)

I think give them a month or two and they’ll be even better, because they’ve improved greatly since two months ago.