Economics eductor. Follow me @Wootenomics
Glenn is feeling a bit useless since he isn’t able to fix the heating system that’s pumping too much hot air into the store. Cheyenne tries cheering him up by listing all the things Glenn does to help his employees, but it turns out that a lot of the things Cheyenne mentions are actually controlled automatically. Routine tasks, like unlocking doors at the same time every day, are the easiest tasks to be replaced with automation.
The floor manager and the assistant manager have taken time off to host a ladies’ lunch at a nearby restaurant. The guys left in the store have designed a game in that lets them goof off. Since it’s not easy to monitor performance (because the stricter managers are away), it’s easier for the workers to shirk in their responsibilities.
The registers are down, and the store is only accepting cash. It appears no customers are willing to shop under these conditions. While currency can be used as a medium of exchange, both parties need to be willing to make that transaction.
An old college friend of Jonah’s now works at the corporate office for Cloud 9. When he comes to visit, he shows the other employees a video of Jonah doing a presentation, and then brings up the fact that Jonah’s enrollment is still active. Jonah initially quit college because he wasn’t happy there, but he’s not sure if he ever wants to go back.
Cloud 9 is rebranding their store product line, moving from Halo Brand to SuperCloud. With the switch, the store has marked the old products down by 80%. Cheyenne wants to buy as much of the old merchandise as she possibly can because of the discount. Glenn tells her she cannot set those items aside during store hours, but she is scared they will be all gone by the time her shift is over. She decides to try and hide the products around the store.
Jonah finds a wallet with $906 in the shorts that Amy ended up with in a lost and found activity. Amy wants to pay her pending bills or help her family with household repairs. Jonah convinces her to spend it on herself, instead of doing something that he considers boring. Amy decides she wants to treat herself to a spa visit. When the other employees find out that she has that money, they ask for things for the break room that are needed, but also ask for things that would be considered luxuries.
The employees have a yearly ritual where they pick something randomly from the lost and found box. They could not donate the items to Goodwill because Goodwill considered the collection to be trash. The corporate office told their branch to get rid of the lost and found items but did not give them any direction on how to do it. Almost all of the employees select different bad items, but Amy actually ends up with a pretty nice leather jacket. She trades it to Mateo to get him to stop complaining.
The store’s pharmacist considers himself the doctor to the doctors. He doesn’t have a traditional medical degree, but there are clearly times when he regrets not getting his MD. Human capital acquisition can be thought of like an investment that requires upfront costs, but has benefits paid out over a long period of time.
A lot of the employees have food poisoning from the morning’s potluck. Mateo approaches Cheyenne about some Pepto Bismol, but she raises the price to account for the fact that she has purchased the entire store’s stock.
A customer is looking for a particular coffee maker, but Cheyenne and Mateo tell him they can get another from the stock room if they are offered a bribe. If prices weren’t so low, there would probably be an adequate stock of items on the shelves. Cheyenne and Mateo try to initiate a black market transaction in response to this shortage.
Teaching with Superstore