Office Depot

Yesterday I had two complete opposite experiences within a 10-​minute time frame.
At around 4:30 pm, I walked into Office Depot on West 11^th in Eugene, Oregon, in a hurry to pick up a few things. I had no idea where in the store any of the items would be located. There was no one in sight, literally. No customers. No employees. I have worked retail many years and assumed if I just started walking around the store with a damsel-​in-​distress look, someone would come to my rescue. I circled that big store, passing two employees that refused to talk to me, one of them twice, a young lady in Copy and Print. I wandered through there a total of 4 – 5 minutes with not one word from anyone. Disgruntled, I left empty handed.
I drove across the street to Staples, now in a bigger hurry. I believe they were all helping others, yet I was greeted by three employees at the door. It was apparent that she was in the middle of something, but the Assistant Manager offered to help me find one of the items I needed. She soon realized I had a list of items so she took me all through the store to find each and every one of them. No pointing in the direction of where it would be. No stating what aisle it was in. I needed baby sitting and she knew it.
I have always shopped at Office Depot just because there’s one close to where I live, but I am telling you that I will go out of my way to not ever go there again. I choose to travel to Staples.

So I was rolling out 11^th on my way to Staples and suddenly see an Office Depot sign. I figured it was and older crappier story, but upon pulling in to the parking lot, a shiny new palace greeted me and my rental car. Indeed, upon entering the store, I was impressed. They carried at least a dozen different laptops and plenty of printers too, so I asked some questions from the computer guy, and even 20 minutes before closing he really knew his stuff. Never thought I’d by a computer in a store again, but walked out with a Toshiba Laptop. Go figure.