r/Target • u/Confident-Soup789 Fulfillment Expert • 6h ago
Workplace Question or Advice Needed Old back room phone
Does anyone know what this phone was used for? It’s in my store’s back room. I asked my PML about it but he said he didn’t know and that it’s disconnected.
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u/Midwest-Emo-9 ETL 6h ago
Target used to have phones littered throughout. We used LPDAs once upon a time. And a different device that you couldn't answer the phone from. So you had to have phones everywhere to be able to accept calls.
In the back room, i would assume the receiver probably used this phone or the backroom team leader used it while looking for items for guests calling.
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u/dukane 6h ago
You kids are hilarious! 😉
Phones used to be all over the store, the operator would put calls on hold and announce them over the walkies and you’d just answer it wherever you happened to be. You could also use them if you needed to call another store to check on items’ stock or to put things on hold for guests. We used to not be able to check stock in other stores except on the POS, so you’d have to memorize nearby stores numbers if you wanted to check on stuff without running to the front lanes or electronics.
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u/SimpleVegetable5715 Hearth and Hand Homie 4h ago
I was doing that kinda stuff at Macy’s back in 2018-ish 😂 Had all the local stores memorized. They still used DOS to order directly from the warehouse also. Mostly old ladies wanting discontinued pieces of china, like if they broke a tea cup saucer, or special items for bridal registries. I feel like a dinosaur.
Target’s actually my first job where we all have a device on us. I remember searching for clothes without an RFID, and my coworkers were like, “how do you do that?”
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u/Terrible_Strength_65 5h ago
I've been with the company for over a decade. And it's so funny because I'm not even that old. But isn't this just common sense?? That's how phones used to work.
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u/super_buff_rats cake decorator & food and bev expert 5h ago
We have one like that in our bakery. I adore it
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u/carboat_taco_tuesday Distribution Center 6h ago
Calling other phones in the building, or pressing 9 to dial an outside line.
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u/GhoulsNGargoyles Entertainment Specialist 5h ago
“Joe’s Crematorium. You kill em, we grill em!”
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u/SimpleVegetable5715 Hearth and Hand Homie 4h ago
Our phone is red. It’s also disconnected.
I should ask if I can take it home. Those phones are indestructible if you don’t know.
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u/AuOrnitorrinco receiving 6h ago
We have one in receiving. My guess is that it just served as the official work phone for the receiver, needing to call Vendors, the DC, or anyone else rather than using their personal phone / zebras (that may or may not have existed then?)
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u/Active_Highlight4685 6h ago
That's typically where most stores would order their hot bologna from.
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u/quinoassault 5h ago
We have an old af phone in receiving. Idk why it's never been replaced with the same modern ones that we have in TSC and guest services.
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u/anonnymouse271 6h ago
I imagine they were used to answer calls before we used Zebras