"[5][6] Grumbel's provides a wide array of goods; customers have been shown shopping for anything from garden equipment and electronics to clothing and housewares.

[7] Following years of declining sales under incompetent senior executive management and many store closures, Grumbels filed for bankruptcy in January 2020, leading to the events at the end the strip.

She is good at her job and cited as a reasonable manager, but is often discouraged when the bureaucratic rules set by the corporate office work against the store's stated goal of customer service.

While the daily strips' plots often deal with her discouragement, Marla maintains an optimistic attitude and often mentions a dream of opening her own small store or boutique.

He is constantly frustrated by bad policies and customers, and regularly lashes out at the store by goofing off during his work hours and playing practical jokes.

He is often the one most directly affected by retail management policies such as the lack of employer health-care programs and the erratic amount of part-time hours.

To make ends meet, he worked part-time (in addition to Grumbel's) as an attendant at a gas station mini-mart, although he later left this second position.

[8] Despite the frustrations of Grumbels' usual corporate incompetence, Cooper finds this temporary responsibility a good experience considering that he is not only advancing his career, but he also does not have to concern himself in this situation with sustaining the operation with profit margins in mind.

He's a fan of science fiction and geek culture, and often wears Halloween costumes based on obscure movie, TV or comic book characters that other staff members don't recognize, much to Cooper's frustration.

At the end of the strip, Cooper accepted a new job as an entry-level warehouse worker, thanks to a lead provided by an employee he supervised during the store closure.

In 2012, Val finally admitted to her father that her writing career was not as successful as she was letting on, and that she had only recently accepted a blogging position for a gardening magazine.

Following the announcement of Grumbels' upcoming bankruptcy at the end of the strip, Val decided to take a break from wage employment to focus on her novel-writing goal, supported by her husband Cooper's increased salary.

Stuart further demonstrated his incompetence and arrogance in July 2009 when, following her vacation, he threatened to replace Marla with Josh as assistant manager.

While his demeanor may reflect problems in his personal life (as revealed in a November 2007 story arc where he was in a middle of a divorce), the way he took it out on the employees of the stores in his district earned him little (if any) sympathy.

He previously worked as a department supervisor at another Grumbels store in Stuart's area, and was happy with this promotion for the simple reason it would give him a shorter commute.

Originally a department supervisor from the Southbridge store, a Grumbels located in a high income area, Brice believed that following the rules will result in meeting the goals set out by corporate.

As such, the staff comes to loathe him as an authoritarian jerk who treats them like peons with brusque orders and impractical nitpicking with workplace rules.

However, unlike Josh, Brice is always strictly Marla's subordinate, and she is able to directly order him to be more diplomatic with the staff, leaving him unable to understand why he is considered in the wrong by everyone at work.

Unlike Marla's previous assistants, Stuart had no hand in her getting hired, not even interviewing her, as he was too busy trying to replace all the managers that were let go for embezzlement at another store in his district.

On the June 19, 2013 strip, it was revealed that she had found a new job at the mall coffee shop, still bitterly resentful to the staff of Grumbel's.

After starting work at Grumbel's, Cooper discovered that Keith had made a blog that copies his format exactly, hence driving a wedge between these two former friends.

Jasper Morley (deceased) Stuart's former manager, who died seven years earlier when he choked on a Clucky Chicken sandwich.

He reappeared as a ghost in front of Stuart, revealing that he is forced to walk on Earth for all eternity wearing a chain of Grumbel's Policy and Procedure Manuals.

Brad was first seen shopping at Grumbel's trying to hire some of the better employees (including Amber and Val, before being caught by Marla) to work at Delman's before it opened.

Mina is portrayed as self-serving and always looking for a way to move up the corporate ladder herself (including falsifying comparison prices between Grumbel's and Delman's to harm her current manager).

Greg appears to have a strong working relationship with his DM, Brad, although he has been seen complaining about the "unrealistic" sales goals that Delman's sets.

The strip primarily focuses on the interpersonal relations between the characters and the additional people they are forced to interact with as a result of their profession.

While most customers are polite and understanding, a small percentage can be rude, egocentric, demanding, mentally unstable, emotional, or suffer from any number of other types of undesirable traits.

Since all retail stores have a goal of earning repeated business, employees will often sacrifice their better judgement or dignity to meet the demands of such customers.

Employee-Employee Relationship As with most emplacement situations, retail employees find themselves working with their coworkers for dozens of hours each week.