I was reminiscing about my first interaction with an American customer I had when I had just started working (I don’t live in America, she was a tourist or something.) I worked in retail, and was taking care of a long line of customers. This American lady was at the end of the line. When she gets to me she asks to see my boss, so I head back and tell my boss a customer wants to talk to him, while I turn to some other work in the back of the store. A few minutes later my boss comes back and says the lady was upset with me and my behaviour, because I had not greeted her as she entered the store (because I was busy helping another customer.) The situation has perplexed me ever since, do all American stores employ greeters? I’m aware of the concept, how big stores like Walmart employ people to stand at the front door and greet people. But is it like that for every store in America?
At Costco, they’re less “greeters” and more “people who check your membership card”. Actually, since Costco switched to automatic card scanners, they’re “people who watch to make sure you scan your card and the machine makes the happy beep”.
That said, at least at my local Costco, they also smile and welcome you into the store – it’s just not their primary function.