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Retail (Comic Strip)

857 statements
169 feature instances
119 referencing feature instances

Retail (Comic Strip)	type	TVTItem
Retail (Comic Strip)	label	Retail (Comic Strip)
Retail (Comic Strip)	page	Retail
Retail (Comic Strip)	comment	There is a new archive of this comic at http://retailcomics.com. All current and future links to specific comics need to be modified to link to the comics there.Retail is a comic strip created by Norm Feuti (also the creator of Gil) that ran from 2006 to 2020. Set in a fictional store called Grumbel's, it's a satire of the world of minimum-wage department store jobs.The strip centers around an assistant manager (later promoted to store manager) named Marla Masters (later Marla Garrison). While she's a good boss, she can't stand the bureaucratic nonsense set by the corporate offices, the intolerant and abusive customers, the ditzy and spaced-out employees, and the stigmas associated with retail workers. Other than that, she likes her job.Marla is most often seen working alongside Cooper, a stock boy with a sarcastic wit, geeky tastes and a dim outlook about his job; Val, an aspiring writer and encouraging friend of Marla's who wants her to move onto bigger and better things; and Stuart, the store manager (later District Manager) who sucks up to his superiors, follows every rule to the letter, and is a generally ineffectual boss.Feuti has written a book based around Retail, called Pretending You Care: The Retail Employee Handbook. "This Is So Bogus My Head Hurts", a collection of the strip's first year, is available here.On January 19, 2020, Norm Feuti announced that he was ending the strip. The final comic ran on February 23, 2020.
Retail (Comic Strip)	fetched	2024-04-17T07:15:19Z
Retail (Comic Strip)	parsed	2024-04-17T07:15:19Z
Retail (Comic Strip)	processingComment	Dropped link to Blackmail: Not a Feature - ITEM
Retail (Comic Strip)	processingComment	Dropped link to CallBack: Not a Feature - ITEM
Retail (Comic Strip)	processingComment	Dropped link to DiscussedTrope: Not a Feature - ITEM
Retail (Comic Strip)	processingComment	Dropped link to WeirdAlYankovic: Not a Feature - IGNORE
Retail (Comic Strip)	isPartOf	DBTropes
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_13398d67	type	Out Giving Birth, Back in Two Minutes
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_13398d67	comment	Out Giving Birth, Back in Two Minutes: Marla's water breaks in the 4/5/2012 strip. She's holding her daughter in the 4/9/2012 strip.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_13398d67	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_13398d67	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_13398d67
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1439161f	type	Heroic BSoD
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1439161f	comment	Heroic BSoD: Marla has a moment after an encounter with a exceptionally clueless customer.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1439161f	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1439161f	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1439161f
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_170128e9	type	Right Behind Me
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_170128e9	comment	Right Behind Me: In one strip Marla says to Stuart that their district manager is a "mean-spirited jerk". Guess who was behind her.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_170128e9	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_170128e9	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_170128e9
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_189841a6	type	Cheated Angle
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_189841a6	comment	Cheated Angle: There was an inventory supervisor in 2010 who wore an eye-patch that changed sides depending on what angle he was facing. Donnie has a long hair that covers half of his face, always the one facing the background. Cooper lampshaded this in one strip.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_189841a6	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_189841a6	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_189841a6
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_18a84025	type	Only Six Faces
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_18a84025	comment	Only Six Faces: The main characters have distinct designs, but other people (customers, etc.) look very much alike. Jerry, for example, looks like Cooper if he was older.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_18a84025	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_18a84025	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_18a84025
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1994ba0b	type	Gone Horribly Right
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1994ba0b	comment	Gone Horribly Right: After Brice left Grumbel's for Delman's, he hoped to be given a new position. He got one, but it was under the thumb of Mina, who openly berates her employees. Brice regrets the change on his first day.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1994ba0b	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1994ba0b	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1994ba0b
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_19d1c1ae	type	Always Someone Better
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_19d1c1ae	comment	Always Someone Better: Delman's always seems to one-up Grumbel's at everything. That said, it's clear they're mostly full of power grabbing jerks and much of the same upper-level incompetents as Grumbel's, so it's only really from the customer's POV that they're better.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_19d1c1ae	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_19d1c1ae	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_19d1c1ae
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1ba8eb64	type	Visual Pun
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1ba8eb64	comment	Visual Pun: In one strip Stuart says that Cooper didn't take his self-evaluation seriously, because he painted a flattering picture of himself. Then we see that the review included a picture of himself with muscles carrying a box.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1ba8eb64	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1ba8eb64	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1ba8eb64
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1cc2ea8d	type	Villain Ball
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1cc2ea8d	comment	Villain Ball: Averted by Keith when Cooper confronted him over the inventory manipulation scheme.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1cc2ea8d	featureApplicability	-1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1cc2ea8d	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1cc2ea8d
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1e7487cd	type	Breaking the Fourth Wall
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1e7487cd	comment	Breaking the Fourth Wall: The health care subplot ended with Cooper conveniently winning the $20,000 he needed to pay off his hospital bill, along with a note that he had a benevolent cartoonist that looked out for him. Cooper leaves Donnie in charge of the stockroom even though Lunker has seniority. Donnie asks why Lunker declined the opportunity:
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1e7487cd	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1e7487cd	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1e7487cd
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1f799027	type	Obstructive Bureaucrat
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1f799027	comment	Obstructive Bureaucrat: Stuart and Jerry, the district manager, always implement and follow corporate policy, no matter how ridiculous or obstructive, without question.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1f799027	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1f799027	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_1f799027
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_20860a0e	type	Punch-Clock Villain
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_20860a0e	comment	Punch-Clock Villain: Quite literally. Stuart is portrayed as a Pointy-Haired Boss, insisting on following every rule and directive from corporate down to the letter, even if they're self-contrdicting rules. And then, Stuart always ends up getting angry at the employees when these rules inevitably can't all be followed. However, off the clock, Stuart is shown to be at least somewhat more reasonable than when he's on the clock. After Stuart finds out that Marla is pregnant, he personally vouches for her time off on maternity leave, and even gives her a gift to celebrate the birth of her child.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_20860a0e	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_20860a0e	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_20860a0e
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_20a14df0	type	Wrong Genre Savvy
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_20a14df0	comment	Cooper ended up being on the receiving end of this when he briefly worked in the shoe department. During his training the shoe manager was telling him about the Brannock Device, but Cooper called him out, believing that it's one of the snipe hunts. As it turned out, the Brannock Device is a real thing (it measures people's feet). Cooper is so embarrassed that he doesn't think to question it when the manager then instructs him to go fetch the "shoelace repair kit" ...
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_20a14df0	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_20a14df0	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_20a14df0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_21ec9741	type	Exploited Trope
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_21ec9741	comment	Cooper exploits this trope once by using leftover Christmas wreaths to pretend to build a display in the middle of the summer just to see customers' heads explode.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_21ec9741	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_21ec9741	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_21ec9741
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_23698fa8	type	Aborted Arc
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_23698fa8	comment	Aborted Arc: A Halloween storyline in 2008 took a break from the strip proper to feature a horror story written by Val. The story abruptly ended a few days in without resolution and the comic returned to its normal hijinks without comment until a 2010 strip had Val getting ribbed for the quality of the story.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_23698fa8	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_23698fa8	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_23698fa8
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_237569e4	type	Ironic Hell
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_237569e4	comment	Ironic Hell: Jasper Morley, in an obvious Shout-Out to Jacob Marley, is forced to walk the Earth wearing Grumbel's Policy and Procedure Manuals around his neck.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_237569e4	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_237569e4	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_237569e4
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_24321e44	type	Only Sane Man
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_24321e44	comment	Only Sane Man: Marla, but also any worker who isn't in management, knows how labyrinthine, overly complicated, and self-contradicting the rules are. So, they mostly just ignore them if at all possible. Stuart, by contrast, insists on following the rules to the letter, and comes off as a Pointy-Haired Boss for it. Meanwhile, anyone at any level of management above Stuart is a straight Jerkass, treating their employees like garbage with not-very-thinly-veiled insults about their performance.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_24321e44	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_24321e44	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_24321e44
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_260926c3	type	Failure Is the Only Option
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_260926c3	comment	Failure Is the Only Option: No matter what the workers at Grumbel's do, someone won't be happy. And rest assured, they're going to hear about it. Cooper will never win the Halloween costume contest (legitimately). Furthermore, no one will ever appreciate his costumes. One year had a plot in which he dressed as a "normal" character instead of as a geek icon... everyone except him dressed as geeky characters instead. It turned out to be All Just a Dream.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_260926c3	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_260926c3	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_260926c3
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2765af58	type	Language Fluency Denial
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2765af58	comment	Language Fluency Denial: In this strip a customer asks Stuart if he is the manager because he has a complaint. Stuart tries to weasel out by saying in Spanish "I don't speak English." The customer just repeats his question in Spanish to a now really worried Stuart.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2765af58	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2765af58	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2765af58
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2a090d00	type	Lampshade Hanging
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2a090d00	comment	Donnie has a long hair that covers half of his face, always the one facing the background. Cooper lampshaded this in one strip.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2a090d00	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2a090d00	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2a090d00
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2a7e7af1	type	Limited Wardrobe
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2a7e7af1	comment	Limited Wardrobe: Lampshaded in a strip where it's shown that Cooper doesn't have much of a wardrobe outside of his Grumbel's uniform or his one other shirt.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2a7e7af1	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2a7e7af1	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2a7e7af1
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2b5ea43c	type	Bland-Name Product
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2b5ea43c	comment	Bland-Name Product: The store name is a play on the now-defunct Gimbels department store chain. The font used for the logo is similar as well. When Amber was hired, she mentioned she was coming from Abersnobby and Finch, and frequently mentions how shallow and demeaning the place is. One strip mentions a supermarket with even worse employee care called Big W Mart.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2b5ea43c	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2b5ea43c	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2b5ea43c
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2bf993ad	type	Secret Relationship
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2bf993ad	comment	Secret Relationship: Val and Cooper's has to be one of these, at least to the higher-ups, because if Stuart ever found out he wouldn't hesitate to fire Cooper over it.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2bf993ad	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2bf993ad	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2bf993ad
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2c9e262	type	Catapult Nightmare
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2c9e262	comment	Catapult Nightmare: Cooper having awful nightmares is a Running Gag - in one particular instance, he dreamt that Stuart wished everyone a Happy Easter, while naked inside a giant plastic Easter egg.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2c9e262	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2c9e262	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_2c9e262
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_317629db	type	Embarrassing Nickname
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_317629db	comment	Embarrassing Nickname: Cooper frequently refers to Stuart as "Zucchini Head" behind his back...and sometimes directly to him.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_317629db	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_317629db	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_317629db
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_32da91b8	type	Out of Focus
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_32da91b8	comment	Out of Focus: Alan, who runs the shoe department, used to appear more often in the first few years of the strip. Nowadays he appears about once a year, if he's lucky. Lampshaded by Cooper in one strip. Warren, the mall security who's friends with Cooper, made frequent appearances in the early years of the strip, but his appearances has become more and more sporadic as of late. This was eventually explained in early 2019, when it was revealed that Warren became a chief security officer at the mall.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_32da91b8	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_32da91b8	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_32da91b8
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3684532f	type	Never Heard That One Before
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3684532f	comment	Never Heard That One Before: Every time something won't scan a customer will say something along the lines of "it must be free then". Truth in Television because cashiers often do hear that 'joke'.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3684532f	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3684532f	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3684532f
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_36c64123	type	Gentle Giant
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_36c64123	comment	Gentle Giant: Lunker, he is intimidating, but always a nice and helpful guy. And very rarely he is show to lose his cool head.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_36c64123	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_36c64123	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_36c64123
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_372bc105	type	Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_372bc105	comment	Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Very, very deep on the cynicism side. Working in retail in any capacity is shown to be a soul-crushing experience. The customers are ignorant at best, and most are openly hostile. Anyone at the level of district manager and up is even worse, acting willfully ignorant about the struggles of their employees and expecting them to follow mutually-exclusive orders without question. Any sort of optimism about retail or an upcoming event is crushed pretty fast, and happiness can only be found in the strip when people get out of retail altogether. And right at the end of the strip, after Grumbel's goes bankrupt, the store is quietly replaced with something else, and all of the struggles and hardships of the main characters have ultimately been All for Nothing.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_372bc105	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_372bc105	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_372bc105
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_382c7a57	type	Now You Tell Me
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_382c7a57	comment	Now You Tell Me: In this strip Donnie is exhausted and sits down in a box that is empty, so it breaks and he falls to the floor, just at that moment Cooper warns him that it's empty.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_382c7a57	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_382c7a57	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_382c7a57
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3ad27180	type	The Chain of Harm
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3ad27180	comment	The Chain of Harm: At least two Sunday strips showed Marla and the others dealing with the usual corporate BS...and the Grumbel's CEO completely unaware/uncaring about it.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3ad27180	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3ad27180	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3ad27180
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3aec9e5e	type	Properly Paranoid
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3aec9e5e	comment	Properly Paranoid: In late 2013 Josh began to suspect that he was going to be fired because of how Marla was treating him even more harshly, and Stuart coldly dismissing him when he called (something he's never done to Josh before). Of course, as readers already knew, Marla was planning to fire him and was only buying time because it was Christmas season. Marla spent most of January 2020 suspecting that the future of Grumbel's is in doubt due to Stuart not checking in for weeks, and when he finally did he was indifferent to Marla not meeting her sales goals. Marla would later discover she was right to worry: Grumbel's is filing for bankruptcy, and Stuart knew all this time it was coming without telling any of his store managers.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3aec9e5e	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3aec9e5e	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3aec9e5e
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3e5f74c	type	Take That, Critics!
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3e5f74c	comment	Take That, Critics!: While Retail was never actually a target of The Comics Curmudgeon, that didn't stop Feuti from devoting a Sunday strip to Cooper's reaction to "hateoncomics.com".
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3e5f74c	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3e5f74c	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3e5f74c
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3fca462c	type	Deus ex Machina
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3fca462c	comment	Deus ex Machina: Lampshaded by the last strip of the "Cooper gets an appendectomy" arc. "Cooper has a benevolent cartoonist who can write a convenient solution for his health care woes."
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3fca462c	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3fca462c	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_3fca462c
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4023b8c8	type	First-Name Basis
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4023b8c8	comment	First-Name Basis Zoe is shocked to learn that Cooper doesn't know Alan's last name despite the fact that they're friends and nags him until Cooper relents and signs Alan's birthday card with his surname included. Alan's bemused response is that he didn't know Cooper's last name was Costello.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4023b8c8	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4023b8c8	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4023b8c8
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_40cc0c7e	type	Bittersweet Ending
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_40cc0c7e	comment	Bittersweet Ending: The Grumbel's which the entire story took place in closes down, replaced with something else in the mall by a nameless mall worker. This ends up meaning all of the efforts of every character to do their jobs and keep the store open were ultimately for nothing. Plus, the bigwigs of Grumbel's — the ones who are actually responsible for the store closing — are all Karma Houdinis, as it's mentioned that they make out like bandits with bonuses and severance pay while the retail workers get nothing. But, Marla's moving on to a position that allows her to work in an office instead of retail and pays double what she was making at Grumbel's, and she's got a new daughter to take care of with her husband. So while Grumbel's itself is out of business, Marla's future looks to be bright.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_40cc0c7e	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_40cc0c7e	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_40cc0c7e
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_47fea76b	type	Butt-Monkey
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_47fea76b	comment	Butt-Monkey: Cooper is typically on the receiving end of most of management's dumb ideas.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_47fea76b	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_47fea76b	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_47fea76b
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_49f6a9e4	type	Most Writers Are Writers
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_49f6a9e4	comment	Most Writers Are Writers: Val's dream is to get out of retail and write full-time. Cooper's new job, which pays twice what Grumbel's did, will finally allow her to do that.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_49f6a9e4	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_49f6a9e4	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_49f6a9e4
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4ce37dd1	type	Snipe Hunt
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4ce37dd1	comment	Snipe Hunt: One of the pranks Cooper likes to play on the new employees is to have them find a "wall stretcher". One year he's stunned when one of the newbies doesn't move an inch, saying she 'wasn't born yesterday'. Cooper notes she'll go far. Cooper ended up being on the receiving end of this when he briefly worked in the shoe department. During his training the shoe manager was telling him about the Brannock Device, but Cooper called him out, believing that it's one of the snipe hunts. As it turned out, the Brannock Device is a real thing (it measures people's feet). Cooper is so embarrassed that he doesn't think to question it when the manager then instructs him to go fetch the "shoelace repair kit" ...
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4ce37dd1	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4ce37dd1	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4ce37dd1
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4d91e51	type	Petty Childhood Grudge
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4d91e51	comment	Petty Childhood Grudge: In this strip Marla mentions she never knew how to solve a Rubik's cube, and her friend mentions that she doesn't know the algorithm either. Turns out Marla didn't knew you could solve it just by learning a pattern and thinks that cheapens the challenge... And then she starts talking about an eight-year classmate and how he lied about being a child prodigy. Val just leaves her so she can "solve her issues with the cube".
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4d91e51	featureApplicability	1.0
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4ee61c1f	type	Liar Revealed
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_4ee61c1f	comment	Liar Revealed: Josh turned out to be one after Marla found out that he fabricated the story about the competing store offering him a job with bigger salary.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_506143c1	type	Fisher Kingdom
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_506143c1	comment	Fisher Kingdom: Type 1, where anyone who works in retail long enough becomes jaded and cynical.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_50ca4422	type	Unresolved Sexual Tension
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_50ca4422	comment	Unresolved Sexual Tension: Cooper's massive crush on Val, which even had him end another relationship in order to pursue her. He finally worked up the nerve to ask her out for Valentine's Day 2011, and the two eloped in January 2019.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_51605de2	type	Conservation of Competence
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_51605de2	comment	Conservation of Competence: The low-level employees are almost all smart. The managers and corporate suits are almost all idiots. Marla, once she becomes store manager, averts the trope, as did the short-lived district manager Connie.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_5313c266	type	Bookends
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_5313c266	comment	Book Ends: The 'Brice works at Delman's' storyline starts with Mina's assistant manager giving his two weeks notice, changing it to two days notice after she insults him. It ends with Brice giving her two seconds notice after she tells him he better not give her two weeks notice after finding out he got an offer for his own store.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_556a4863	type	Virtue Is Weakness
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_556a4863	comment	Virtue Is Weakness: Stuart, Josh, and Brice all believed in this. In the case of Josh and Brice (and eventually Stuart in the final strip), this would bite them in the ass.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_578712fd	type	Predatory Business
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_578712fd	comment	Predatory Business: The employees are affected by their retail jobs even when they're not on the clock. The strips during one week in April 2013 illustrated different behaviors they exhibit outside of work which indicate that they're in retail.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_5b351f0d	type	IntercontinuityCrossover
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_5b351f0d	comment	Intercontinuity Crossover: One strip featured an appearance of Ed Kudlick from Dustin. Also doubles as a Take That! because it was in reference to a storyline that happened in Dustin that year. Mike and Skip from Intelligent Life guest-starred in one strip. An early strip had Liō getting in trouble at the store.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_5ee2f7cc	type	My Secret Pregnancy
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_5ee2f7cc	comment	My Secret Pregnancy: After a fashion. Marla, whose pregnancy was revealed in August 2011, doesn't want it made public until she passes the 12-week mark; only she, Scott, and Val know about it. This leads to Stuart looking even more unreasonable than usual when she calls in sick, because he doesn't know what's causing it and thinks she's looking for another job. He's actually rather considerate once he knows the truth.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_5f3d3c83	type	Psycho Supporter
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_5f3d3c83	comment	Psycho Supporter: Cooper is something of a mild version of this for Marla. He consistently keeps an ear out for any plotting by upper management which could have a detrimental effect on her career. He hasn't actually poisoned anyone over it, but hell will freeze over before he lets anything happen to her job.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_5fcb9ad1	type	Time Skip
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_5fcb9ad1	comment	Time Skip: A small one. The final strip skips over the liquidation entirely and instead shows Grumbel's post-closure, being prepared for a new store to move in.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_61b8f9e2	type	Bunny-Ears Lawyer
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_61b8f9e2	comment	Cooper seems to have this, despite being so being so openly insubordinate to the management and all his other antics, on account of the fact that he runs stock and builds displays better than anyone. Somewhat overlaps with Bunny-Ears Lawyer. The one time Stuart actually tried to fire Cooper, Lunker practically threatened him. Stuart was visibly shaken.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_64b42bc4	type	Christmas Creep
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_64b42bc4	comment	Christmas Creep: This being a comic about retail, there are a lot of examples: A strip in October 2015 featured Cooper looking at a Halloween display on one side of the store and a Christmas display on the other, and commenting that Tim Burton was ahead of his time. (As mentioned below, it was this sort of thing that actually gave him the idea.) Christmas stuff being put out in September is a recurring plot. Every year the customers are surprised by that. One year Cooper and Donnie find Christmas ornaments in their shipment...in May. Donnie begs for it to be a mistake. Cooper exploits this trope once by using leftover Christmas wreaths to pretend to build a display in the middle of the summer just to see customers' heads explode. Not only does Stuart actively encourage this trope, he tried to make Easter a second Christmas shopping season since Christmas is when Grumbel's is at its most profitable. He's also given out Christmas flyers and candy canes on Halloween (prompting the kids to egg his house) and openly disdains holidays that aren't retailer-friendly. Helping Stuart (and not helping the others) is that corporate encourages pushing the Christmas Creep. The managers meeting that happens in June always discusses Christmas, they've encouraged store managers to play Christmas music starting October 1 (which Stuart made mandatory in his district) and sent a sign reminding people that it's time to think about Christmas in August (which promptly got torn up by customers). Marla, for her part, resists pushing the Christmas Creep as much as she can, even saying one year she flat out refuses to play Christmas music in October unless corporate mandates it. (Cooper quips that that mandate probably isn't too far off.) While Christmas is the most obvious, it's not like the other holidays are exempt. One year on February 9 a Valentine's display changed over to an Easter display in the amount of time it took a customer to look at her phone. Another year Donnie noted that the Easter stuff had been out since the day after Christmas. Cooper claims that the Christmas Creep occurred because a boy wished to a genie that Christmas be four months long (because his father was the CEO of a department store chain) and then threw the lamp in a volcano so no one could undo it. It should be noted that all of this is to the detriment of Thanksgiving, which may as well not exist to Grumbel's management. (Stuart once even said the concept of Thanksgiving was obsolete and these days Thanksgiving only served to kick off Christmas season.) One year, when a customer asked if Grumbel's had anything for Thanksgiving, Val's only answer was 'a six hour shift'. Another year they finally let one Thanksgiving decoration be sold in their stores...and that was only because the turkey was wearing a Santa suit.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_680f950	type	Gilligan Cut
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_680f950	comment	Gilligan Cut: Stuart is admonishing Cooper for giving out his manager code to all cashiers in a going-out-of-business store, Cooper defends himself saying that he did it because corporate didn't update the discounts for the store, but Stuart respond that their mistake won't make them lose money unlike Cooper's, cut to Marla's store, which is still in business, giving discounts to all products.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_69204ab8	type	Hired for Their Looks
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_69204ab8	comment	Hired for Their Looks: Courtney was hired solely for her looks and tends to take lots of "sick days" sometimes showing up at the mall to shop on said days looking perfectly healthy. But Stuart refuses to fire her.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_6add177d	type	Puff of Logic
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_6add177d	comment	Puff of Logic: In this strip Lunker built a "leaning tower of boxes" and says it is held up by suspension of disbelief. Cooper says that's impossible, and immediatly all the boxes fall on top of him.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_6b05b601	type	Jerkass Has a Point
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_6b05b601	comment	Jerkass Has a Point: Stuart is a condescending and somewhat misogynistic district manager who always undermines his employees, but he was in the right when he chewed Marla out for letting her emotions get to her and firing Josh on the spot, rather than letting him work out the two weeks notice he originally gave her. As Stuart coldly tells Marla that covering the assistant's workload for the next few weeks is now her problem since it's her fault for firing him, she expresses her dismay that he's actually right. A storyline from November 2016 featured Val intimidating a new employee for making her look bad to Brice, leading him to work not as hard. Brice immediately catches on and confronts Val, pointing out that what she did just made her look worse. This was reinforced when Marla, whom Brice often clashed with, agreed that it's unacceptable; even Brice was shocked that Marla (reluctantly) sided with him. A 2017 storyline has Keith getting revenge on Cooper for having him arrested years ago by making sure he keeps his job at Grumbel's, pointing out that even though he openly hates working there, he has very little ambition to find a new opportunity. At least in the early years, Stuart's attitude towards Cooper was justified when you consider that he goofed around a lot, not to mention all the pranks he pulled at every given opportunity (while Stuart is Cooper's favorite target, in the early years he had no qualms about pranking other employees as well, especially new hires). Marla even sided with Stuart on a few occasions.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_6bda9a30	type	Meaningful Name
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_6bda9a30	comment	Meaningful Name: It doesn't seem to be a coincidence that Marla named her daughter Fiona, which just happened to be the name of the little girl who made her realise that she wanted children.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_6d7026fa	type	Punny Name
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_6d7026fa	comment	Punny Name: One strip had Cooper wearing a fake name-tag that read "Stu Artizajoke" (Stuart is a joke). When Stuart confronted him about it, Cooper said it sounded Slavic. Another strip featured a poorly-disguised Mina being interviewed for a job by Marla, who went by "Wendy U. Tinkle" (when do you tinkle). Marla didn't buy it.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_6d9bc945	type	Babies Ever After
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_6d9bc945	comment	Babies Ever After: Marla gives birth to daughter Fiona in the strips from Easter weekend of 2012.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_6edc54d5	type	Here We Go Again!
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_6edc54d5	comment	Here We Go Again!: A Dollar Admiral will be moving into what was the Grumbel's space, as shown in the final strip.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_728298ef	type	Vandalism Backfire
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_728298ef	comment	Vandalism Backfire: An early Halloween arc ended with Cooper saying he pranked Stuart by covering his car with silly strings, only to be told by Val that Stuart left hours ago (it was never revealed whose car Cooper vandalized).
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_754df088	type	Put on a Bus
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_754df088	comment	Put on a Bus: Several early characters, such as Jerry (who left twice), Courtney, Keith Sanzen, and Josh, all left Grumbel's for various reasons and haven't appeared in years. Can be considered Truth in Television, since there's usually a high turnover rate in retail jobs. Arthur, who replaced Josh in 2014, left the strip two years later when he got a new job. Gus, who was Cooper and Lunker's manager at the Gas-We-Got convenience store, last appeared in 2012. As both quit working at the store (Lunker quit a year before Cooper did), the character was no longer needed. Brice occasionally appeared after he left Grumbel's (a whole storyline was dedicated to him realizing how much worse he has it under Mina), but after he ate humble pie and then took a job as a Grumbel's manager in New Hampshire, he officially joined the bus riders. In Keith's case, the bus came back several times.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_762b9223	type	Played for Laughs
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_762b9223	comment	Played for Laughs in one strip where Stuart wishes someone a Merry Christmas, and then changes it to Happy Holidays. He's grumbling in his head about how politically correct society is today, while the customer is baffled he said Merry Christmas because it's the second day of October.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_77230aa3	type	Jenny's Number
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_77230aa3	comment	Jenny's Number: In one strip, a guy asks a female cashier for her number; to which she replies, "867-5309. My name is Jenny."
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_78270847	type	Curse Cut Short
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_78270847	comment	Curse Cut Short: When Marla found out that Josh lied about getting a job offer from another store in order to get himself a raise, she only managed to say "that son of a—" before another character interrupted her.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_786bf97f	type	Real Life Writes the Plot
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_786bf97f	comment	Real Life Writes the Plot: To some extent; the comic is based on Feuti's own real experiences in the retail world. As the strip came to an end, the prevalent Retail Apocalypse of major retail chains tanking created the logical ending for the strip with Grumbel's going out of business as well. The bonus strip set at Dollar Admiral incorporates many of the changes seen in retail establishments due to the COVID-19 pandemic (namely, masks and barriers between cashiers and customers).
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_7a2d9301	type	Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_7a2d9301	comment	Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: In one strip Crystal asks what she must tell any applicant if they ask how much they pay, Marla out of nowhere yells "MINIMUM WAGE! HIYAA! WHIP-PISH!". Marla then tries to explain that it is a song of They Might Be Giants, but Crystal only asks who might be giants. Stuart is so out of touch with pop culture that he never even realized that Cooper shuffled in a "Weird Al" Yankovic cd into the store music. He also once asked (when Marla suggested that the music that played in teen apparel could be updated) if kids still liked 'that Clay Aiken fellow'. It's probably telling that his choice of music is Glenn Miller.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_7a97b7f4	type	Morning Sickness
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_7a97b7f4	comment	Morning Sickness: Marla is shown to be suffering from extremely bad sickness all day long during the first several weeks of her pregnancy.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_7eb73553	type	Bullying a Dragon
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_7eb73553	comment	Bullying a Dragon: In the February 25th, 2018 strip, a particularly unreasonable customer demands that Marla accepts a return, or she will be forced to do battle with her. Turns out Marla was more than prepared.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_805deb6e	type	Small Role, Big Impact
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_805deb6e	comment	Small Role, Big Impact: Lara Silver only appears in two story arcs (and one of those appearances is only by phone) but her presence leads to the two biggest changes in Retail's storyline: the promotion of Marla to store manager, and the beginning of the end of Grumbel's with the first wave of store closures. Kate, the store manager at another Grumbel's, only appears on the phone in a few strips, but her asking Marla if she heard the rumors about Grumbel's closing some stores kicks off the story arc that leads to the end of Grumbel's. Another nameless store manager appears in literally one strip, but him inadvertently revealing that a store that has less volume than Marla's has a stockroom supervisor leads to Cooper's promotion.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_80d55f20	type	Cuteness Proximity
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_80d55f20	comment	Cuteness Proximity: Stuart, believe it or not, when he saw Marla's baby.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_83ea0763	type	Rouge Angles of Satin
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_83ea0763	comment	Rouge Angles of Satin: Because much of the revived archive was built with Feuti's first drafts of strips, there were initially many spelling and grammatical errors. While many of them were pointed out and fixed at Feuti's behest, a few still remain because the fans decided it'd be funnier to keep the error, such as this strip, in which 'bankrupt' is misspelled, but since it's said while Marla is mocking Stuart, fans felt that it should stay as it was.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8409a385	type	Exactly What It Says on the Tin
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8409a385	comment	Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Retail is a strip about... retail.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8504b817	type	Where the Hell Is Springfield?
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8504b817	comment	Where the Hell Is Springfield?: The exact location of Grumbel's is never given, but one strip describes a "three-hour drive to New Hampshire," suggesting it's somewhere on the east coast. Based on other strips, evidence points to Massachusetts, which is where the cartoonist lives. Also, the district manager Jerry was mentioned to be in charge of the New England district. (Of course, a later strip says that Grumbel's added Georgia to the New England district...) Massachusetts is likely, based on the mall name, or possibly Rhode Island. Also, an early strip indicates that they're close to Boston (the fifth panel is strongly suggestive of a view up the Charles from Boston Harbor).note The panel could conceivably be Providence viewed up the Providence River from Narragansett Bay, although the presence of tall buildings on the right side of the panel leans more toward Cambridge than College Hill. On the other hand, another strip mentions "D.C.Y.F.", standing for "Department of Children, Youth, and Families", which is what Rhode Island calls the department its New England neighbors all just call the "D.C.F." (same, but without "Youth"). The F.A.Q. confirmed it was in New England, but didn't go into more detail than that. One strip also has Marla translating old New England slang for another employee.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_862ea4c1	type	Easily-Overheard Conversation
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_862ea4c1	comment	Easily-Overheard Conversation: Happens frequently. This especially played a role during a storyline where Josh found out Cooper and Val are dating, where one character overheard another so many times that Cooper lampshaded its overuse.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8669e8e2	type	It's the Principle of the Thing
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8669e8e2	comment	It's the Principle of the Thing: In this strip Cooper says he refuses to sign the new employee handbook because it is unacceptable. As an example he points out to a provision that any tattoo must be covered by clothing and that he doens't want "the man" to tell him what to do. Stuart points out he doens't even have a tattoo, but he just says he might plan on getting one.
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Retail (Comic Strip) / int_86e1653c	type	Working Through the Cold
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_86e1653c	comment	Working Through the Cold: A strip comparing the life of the office drone and retail drone notes that, while the office drone gets to stay home when sick, the retail worker will just have to come in and be more miserable than usual.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_86e1653c	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_86e1653c	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_86e1653c
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8741b74	type	Playing with a Trope
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8741b74	comment	Exploited...by defying? One arc had Josh overhearing Marla and Val talking about the latter taking vacations with Cooper. Josh snitched to Stuart but the guys had time to prepare and asked an outside guy to be "Val's boyfriend" called "Rick Cooper", to make it seem like a misunderstanding.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8741b74	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8741b74	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8741b74
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_875615dd	type	Truth in Television
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_875615dd	comment	Truth in Television: Series creator Norm Feuti worked in retail for fifteen years. Many of the things that happen to the employees at Grumbel's have actually happened to him. And if you start working in retail, they'll happen to you as well.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_875615dd	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_875615dd	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_875615dd
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8767b1f3	type	Black-and-Gray Morality
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8767b1f3	comment	Black-and-Gray Morality: Grumbel's is not a fun place to work with all their dumb rules and worse higher-ups. And yet, from what we have seen, it is still a better place to be. Delman's is run by Mina in a cut-throat manner, which apparently is not a problem for corporate. Abersnobby and Finch is also said to have rules even more ridiculous than Grumbel's.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8767b1f3	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8767b1f3	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8767b1f3
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8797239c	type	Bait-and-Switch
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8797239c	comment	Bait-and-Switch In one strip, Val is discussing Marla's plan for her wedding night. She mentions the reception and then the honeymoon, saying she will experience something for the first time ever. Val seems incredulous about it, but turns out she is talking about getting two consecutive weeks of paid vacation time. Cooper asking Crystal help to find Sanzen. She was being cryptic and told Cooper to write the name on a piece of paper and get her 50 dollars. Due to her psychic schtick, it seemed magic would be involved. Turns out she was just going to bribe a friend at the DMV to get the information.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8797239c	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8797239c	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8797239c
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_89d001bf	type	Do Wrong, Right
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_89d001bf	comment	Do Wrong, Right: Cooper is unimpressed with the laziness of the Christmas help one year because they're not even creative in their slacking off.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_89d001bf	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_89d001bf	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_89d001bf
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8ac90da4	type	Retail Riot
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8ac90da4	comment	Retail Riot: Being a strip about retail, goes without saying. Mostly during black Friday when we see the characters in preparation for the eventual chaos. Or later during Christmas season and all parents are fighting to get the latest "cool toy" for their kids.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8ac90da4	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8ac90da4	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8ac90da4
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8c55e307	type	Ultimate Job Security
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8c55e307	comment	Ultimate Job Security: Cooper seems to have this, despite being so being so openly insubordinate to the management and all his other antics, on account of the fact that he runs stock and builds displays better than anyone. Somewhat overlaps with Bunny-Ears Lawyer. The one time Stuart actually tried to fire Cooper, Lunker practically threatened him. Stuart was visibly shaken. For a long time, Courtney. She was rude to customers, incompetent, and always did her job improperly. This trope was eventually subverted when Marla fired her after getting promoted to store manager.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8c55e307	featureApplicability	-0.3
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8c55e307	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8c55e307
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8cbd311b	type	Good Angel, Bad Angel
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8cbd311b	comment	Good Angel, Bad Angel: One strip has Marla's bad angel telling her to skip work, and her good angel saying that would be dishonest, and force someone else to take over her job. When the bad angel points out this would be Stuart, the good angel concedes the point.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8cbd311b	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8cbd311b	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8cbd311b
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8d0785d5	type	Didn't Think This Through
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8d0785d5	comment	Didn't Think This Through: When Marla went on vacation, Val and Cooper pushed Josh to help out Stuart in order to prevent him from getting Val to do it. It wasn't until Marla came back that they realized this would just make Stuart consider making Josh his new assistant manager.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8d0785d5	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8d0785d5	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_8d0785d5
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_90e31482	type	Laser-Guided Karma
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_90e31482	comment	Laser-Guided Karma: In a storyline where Marla takes a vacation, Josh takes over for her and Stuart abuses his Yes-Man mentality to the point of even having him wash his hubcaps. When Marla comes back, Stuart lords it over her that he intends to fire her and replace her with Josh... only to learn that Josh can't work management hours, and thus Stuart is forced to wash Marla's hubcaps to keep her from quitting.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_90e31482	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_90e31482	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_90e31482
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_91e8bb36	type	Trivially Obvious
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_91e8bb36	comment	Trivially Obvious: Happened during some interviews. When Marla asked one applicant why she wants to work in Grumbel's, she says she loves how Grumbel's sells things. And another interviewee that Marla asks to name one good thing about working at Burger Dude, says that they pay him money to work there.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_91e8bb36	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_91e8bb36	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_91e8bb36
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9230c618	type	Hypocrisy Nod
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9230c618	comment	Hypocrisy Nod: One storyline had Marla making her assistant Crystal do all the employee evaluation because she didn't want to do it, something Stuart did to Marla when she was his assistant. Marla later acknowledged that it was hypocritical of her to do this, since she hated it when Stuart pulled this on her.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9230c618	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9230c618	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9230c618
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_927b2f11	type	The Bus Came Back
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_927b2f11	comment	In Keith's case, the bus came back several times.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_927b2f11	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_927b2f11	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_927b2f11
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_95bca4c9	type	Tuckerization
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_95bca4c9	comment	Tuckerization: Keith Sanzen was named after a real person, a fan of the strip who won a contest on Cooper's blog. One 2008 strip featured an appearance of a character named Charles Brubaker, who is a real person. Nowadays he's a cartoonist on his own right with a comic of his own.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_95bca4c9	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_95bca4c9	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_95bca4c9
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_973d220f	type	Never My Fault
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_973d220f	comment	Never My Fault: Probably Stuart's single most annoying trait is his pathological inability to take responsibility for anything bad, instead blaming Marla. This habit gets worse when he's promoted to DM. And of course he gets away with it, because he's always one step higher than Marla on the Grumbel's food chain.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_973d220f	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_973d220f	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_973d220f
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_98576799	type	Throw the Dog a Bone
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_98576799	comment	Throw the Dog a Bone: Cooper finally wins the Halloween costume contest after several years. Although it turned out somebody else won, but Marla bribed him into letting her give the prize to Cooper.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_98576799	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_98576799	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_98576799
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_98aaf983	type	Comically Small Bribe
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_98aaf983	comment	Comically Small Bribe: Subverted in one strip where it looked like a customer was bribing Donnie with a penny to let him enter the closed store while he was on door duty, only to show that it was so he can throw it at his eye, distracting him long enough to sneak inside.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_98aaf983	featureApplicability	-0.3
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_98aaf983	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_98aaf983
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9ae0cca6	type	Character Blog
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9ae0cca6	comment	Character Blog: The now-defunct Cooper's Retail Blog, which sadly was discontinued due to time constraints — and according to Feuti, he lost the original material.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9ae0cca6	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9ae0cca6	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9ae0cca6
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9b06e314	type	Greater-Scope Villain
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9b06e314	comment	Greater-Scope Villain: The corporate higher-ups at Grumbel's — aside from the CEO, who made one or two appearances showcasing The Chain of Harm, these unseen assholes were the ones responsible for much of the misery Marla and the others have to go through; naturally, they end the strip with no consequences and huge paydays as Grumbel's finally collapses.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9b06e314	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9b06e314	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9b06e314
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9f85b457	type	What Are Records?
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9f85b457	comment	What Are Records?: Subverted in one strip, where a customer asks a worker if there's a music store, with the worker responding there's a store that sells vinyl records nearby. The customer then asks if they sell CDs, with the worker asking why they would sell an outdated media format like that. note Around the time the strip ran, vinyl records were experiencing a resurgence in popularity.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9f85b457	featureApplicability	-0.3
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9f85b457	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9f85b457
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9f970427	type	Secret-Keeper
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9f970427	comment	Secret-Keeper: Pretty much everyone at the Grumbel's store knows about Val and Cooper's relationship, and go to great lengths to make sure Stuart (who wouldn't hesitate to fire Cooper for violating the 'no workplace relationships' rule) never finds out. In the end, while Stuart does eventually find out Cooper got married, he never finds out it was to Val.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9f970427	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9f970427	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_9f970427
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a119b588	type	Hey, You!
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a119b588	comment	Hey, You!: How some of the ruder customers address the Grumbel's staff. Often accompanied by whistling and a fingersnap.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a119b588	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a119b588	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a119b588
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a24670a4	type	Benevolent Boss
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a24670a4	comment	Benevolent Boss: Marla is shown as a very competent, level-headed manager who is consistently frustrated by her higher-ups. In a way, Cooper and Lunker's boss at the convenience store, even saying that the two are the best employees the store ever had (for not stealing anything). But that may be because of his low standards. Cooper himself temporarily became one of these when he was put in charge of the closing South Heights store.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a24670a4	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a24670a4	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a24670a4
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a39d6056	type	Nice to the Waiter
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a39d6056	comment	Nice to the Waiter: Most of the people who works on the floor at Grumbel's is typically nice to other retail workers. Marla has been shown defend other retails workers when being mistreated by other customers.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a39d6056	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a39d6056	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a39d6056
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a60c1d02	type	TokenShipping
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a60c1d02	comment	Token Shipping: Averted with Val and Cooper, but played with in a sequence where Cooper is at risk of getting fired by Stuart because of a "no workplace romance" policy. Cooper solves this by introducing Stuart to Val's fake boyfriend, a black guy named Cooper.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a60c1d02	featureApplicability	-1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a60c1d02	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a60c1d02
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a6e8221e	type	Status Quo Is God
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a6e8221e	comment	Status Quo is God: Grumbel's employees occasionally come up with great ideas to make the store run better... only to have them shot down by the management. Also, if any higher-ups turn out to be nice people, they typically don't last long; the old Jerkass managers come back all too quickly. Any rule changes management does implement end up reverted back to what it was before pretty quickly because customers complain.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a6e8221e	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a6e8221e	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a6e8221e
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a70223	type	Karma Houdini
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a70223	comment	Karma Houdini: This can apply to multiple characters, but special mention goes to Jerry, who never did get what he deserved for making Marla's life hell. Even Stuart gets occasional comeuppances, including the end when apparently everyone outside of Crystal (who has been advised by Marla of what salary to demand to replace her as Store Manager) and Lunker quits, leaving Stuart high and dry largely without experienced staff to handle the liquidation. Discussed when Marla fired Josh. While Val thinks Josh will eventually get what's coming for him, Marla believes that, in the long run, he won't suffer any long-lasting consequences for all the jerkass behavior she had to endure.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a70223	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a70223	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a70223
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7850fbf	type	Only Known by Their Nickname
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7850fbf	comment	Only Known by Their Nickname: Lunker's real name, Mel, is only mentioned a few times. A number of recurring customers are referred to only by nicknames coined by the staff based on their obnoxious habits, e.g. Creepy Guy.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7850fbf	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7850fbf	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7850fbf
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7c91a10	type	Meaningless Villain Victory
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7c91a10	comment	Meaningless Villain Victory: Josh initially got away with lying about a job offer to secure a raise, but his days were numbered when Marla found out and told Stuart, who was initially his biggest supporter. With Marla making plans to fire him, and Stuart no longer protecting him, he was forced to quickly find a new job and leave while he was still ahead.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7c91a10	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7c91a10	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7c91a10
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7fa2fa4	type	Crossing the Burnt Bridge
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7fa2fa4	comment	Crossing the Burnt Bridge: Brice was happy to quit Grumbel's and accept a job under Mina at Delman's until he noticed the toxic and cut-throat enviroment there. When he encountered Marla later, the first thing he asked is if she already hired a new assistant. Played a bit further later since the normal pleading was done without the burning party, Marla was trying to convince Stuart to give Brice a second chance.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7fa2fa4	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7fa2fa4	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_a7fa2fa4
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aa5b4f2c	type	Wedding Episode
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aa5b4f2c	comment	Wedding Episode: Scott and Marla had theirs in June 2011, followed by a honeymoon in Bermuda.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aa5b4f2c	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aa5b4f2c	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aa5b4f2c
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aabe3e78	type	Secret Santa
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aabe3e78	comment	Secret Santa: Early in the strip had Marla organizing a Secret Santa with the employees. She ends up getting Stuart's name, much to her dismay. The following year had Cooper rigging it so that everyone pulled out his name. Needless to say, they were all not happy about it.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aabe3e78	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aabe3e78	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aabe3e78
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_abc28948	type	Straw Misogynist
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_abc28948	comment	Straw Misogynist: As the strips went by the district manager Jerry displayed this trope more and more, especially evident in how he treats Marla. Became even more magnified when he told Stuart that if the inventory count went poorly, he'd be forced to replace him with Marla because, as a woman, they can get away with paying her less.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_abc28948	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_abc28948	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_abc28948
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_abc55125	type	Character Filibuster
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_abc55125	comment	Character Filibuster: Marla rants about the insanity of retail life a lot. She even has a long manifesto on the subject.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_abc55125	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_abc55125	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_abc55125
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_add931af	type	I Choose to Stay
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_add931af	comment	I Choose to Stay: Marla recommends that Crystal stay with Grumbel's through the liquidation, long enough to be able to put 'store manager' on her resume. Lunker also chooses to stay at Grumbel's to help Crystal through it.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_add931af	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_add931af	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_add931af
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ae3d6438	type	Deadpan Snarker
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ae3d6438	comment	Deadpan Snarker: Marla, Cooper, and Val.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ae3d6438	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ae3d6438	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ae3d6438
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aed65980	type	All for Nothing
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aed65980	comment	All for Nothing: Part of the Bittersweet Ending. In the end, Grumbel's closes down, and everyone who worked in the store has nothing to show for it. At the very least, most of the main characters are shown to be moving on to better things, like Marla finally getting an office job that pays her twice what she made at Grumbel's. But whatever struggles they went through at Grumbel's itself were all meaningless.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aed65980	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aed65980	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_aed65980
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_af616e40	type	Accidental Misnaming
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_af616e40	comment	Accidental Misnaming: One of the running gags was that the district manager Jerry could never remember Marla's name, often calling her "Darla." Eventually, it was revealed that he only pretended to not know her name. After he was called out on this, Jerry started calling her by her real name. This also happens with Crystal and Stuart, with Stuart calling her "Cheryl." Even when she calls him up and says her name, Stuart has no idea who it is until she says "Cheryl." It is unclear if Stuart is like Jerry with him pretending to not know her name.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_af616e40	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_af616e40	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_af616e40
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_afdcce7e	type	Instant Birth: Just Add Labor!
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_afdcce7e	comment	Instant Birth: Just Add Labor!: Averted: when Marla's water breaks she just calmly says that she needs to call Scott to take her to the hospital and doesn't need an ambulance. Fiona is later shown already born three strips later. Lampshaded in this dialogue:
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_afdcce7e	featureApplicability	-1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_afdcce7e	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_afdcce7e
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b1dde8fd	type	Loophole Abuse
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b1dde8fd	comment	Loophole Abuse: Stuart once ordered Marla to hang up a poster she found condescending in the break room. So she hung it up behind the vending machine. Stuart didn't specify where in the break room. Generally speaking, if the employees can find a loophole in order to get out of idiotic corporate regulations, they will use it. Cooper once said that he skims through the employee handbook just for this purpose. Customers are shown using this as well, most notably the "Coupon Abuser".
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b1dde8fd	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b1dde8fd	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b1dde8fd
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b1ed0e0c	type	Rank Up
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b1ed0e0c	comment	Rank Up: In spring 2012, Stuart was offered a promotion to district manager, and urged corporate to promote Marla to store manager (so he wouldn't appear as misogynistic as Jerry). He even got them to time the promotion to coincide with her return from maternity leave. To Stuart's horror, Marla immediately promoted Cooper to stockroom supervisor. Happened to Keith Sanzen, albeit off-panel. In 2014, he was a supervisor for EGRGIS. When he reappeared three years later, he somehow got promoted to Senior Vice-President. In May 2019, it was revealed that Warren got promoted to Chief Security Officer at the mall, explaining why he is rarely seen in the strip these days.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b1ed0e0c	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b1ed0e0c	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b1ed0e0c
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b53077b3	type	Take That!
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b53077b3	comment	Take That!: One storyline is a potshot at the book Nickel and Dimed, a book about the lives of the working poor which was criticized for the middle class writerâ€™s Condescending Compassion and having access to resources her subjects didnâ€™t have. Marla is approached by a woman who wants a job at Grumbelâ€™s, intending to write about it. Marla doesnâ€™t like the idea and unsuccessfully tries to convince her to not do it. It ends with Marla sending her to Delmanâ€™s.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b53077b3	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b53077b3	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b53077b3
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b593baf1	type	Author Filibuster
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b593baf1	comment	Author Filibuster: The "Cooper gets an appendectomy, then gets hit with the bill" arc (August-September 2008) is Feuti's two cents on the issue of healthcare (a hot topic back then, considering that a certain presidential candidate was promising to do something about it).
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b593baf1	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b593baf1	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b593baf1
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b6b6355f	type	Politeness Judo
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b6b6355f	comment	Politeness Judo: This strip has a shoplifter faking being a costumer by acting really polite and just asking for a reasonable request to three different cashiers so they never questioned him.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b6b6355f	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b6b6355f	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b6b6355f
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b6db5695	type	Political Overcorrectness
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b6db5695	comment	Political Overcorrectness: In a November 2013 storyline, Grumbel's flyers are listing the Christmas trees as "holiday trees". Marla and the staff immediately panic because they know the reactions they are going to get. Turns out that this wasn't even done deliberately; it was a proofreading error. They just can't win with holiday greetings either. If they say 'Merry Christmas' someone gets offended. If they say 'Happy Holidays' someone gets offended. If they don't say anything at all someone gets offended. Marla told a couple of employees to say whatever they wanted, because no matter what, "anger will get to you eventually." Played for Laughs in one strip where Stuart wishes someone a Merry Christmas, and then changes it to Happy Holidays. He's grumbling in his head about how politically correct society is today, while the customer is baffled he said Merry Christmas because it's the second day of October.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b6db5695	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b6db5695	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b6db5695
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b7475a74	type	Bothering by the Book
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b7475a74	comment	Bothering by the Book: Occasionally done by Cooper. One early strip showed Cooper grilling up food outside the mall, and when Stuart objects he points out that the rule book doesn't forbid it. Another strip had Josh writing up Cooper for a rule violation, only for Cooper to point out that he clocked out, and that the rule book forbids management from writing up any employees who's not on the clock.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b7475a74	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b7475a74	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b7475a74
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b8dce780	type	Short-Distance Phone Call
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b8dce780	comment	Short-Distance Phone Call: An accidental example in one strip where a customer called Marla to complain about long checkout lines.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b8dce780	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b8dce780	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_b8dce780
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_bdbfd01c	type	Perfectly Cromulent Word
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_bdbfd01c	comment	Perfectly Cromulent Word: In this strip Cooper says that work has been "Benambling", and mocks Josh for not knowing what it means. He responds that he simply didn't hear him and actually knows what it is. Then Cooper talks with Val and confirms it's just a made-up word while we see Josh in the background already using it in conversation with Marla.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_bdbfd01c	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_bdbfd01c	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_bdbfd01c
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_be009bbc	type	Alliterative Name
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_be009bbc	comment	Alliterative Name: Marla Masters, Cooper Costello, Stuart Suchet
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_be009bbc	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_be009bbc	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_be009bbc
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_bec0417c	type	Happily Married
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_bec0417c	comment	Cooper and Val too. Not only are they Happily Married by the end, Cooper manages to find a better paying job and quits Grumbel's before it closes. Not only that, but the job pays well enough that Val can write full time, giving them both fulfillment.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_bec0417c	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_bec0417c	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_bec0417c
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c0d598fe	type	Evil Gloating
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c0d598fe	comment	Evil Gloating: Defied in this strip. Cooper went to let his arch-enemy Sanzen know he already knows he has been manipulating the store's inventory. After a moment of silence Sanzen asks if this is the part where he would supposedly reveal his plan in detail. And Cooper just says that's what he was hoping for.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c0d598fe	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c0d598fe	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c0d598fe
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c335b9ec	type	Irony
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c335b9ec	comment	Irony: For years Cooper expressed a desire to be there when Grumbel's shuts down so he could bask in the schadenfreude. Now that Grumbel's is closing, Cooper won't be there because he already took another job.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c335b9ec	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c335b9ec	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c335b9ec
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c33ba0a8	type	Chuck Cunningham Syndrome
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c33ba0a8	comment	Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: The strip's first year had a character named Victor, an elderly man who took a job at Grumbel's. He only made a few appearances before he disappeared without explanation. "Crazy Hat Lady", a semi-recurring customer who appeared on and off during the strip's early years. There's a four-year gap between her last two appearances (2011 and 2015). "Creepy Guy" also disappeared after a few years. Lampshaded by Val in a 2015 strip. Lana, a Christmas help who got promoted to regular employment, hasn't appeared since June 2013. Marla's mom hasn't appeared in years.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c33ba0a8	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c33ba0a8	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c33ba0a8
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c75df49a	type	Shout-Out
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c75df49a	comment	Shout-Out: Near the end of the strip, as the employees who are leaving are wondering what will become of those who stay for the liquidation, Donnie guesses that Lunker will get to "Sail away on the last ship with Frodo."
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c75df49a	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c75df49a	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_c75df49a
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ca3a6dbd	type	Informed Ability
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ca3a6dbd	comment	Informed Ability: Val's writing. Cooper tells her father that it's better than a lot of published stuff, but the only instance of it we've seen is the above-mentioned Halloween story, and the other characters weren't too impressed by the quality.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ca3a6dbd	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ca3a6dbd	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ca3a6dbd
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_cbe3d017	type	Damned by Faint Praise
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_cbe3d017	comment	Damned by Faint Praise: How Lana describes working for Grumbel's:
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_cbe3d017	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_cbe3d017	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_cbe3d017
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_cf92fea8	type	Cassandra Truth
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_cf92fea8	comment	Cassandra Truth: Josh overhears Val and Marla discussing Val's plans to go to Disney World with Cooper. Because their relationship is against Grumbel's policy, he goes over Marla's head to report them all to Stuart, but Amber catches wind of it and alerts Cooper in time. Cooper then pulls off a clever stunt to make it look like Josh is Crying Wolf.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_cf92fea8	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_cf92fea8	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_cf92fea8
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d397657d	type	Hoist by His Own Petard
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d397657d	comment	Hoist by His Own Petard: One storyline has Stuart delegating the job of doing presentation to Marla in order to get out of doing it. Marla gets even by doing the same thing and delegating Cooper to do it (complete with costumes). The plan works and Stuart vows to never let her do any presentations again. Wanting to get revenge on Marla for getting him in trouble with Connie (the district manager at the time), Stuart purposely doesn't tell her that they have a new D.M., wanting to make her look bad. It only half-works; while Marla does make a bad first impression, the new D.M. ended up blaming Stuart for it, saying that he should have told her that he'd be coming. When she fires Josh after learning about some shenanigans he pulled to secure a raise. He's already put in notice, but they aren't scheduled to hire a replacement for a few weeks. Stuart won't let her move up the time frame, chiding her for letting her temper get the better of her and forcing her to deal with the increased workload for the interim.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d397657d	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d397657d	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d397657d
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d39e327f	type	What the Hell, Hero?
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d39e327f	comment	A storyline from November 2016 featured Val intimidating a new employee for making her look bad to Brice, leading him to work not as hard. Brice immediately catches on and confronts Val, pointing out that what she did just made her look worse. This was reinforced when Marla, whom Brice often clashed with, agreed that it's unacceptable; even Brice was shocked that Marla (reluctantly) sided with him.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d39e327f	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d39e327f	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d39e327f
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d3a4af1e	type	Sympathy for the Devil
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d3a4af1e	comment	Sympathy for the Devil: Marla never liked their third district manager, Gary. But when she heard the cut-throat manner corporate got rid of him, she actually complained on how unfair that was.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d3a4af1e	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d3a4af1e	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d3a4af1e
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d4fbe5c4	type	Delegation Relay
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d4fbe5c4	comment	Delegation Relay: In this strip Alan tells Marla that a customer wants to talk with a manager. She asks if the customer meant a manager or the manager. When Alan says he doesn't remember, Marla tells him to go with Stuart "just in case." When Alan goes to Stuart to tell him, Stuart immediatly asks if the customer meant the manager or a manager.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d4fbe5c4	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d4fbe5c4	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d4fbe5c4
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d9cf40fa	type	Screw This, I'm Outta Here
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d9cf40fa	comment	Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Happens in the end of the strip's run. After Grumbel's announced they are going bankrupt, Marla, Cooper, Val, and most of the staff opted to get new jobs and leave without staying behind for liquidation. Only Crystal and Lunker stayed behind and Crystal had been advised by Marla of what demands she should make of Stuart in order to replace her.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d9cf40fa	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d9cf40fa	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d9cf40fa
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d9fe8277	type	I'm Standing Right Here
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d9fe8277	comment	I'm Standing Right Here: One strip showed Marla, Cooper, and Val discussing trying to get rid of then-recent employee Josh, right in front of him. One storyline had Marla's car breaking down when she and Stuart were on their way to a meeting, forcing Stuart to bribe Cooper so he'll pick them up. When Marla asked if he would have left her stranded if Stuart refused, Cooper said he would've just come and picked up Marla, leaving Stuart behind. Stuart protests that he can hear him, to which Cooper replies with a disinterested "So?". A more benevolent example happens when Marla is training an assistant manager for a different store, which Amber gets a crush on. A customer wants a price match, and she pages for the assistant manager to arrive to the register to do it... And Marla, THE manager, standing just by, and Amber saying she did it because he might need the training.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d9fe8277	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d9fe8277	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_d9fe8277
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dc3b74bc	type	Pointy-Haired Boss
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dc3b74bc	comment	Pointy-Haired Boss: Stuart, who insists on following every corporate rule to the letter, even if the rules are impossible or self-contradicting.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dc3b74bc	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dc3b74bc	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dc3b74bc
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dca70c44	type	Reasonable Authority Figure
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dca70c44	comment	Reasonable Authority Figure: Marla once she becomes store manager. While she still must follow the stupid rules from Grumble's when mandated, she at least knows how to manage the store and her employees to at least be as efficient as possible. Connie, during her shot sting as district manager. She actually showed more empathy towards Marla, and called out Stuart on some really dumb decisions he made.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dca70c44	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dca70c44	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dca70c44
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dcaaab60	type	Old Friend
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dcaaab60	comment	Old Friend: Marla's current assistant manager, Crystal, was friends with Lunker when they were kids.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dcaaab60	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dcaaab60	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_dcaaab60
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e2d457	type	The Ditz
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e2d457	comment	The Ditz: Courtney, who is meant to parody all the incompetent people behind the register. It's noted that she regularly calls out sick, doesn't do her job when she does show up, and is rude when she can actually be bothered to so much as look at a customer. Her dream is to be a celebrity, and frequently acts like it, in that she considers herself far more important than anyone else.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e2d457	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e2d457	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e2d457
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e43c66bd	type	Art Evolution
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e43c66bd	comment	Art Evolution: The strip's art was more cartoonish in the early years, which got toned down as time went by. Stuart in particular had a longer head, which got more rounded in later years; Cooper's nickname for him, "Zucchini Head," makes much more sense when you look at the early strips.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e43c66bd	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e43c66bd	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e43c66bd
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e83f211c	type	O.O.C. Is Serious Business
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e83f211c	comment	Marla spent most of January 2020 suspecting that the future of Grumbel's is in doubt due to Stuart not checking in for weeks, and when he finally did he was indifferent to Marla not meeting her sales goals. Marla would later discover she was right to worry: Grumbel's is filing for bankruptcy, and Stuart knew all this time it was coming without telling any of his store managers.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e83f211c	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e83f211c	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e83f211c
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e9e35e8f	type	Exact Words
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e9e35e8f	comment	Exact Words: After Cooper is busted for parking his electric car in the stockroom, he specifically tells Marla that she won't see it there again. Marla's response is to note that the phrasing is suspicious, but she's going to choose to ignore it. Later, when Mina finds out Brice got a job offer for his own store, she says he better not give her a two weeks notice. He gives her two seconds notice.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e9e35e8f	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e9e35e8f	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_e9e35e8f
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ea2e9f2d	type	No Ending
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ea2e9f2d	comment	No Ending: While the fates of Marla, Cooper, and Val are explored (Marla and Cooper got new jobs, Val quits to become a full-time writer), the fates of the rest of the cast aren't explored other than that most of them opted to resign rather than stay behind for liquidation. The final strip shows a nameless mall worker taking down the Grumbel's sign while the space advertises that a Dollar Admiral store will be moving in soon, thus ending things on a sour but realistic note.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ea2e9f2d	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ea2e9f2d	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ea2e9f2d
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ea85d6ea	type	All Just a Dream
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ea85d6ea	comment	Cooper will never win the Halloween costume contest (legitimately). Furthermore, no one will ever appreciate his costumes. One year had a plot in which he dressed as a "normal" character instead of as a geek icon... everyone except him dressed as geeky characters instead. It turned out to be All Just a Dream.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ea85d6ea	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ea85d6ea	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ea85d6ea
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_eb8ec7c8	type	Jerkass
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_eb8ec7c8	comment	Jerkass: Several characters, most notably Stuart, Jerry, and Josh. Mina, the manager of Delman's, has also been described as "the most evil manager" by Amber, a sadly accurate statement. There are also most of the obnoxious customers who complain for any reason, especially the ones who refuse to recognise stated store policies or even the physical location of it.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_eb8ec7c8	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_eb8ec7c8	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_eb8ec7c8
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_edd102ba	type	Soul-Sucking Retail Job
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_edd102ba	comment	Soul-Sucking Retail Job: Grumbel's appears to give out these kinds of jobs exclusively, though it's not really the fault of the store manager Marla so much as the very idea is toxic. Grumbel's competitor Delman's is even more extreme, with a Bad Boss at every corner and workers who openly hate their jobs rather than simply snarking.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_edd102ba	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_edd102ba	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_edd102ba
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ee3ea61e	type	Fourth-Wall Mail Slot
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ee3ea61e	comment	Fourth-Wall Mail Slot: Attempted, but abandoned - the number in the barcode in the comic's logo was once a real number where readers could submit their retail stories, but as most Sunday papers omitted the title panel, nobody ever called the number and it was eventually disconnected.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ee3ea61e	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ee3ea61e	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ee3ea61e
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ee7a60e9	type	One-Steve Limit
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ee7a60e9	comment	One-Steve Limit: Exploited...by defying? One arc had Josh overhearing Marla and Val talking about the latter taking vacations with Cooper. Josh snitched to Stuart but the guys had time to prepare and asked an outside guy to be "Val's boyfriend" called "Rick Cooper", to make it seem like a misunderstanding. There have been two Fionas in the comic: a girl who got lost in Grumbel's, and Marla's daughter. The former might very well have influenced the name of the latter, as it was Marla watching over the first Fiona while waiting for her mother that got her to decide she wanted children.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ee7a60e9	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ee7a60e9	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ee7a60e9
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_eedee4d	type	The Starscream
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_eedee4d	comment	The Starscream: As much as Stuart idolized Jerry, he didn't hesitate to throw him under the bus when he realized his loyalty to Jerry might cost him the district manager position.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_eedee4d	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_eedee4d	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_eedee4d
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f15c2859	type	NO INDOOR VOICE
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f15c2859	comment	No Indoor Voice: Many of the customers communicate by shouting.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f15c2859	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f15c2859	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f15c2859
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f27ec906	type	Identical Stranger
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f27ec906	comment	Identical Stranger: Zoe, the barista, who looks exactly like Marla with blonde hair. Marla swears she doesn't see the resemblance, but at the same time is unnerved when Cooper starts dating the other woman.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f27ec906	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f27ec906	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f27ec906
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f538e4b	type	Asbestos-Free Cereal
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f538e4b	comment	Asbestos-Free Cereal: When a customer asked Alan why a pair of shoes was so expensive, he said that it is because they're handmade by cheap labor in sweatshops using only the finest plastics and rubber. When the customer asked for a "real reason", he sighed and said is because they have "vortex channel tube" technology.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f538e4b	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f538e4b	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f538e4b
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f5ab45cb	type	Incompetence, Inc.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f5ab45cb	comment	Incompetence, Inc.: Grumbel's tends to promote based on lack of competence; its executives are prone to make arbitrary changes for their own aggrandizement at the expense of its workers and write draconian policies that make no logical sense. Just like a REAL retail shop!. At the end, it pays for its incompetence as it goes out of business.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f5ab45cb	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f5ab45cb	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f5ab45cb
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f64a9cf7	type	Earn Your Happy Ending
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f64a9cf7	comment	Earn Your Happy Ending: After putting up with the constant nonsense of retail work for so long, Marla is offered an office manager position, then quits on the spot with Stuart, leaving him high and dry for the store's liquidation. In the strip where Marla gets the job, she wonders why she didn't do it sooner. Cooper and Val too. Not only are they Happily Married by the end, Cooper manages to find a better paying job and quits Grumbel's before it closes. Not only that, but the job pays well enough that Val can write full time, giving them both fulfillment.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f64a9cf7	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f64a9cf7	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f64a9cf7
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f6f2ff1	type	Insult Backfire
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f6f2ff1	comment	Insult Backfire: When Marla says Courtney's new sunglasses make her look like a vapid celebutante, Courtney, who'd love nothing more than to be a vapid celebutante, is flattered.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f6f2ff1	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f6f2ff1	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f6f2ff1
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f75cf3bd	type	Terrible Interviewees Montage
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f75cf3bd	comment	Terrible Interviewees Montage: A recurring theme in the comic whenever Marla need to hire someone at the store, usually Christmas help.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f75cf3bd	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f75cf3bd	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f75cf3bd
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f792ffe4	type	Beleaguered Assistant
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f792ffe4	comment	Beleaguered Assistant: Poor Marla. Anyone who has to deal with Stuart all day has to be beleaguered. Even after her Rank Up to store manager, Marla has to listen to Stuart berate her over the phone about sales numbers, corporate mandates, and impossible goals. Marla usually only responds with snark, as there's little she can do about it.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f792ffe4	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f792ffe4	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f792ffe4
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8600b	type	Cool Big Sis
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8600b	comment	Cool Big Sis: Cooper regards Marla as one of these, in his own words when speaking to Scott.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8600b	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8600b	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8600b
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8702398	type	Economy Cast
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8702398	comment	Economy Cast: Lampshaded in one strip where Marla says she has to make reviews for her 40 employees, and Val surprised that they actually have that many employees.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8702398	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8702398	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8702398
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8e010ce	type	Evil Cannot Comprehend Good
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8e010ce	comment	Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: After a fashion. In a 2008 strip, Stuart just can't understand why Connie (the new District Manager) would want to help them with inventory pre-counts.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8e010ce	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8e010ce	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f8e010ce
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f9f2c33	type	Running Gag
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f9f2c33	comment	Running Gag: "It must be free" and the ongoing hatred of that joke.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f9f2c33	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f9f2c33	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_f9f2c33
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ff13573f	type	Overcomplicated Menu Order
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ff13573f	comment	Overcomplicated Menu Order: In this strip Cooper ask Marla if she wants anything from the food court. She says she wants a Caesar Chicken Pocket, then proceeds to talk about several substitutions over the order and even to get her an specific soda from a neighboring restaurant. He just answers if she can just choose a number from the menu. In this strip Donnie asks Heather to order pizza becuase he doenst like to order himself. Which is implied is just due to her complicated orders, in this case asking for one quarter with light sauce, one half with olives, but not the hafl with the light sauce, and peperoni all over.
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ff13573f	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ff13573f	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_ff13573f
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_name	type	ItemName
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_name	comment
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail (Comic Strip) / int_name
Retail (Comic Strip) / int_name	itemName	Retail (Comic Strip)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Retail	sameAs	Retail (Comic Strip)
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Accidental Pervert / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Alliterative Name / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Asbestos-Free Cereal / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Audience-Alienating Ending / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Bad Boss / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Be Careful What You Wish For / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Beat Panel / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Beleaguered Assistant / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Benevolent Boss / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Canis Latinicus / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Cargo Ship / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Cassandra Truth / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Character Blog / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Christmas Creep / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Comic-Book Time / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Comically Small Bribe / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Commuting on a Bus / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Conservation of Competence / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Crappy Holidays / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Crying Wolf / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Cuteness Proximity / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Demoted to Extra / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Deus ex Machina / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Does This Make Me Look Fat? / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Dress Code / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Early-Bird Cameo / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Easily-Overheard Conversation / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Easter Bunny / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Egging / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Elopement / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Embarrassing Nickname / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Ending Aversion / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Evil Brunette Twin / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Fauxtivational Poster / int_49bcdf84
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Gift of the Magi Plot / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Good Angel, Bad Angel / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Halloween Episode / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Hired for Their Looks / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Hoist by His Own Petard / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Homemade Sweater from Hell / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	House Husband / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Hulk Speak / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	I Choose to Stay / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	I Got a Rock / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	iProduct / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	I Want Grandkids / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	I'm Not Here to Make Friends / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	I'm Standing Right Here / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Incompetence, Inc. / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Instant Birth: Just Add Labor! / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Instant Birth: Just Add Water! / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	It's Raining Salesmen / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	It's the Principle of the Thing / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Jackass Genie / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Jerkass Has a Point / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Lampshade Wearing / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Language Fluency Denial / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Lawful Stupid / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Liar Revealed / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Malicious Misnaming / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Manifesto-Making Malcontent / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Mean Boss / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Morning Sickness / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Most Writers Are Writers / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	My Own Private "I Do" / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Never Heard That One Before / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	New Year's Resolution / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Nice to the Waiter / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	No Ending / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	O.O.C. Is Serious Business / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	One-Steve Limit / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Only Known by Their Nickname / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Only Sane Employee / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Open Secret / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Overcomplicated Menu Order / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Passed-Over Promotion / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Perfectly Cromulent Word / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Petty Childhood Grudge / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Plagued by Nightmares / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Pointy-Haired Boss / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Put on a Bus / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Put on a Bus to Hell / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Pyrrhic Victory / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Pyrrhic Villainy / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Rank Up / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Restrained Revenge / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Retail Riot / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Right Behind Me / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Ruptured Appendix / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Say My Name / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Secret Relationship / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Sequel Episode / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Short-Distance Phone Call / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Small Role, Big Impact / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Snipe Hunt / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Soul-Sucking Retail Job / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Spoiler / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Stealing from the Till / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Stopped Caring / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Symbol Swearing / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Take This Job and Shove It / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Terrible Interviewees Montage / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	The Alleged Car / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	The Chain of Harm / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	There Are No Good Executives / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Token Minority Couple / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Tragic Dropout / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Ultimate Job Security / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Umpteenth Customer / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Unsatisfiable Customer / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Virtue Is Weakness / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	What Are Records? / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Women Are Wiser / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Work Com / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Working Through the Cold / int_538833a4
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Yes-Man / int_538833a4
retail	sameAs	Retail (Comic Strip)
Retail (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Goal in Life / int_538833a4

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