Kit Campoy ran stores for two and a half decades. She forbade the phrase. Her reason: "welcome in" shuts down customer connection, preventing genuine communication, before a customer has a chance to start one.
Here is what it actually signals.
"Welcome in" caught on because store teams have twenty things on a task list and zero time to look up. It is the verbal equivalent of waving without making eye contact. It checks the greeting box. It does not build customer connection. And that is a problem corporate keeps blaming on the store team when the cause is sitting upstairs.
Watch the full Retail Transformers conversation with Kit Campoy on what is actually happening on the retail floor. This second clip from the same conversation highlights the importance of authentic customer service over superficial phrases for building stronger connections and fostering positive success habits in retail. "Welcome In" shows a different symptom of the same retail disease. Casey Golden and Ricardo Belmar dig into the HQ-to-store disconnect, why store teams are running on fumes, and what real customer connection looks like when a store team has the time to deliver it.
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from *The Retail Razor: Retail Transformers* #podcast
*S2:E5 Store Managers Are Breaking. Corporate Has No Idea.*
*Released on May 6, 2026*
*Chapters*
00:00 Why Welcome In Spread
00:13 Better Greetings Build Connection
00:36 Task Focus Hurts Training
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