It seems the level of service has gone downhill as well. I know the pandemic has put a crimp on a lot of the supply chain, and stores not wanting to pay people a decent wage.

What people need to remember is, being rude to the clerks/servers/ minimum wage employees isn't going to fix the problem. They don't set the idiotic policies, or decide to cut hours, decide not to pay better, or drop certain products etc. It's the people sitting in cozy offices making 6 figures that decide that a store can run on 50% of the employees it should have, or that people don't deserve a living wage.

I always adopt an approach of being nice to the retail workers, regardless how badly the business itself sucks, unless the employees are outwardly rude. (even then, who's to say what they are going through) but I will totally vote with my wallet.