All About Retail: Sales Associates, Management, etc.

[exquise]

I need a sale associate for a luxury boutique in San Francisco - check the 'wanted' topic.

 

[shoexgal]

Question: Where can I work where there is no cleaning floors involved? I want a place that has its own cleaners come in and stock people. Other than Victoria Secret, does anyone know of such a place?

 

[mayim]

Question: Where can I work where there is no cleaning floors involved? I want a place that has its own cleaners come in and stock people. Other than Victoria Secret, does anyone know of such a place?

You are amazing. Sorry.

 

[thesiren]

Question: Where can I work where there is no cleaning floors involved? I want a place that has its own cleaners come in and stock people. Other than Victoria Secret, does anyone know of such a place?

i work at both victoria's secret AND banana republic and i clean at neither. at vic's i seldom open, and when i close, i do SOMEtimes take out the trash, windex the fitting room mirrors, but there's not heavy cleaning. at banana, we used to clean (hXc too, like when i worked at gap), but now we don't. the stock team does it because apparently, they figured out that making us clean isn't really the best use of their money (they now utilize people classified as 'sales' to ONLY sell in the fitting room/floor), so it's either 'sales support' (cashiers) or stock that does it.

needless to say, i'm a happy camper.

although i still hate both jobs somewhat and need to stop being so freaking lazy and work somewhere else.

 

[shoexgal]

What does that mean? Are you being sarcastic?

You are amazing. Sorry.

 

[mayim]

I am. The only reason is that the sales associate that I hire have to do some light cleaning. I have hired college students who have never used a vacuum cleaner before. I guess that my daily experience with trying to keep my store clean made me say that. Sometimes it's really frustrating. I didn't mean any harm, though, sorry about that.

 

[Tiffy]

I just finished a short stint working at Nordstrom and if you are a really good salesperson it's a good company to work for. There was a man at my store who made more than a million dollars a year selling men's suits. Of course it helps being in a major urban city, but that's pretty impressive.

 

[shoexgal]

Sorry accepted

As much as you are frustrated making people clean think about how the people cleaning feel when they are performing what you ask. You being in your job position gets paid more to make people keep the store clean so I don't really know what you are complaining about. I'm sure you've done your share. Why I asked was because I work 2 jobs: 1 full time at an office and the second one on the weekend. I really would like to avoid a job that involves cleaning since I have to clean my own house (vacuuming included) every weekend as well. Is that so wrong? I guess you should take your exasperation out on someone you work with other than a hapless stranger trying to turn a buck to save for grad school.

I am. The only reason is that the sales associate that I hire have to do some light cleaning. I have hired college students who have never used a vacuum cleaner before. I guess that my daily experience with trying to keep my store clean made me say that. Sometimes it's really frustrating. I didn't mean any harm, though, sorry about that.

 

[mayim]

If your looking for a larger company, I'm pretty sure that the GAP stores (Banana, Old Navy, GAP) hire cleaners. Also-Anthro & Urban are like that. I've known a few people who really liked working for Anthropologie.

 

[thesiren]

gap inc. does not hire cleaners or a visuals team at stores of any volume.

i know victoria's secret does, but only for premier stores (which are usually one per major city). they also have a visuals team, so associates have nothing to do with either.

 

[derekjames]

If your looking for a larger company, I'm pretty sure that the GAP stores (Banana, Old Navy, GAP) hire cleaners. Also-Anthro & Urban are like that. I've known a few people who really liked working for Anthropologie.

i worked at urban outfitters for about 6 months and they dont have their own cleaners. we had to clean everymorning and on sundays we had to do hardcore cleaning. i used to have to mop the damn store!

 

[jeffrey0806]

I think the corporate people at Urban and Anthropology are shady people. I've called the human resources dept and left 3 message and never once got a call back.

 

[ultramarine]

Hermes is 30% which isn't bad, since they never have any sort of discount at all. Lets see off of a 6k Birkin, that'd be 4200...Meh, only 1800 off. If I worked at Hermes Id never ever have any money, Id be spending it all.

That's a JUICY discount !

*salivates*

PS. Btw, where do you work at? (didnt see it in your post)

 

[derekjames]

I think the corporate people at Urban and Anthropology are shady people. I've called the human resources dept and left 3 message and never once got a call back.

!!!!

they definately are.

i got fired from there because i called out one time ( on my birthday!).

urban is just bad news.

 

[jeffrey0806]

for me it was that i didn't want to work at anthropologie anymore, and i was never told about what the 2 week notice thing was about. and so when i tried quitting, i had called my store(anthropologie) to let my manager know I wasn't interested in working for them anymore, and they made it seem like I abandoned my job(like if I never had told them i was quitting) and so they made it so I wouldn't be rehireable. I have no respect for Urban Outfitters Inc, which owns Anthropologie. They're very very shady!

 

[shoexgal]

its my last day of work and i want to get out of it. How do you guys think I should do that? Call in sick? etc.

 

[thesiren]

last day?

wtf, just call in sick or with an emergency. i doubt you'll work retail your entire life.

 

[spiralsnowman]

Is it hard to get a job at a place like Barney's?

 

[Diorling]

its my last day of work and i want to get out of it. How do you guys think I should do that? Call in sick? etc.

CALL IN SICK. Of course they'll be suspicious, it's downright obvious, but what are they gonna do? Fire you?

That's what I was telling myself during my last few weeks at Coach (FYI , Ultramarine) I was like...what are they gonna do, fire me? I quit Coach for MANY reasons, most of which I dont want to discuss here, but because even though they're a multi-million dollar international company they still think like a small company, they were threatened by my interest in acending the company ladder, that and I decided that I was not going to waste my talent on a company that doesn't want nor appreciate me. Now I have a major distaste for Coach, I wish them the best, but in the near future they'll end up being too overexposed for thier own poorly built brand image to handle...Oh well...

In regards to cleaning at Coach, they're cheap. Cheap as sh*t, like anything they can squeeze out of you they will, I had to swiffer the floors and vacuum, also windex (which I rarely did). They did have professional cleaners come monthly who were always late. What I find is, the more you make, the less you do. I have a friend who was working at Wet Seal (just about minimum FYI) and she was like "they work you! Ive never cleaned in my life!" She's funny though, because her family is LOADED, her parents own a mortagage company, she could have gotten a job there like her sister and brother but she wanted to be independent...She still drives to work in a Bimmer though

!!!!

they definately are.

i got fired from there because i called out one time ( on my birthday!).

urban is just bad news.

Ive heard horror stories about them. A sales associate got fired (ON THE SPOT) because she questioned a policy, crazyness!

Is it hard to get a job at a place like Barney's?

Very hard, it's Barneys, you have to have some serious experience, not even my interviewing skills can break past my inexperience.

I work at Victoria's Secret (also a Limited Brand Company)and my manager searches through my bag with her hands...is she not supposed to do that?

They are NOT allowed to. Coach checked us out, they really didnt care, only a glance, and with my good friend who was a manager, we wouldn't even check each other out. So bad.

I have spent the past 3 years in retail (on and off). I have a very good record at JC Penney in the shoe department (base hourly pay slightly over minimum wage + 3-5% commission on each pair you sell. the store discount is 20% but I hardly ever buy anything though they do have pretty nice house stuff) but the job basically sucks. I'm sick of dealing with gross people and screaming kids and a huge department store. I want to work in a small, less hectic and more personal setting.

I just graduated with a degree in Digital Media and would actually like to get into web design at some point, but fashion is my other great love and I can see myself having a temporary (or maybe long-term, if it's PT) retail job.

Anyway, my question is...do you think that based on my sales experience, albeit in a low class store...I would have a chance at getting more of a boutique/high end job? I don't want to inquire at jimmy choo and have them laugh at me, you know?

Hm, I dont know if you should be jumping on the Jimmy Choo bandwagon that quickly. Uhm, Saks, Saks is insanely dignified at all times, you never find a customer falling out of perfect dispositon. I find Saks to be classier, than say, Neimans, which ironically has gotten more common (I sound so bad!), but really, thier whole concept of AmEx making them more exclusive is wrong! It makes people who *want* to be exclusive flock to them...It is the truth! You find Footballer's Wives at Neimans and Senators Wives at Saks...whom would you rather shop with?

It's annoying me badly, I cant find a job I like in NYC, whilst I want a job on commission (big dollars) I think Im gonna settle for hourly then look for another job later. Right now it looks like J.Crew, which I wouldn't mind b/c I love thier clothes...Just as long as they dont have crazy rules...Or Puma, Id LOVE Puma, because I can just wear what I normally wear anyway...

 

[thesiren]

saks is much nicer of a store than neimans. neimans is for suburban white women with no true style, imho.

a barney's co-op just opened here and a girl i know with no retail experience got a job there. i would have tried if it weren't all the way across town. my car + insane gas prices don't mix.