SoapZone Community Message Board

It's my first time working retail unless you count being an emergency waitress at Perkins and having to push extra food and drink on customers. Honestly, when I was getting the spiel about selling Chico's customers at least three pieces every transaction, I kept flashing back to my Perkins training when I was supposed to convince everyone to order an extra plate of bacon and upgrade their orange juice from a small to a large.

It's been an interesting experience, and to my surprise, I find that...I don't mind selling. I've always been good at talking friends into (or sometimes out of) buying something, and apparently I'm pretty good at doing the same with shoppers. I don't love being pushy; one of my co-workers will show you practically every piece in the store and try to talk you into buying a half dozen different outfits. I don't appreciate it when I go into a store looking for, say, a cute dress and someone tries to sell me yoga pants also, so I don't really do that with the customers, but if you know what you want, or even if you want a suggestion or opinion, I'm happy to do that. Though I've had a couple ladies already who were a bit too vague with their requests...one wanted "pants" but couldn't tell me what kind she wanted, while another just wanted "a top". OK...long or short sleeved? V-neck, bateau, scoop, mock neck, turtleneck? Cotton, polyester, wool? Casual? Classy? Can you at least give me a color preference?

I've mentioned a little of this already to Kitchop in replies to her but...I generally really like almost everyone I work with. There's one woman I've only worked with twice who has taken food from me without my permission and only seems to want to rearrange the jewelry rather than help a customer. And my store manager is...intense. On the one hand, I feel for her; the store is small, it's overwhelmingly her responsibility and a reflection on her, and it's practically her life. She works 6 days a week and she has nobody to go home to (not even a pet). Other than reading, I've yet to hear her talk about any interests outside of work. SM likes to keep a tidy shop...to the point where it seems I spend 80% of my shift refolding shirts or tucking in tags (this is something I actually disagree with: I'd rather the tag be hanging out so I can more quickly identify size and price) or making sure things are hung according to size. But SM is also very sensitive about the shop and takes it personally if anyone says anything less than 100% complimentary. For example, a guy used the back door to come in and buy a gift card for his wife. He complained that the sign on the back door is a little small (it is; more than once we've had people come in thinking we were the coffee shop that's two doors down). SM snipped that that's on corporate, not her. He never accused her of making the sign too small. The other day, we had a mom and her two grown daughters come in. Mom was looking for bargains and was lamenting there was very little left in her size in the clearance section, which is in the back of the store. SM told her it was the end of summer and she should've shopped earlier. She then said the front of the store (where all the new stuff was) looks great but the back "is less great". One of the daughters laughed and said that wasn't a very good selling point. Daughter said, imitating SM a little, "the front of the store looks great but the back is a hot mess!". The ladies laughed, I laughed...SM snapped "I didn't say it was a hot mess!". She then literally turned her back on the ladies, who left without buying anything. I heard the one daughter tell her mom and sister "I was just repeating what she'd said". When I told SM what the daughter said, she told me "well, I didn't like them anyways, they were rude." I honestly didn't think THEY were the rude ones and while SM may never want that particular trio back in the store, those three might go out and tell other people "Oh, don't go to that Chico's...the workers there are beeyotches".

I've been pleasantly surprised that the customers are generally nice. It's only once in a while that someone will slam items in my arms without so much as a thank you or please take these to the dressing room. Occasionally someone will express their negative opinion about an item I've proffered in a way *I* find rude. You can tell me you dislike something in a way that doesn't involve the word "Ewww" or a facial expression that suggests I've just handed you a burlap sack coated in doggy doo-doo. But most people have been kind and have been exceptionally patient as I struggle to master the register. I'm fine with straight sales but it's so rarely a straight sale; often it's "I want this but in a different size/color (so it needs to be ordered) and I need to return this, oh, and I'm buying THIS".

I'm still appalled at how little I make, considering how much we charge for our clothing and how wealthy the community I work in is. I still hate not having a consistent schedule; I worked 6 days one week, 4 the next and only three the upcoming week, plus I'm always scheduled at least once a week to work an evening shift and then work the morning shift the next day. Once I'm feeling more secure in my position, I will ask SM if maybe she could only schedule me days or evenings, or at least schedule me for evenings after I've worked day shifts instead of the other way around. I dislike how there's rarely a steady flow of customers; it's either nobody or everybody in the store (but alas, that's the nature of retail). I dislike having a "breakroom" that's nothing more than a tiny table with two folding chairs, pushed up against a wall (and facing the wall). And I dislike not having a consistently scheduled break...and one day, I almost didn't get a break due to the constant flow of customers, and another day I didn't get a break because the regional manager had decided to hold some kind of visual conference call in our tiny breakroom, and nobody was allowed back there until she was done. And unfortunately, even 5 hour shifts a few times a week are causing both my feet and my lower back to get sore again.

So far, my favorite parts of the job are a) getting free clothes from my sweetheart co-worker M and b) the drive home, where I pass a house with a small pasture next to it that has some of the cutest (and weirdly cleanest) sheep I've ever seen and an adorable border collie puppy that's learning to herd them. I'm continuing to hunt for another job--this one neither pays enough nor offers any benefits--but in the meantime, I'm grateful to have the job I have and not be miserable doing it.