Some authors really should write articles, booklets, and pamphlets as opposed to books. This book had been on my list of titles to read since it first came out. I saw it at my favorite used book store in Juneau and immediately dove in... to disappointment. Caitlin Kelly's thesis seemed clear at first: Being a sales associate in a retail clothing environment is very hard work. I wanted to know the details of this grueling job, so I kept reading, but she never really sold me. Let me summarize: This book is about the experiences of a journalist who loses her news magazine job and gets a part time job at The North Face in an upscale mall to help make ends meet. And then she complains about it and constantly reminds you how smart and well-traveled she is for two hundred pages... Ok, I get that it's not easy to be on your feet all day. It sucks to have to sell clothes, deal with a dark disorganized store room, open and unpack tons of boxes, label things, put security things on them, fold them, stack them in size order, clean shelves, keep things nice, and deal with rude people for less than $10 an hour. But even she says on page... Ok, I can't find the page number because everything in this book is so repetitive and unorganized but I swear to you at one point she writes, "It's not that difficult!" Ok, whatever lady. (Ah! I found it- page 98.) So, here's what I'm taking away from this book:
- Being a sales associate is harder than I thought it was.
- Costco is a great company to work for as an associate on the bottom rung. All the others, including the North Face, where she worked, are probably not.
- Maybe I should have read Where Am I Wearing? by Kelsey Timmerman next.
- I don't think I've ever been rude, demanding, or demeaning to a sales person before, but I guess I'll try extra hard to be nice to them from now on, including paying attention to their name.
Have you ever worked in retail? Did you hate it? Love it?
Daily Details:
- weather: breezy and hot
- location: back to Des Moines marina
- top, old, recently altered by local seamstress to remove elastic dropped waistband, accpw $15
- skirt, old, accpw $8
- sandals, so old, accpw less than $1
- necklace, new from Beth's online jewelry party, accpw $60
Hello....I worked in retail for about 10 years. This was in the mid 1980's to the 90's and customer service had a different meaning then it does now!
ReplyDeleteI honestly enjoyed helping customers find what they wanted or needed. I think rude customers were not the rule but the exception. Its so different now.
Okay....so I have no idea what this book is about but I have worked retail for the past 7 years and it can be grueling. As a visual merchandiser I usually work night shifts (store closing to store opening) and many of my shifts have lasted 24 hours at times! I think that merchandising is the untold side of the retail world that can be really creative, challenging, but also tiring! Not to mention all the crazy things that can go wrong while a store is being re-merchandised. For example... Before a major corporate visit at a large volume store... one of my associates cleaned all 20 of our large scale display windows with soap instead of windex... leaving a thick film all over the outside of the store where customers should have been able to see window displays for the holiday season. Apparently the cleaning bottle was a windex bottle but then someone filled it with soap....I'm still waiting for the moment where I find that store funny instead of terrifying.
ReplyDeleteWow... maybe i should get off my soap box? Also, I'm seriously really interested in seeing how this author portrayed the retail world.
-Nico
lol. Any type of customer service sucks. I worked as a waitress for YEARS! It was fun, but really stressful.
ReplyDeleteMom Fitness Journal | Beauty and Fashion in Seattle | Cheap Makeup Reviews
Thanks for the heads up on a book to avoid!
ReplyDeleteCan I just say again how good blue and black look on you? Not to be repetitive, but...
no, I haven't since my education allows me to work in environmental areas. but in our local stores I have met VERY FEW sales persons who don't hate their job and the whole world (or at least they look like that). I really think it's so stupid to act like that because not every customer is rude.
ReplyDeleteoh, and I love the necklace you're wearing!
Maiken,
Maikeni blogi - part of me
I worked at a department store and Express off and on for a few years while in high school and college. I actually liked it most times, but then it would get boring, I'd get frustrated with a stupid customer, or I'd realize that I didn't really want or need to work... And I'd quit. I didn't think it was exceptionally difficult... And plus, it was a great way to buy the things I wanted because I'd watch the prices drop then snag them at their lowest!
ReplyDeleteIt's so disappointing when a book you've been waiting to read turns out crap :(
ReplyDeleteI've been working in retail for the past 10 years, I've worked my way up from part time to store manager (I've been in management for almost 8 years) and I've never thought of it as hard work at all!
Sure the hours suck, there's always late nights & weekends and Christmas hours are purgatory but other than that I enjoy it.
The problem is that most people "fall" into sales roles, they don't actually choose to do them.
There's a lot more to retail than most people realise (sales steps, open ended questions, up-selling etc) but most sales assistants don't care & don't put any effort in and at the end of the day most people don't "value" good customer service any more they buy mostly based on price and thus the cycle continues!
There will always be rude customers, but that's part of the parcel - it's not personal, it's business! People are way too precious...
Anyway.... that was much longer than I planned it to be!
P.s Love your top, great colour & I really like the neckline detail xo
Love the maxi, and that is a super pretty necklace! I'm loving dainty jewellery at the moment :)
ReplyDeleteLife etc
Your arrow necklace is so cute!
ReplyDeleteI worked in retail at two shoe stores for a few months. I love ringing people up on the cash register but I did get my fair share of incredibly rude people and people that just left a huge mess. I was never rude to salespeople but now I make a very big effort to be extra nice to them.
Have a great weekend :)
-Sharon
The Tiny Heart
Enter my group giveaway!
I LOVE the necklace you bought - it's simple and very nice! Thank you again for doing that! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a bummer that the book was not good - it sounded interesting at first! If you read that other one, let us know what you think!
I did work in retail in high school, many moons ago. I worked one summer at a homegoods store and actually the customers weren't the problem - it was the other employees who were older than me that were rude and somewhat mean to me. Then I worked at a Portrait Studio in a Target store - that was rough. People expected perfection, which of course is understandable when they are bringing your children in for these photos that will serve as memories - but man. They also didn't want to pay much for it so sales were very hard. I much preferred my last kind of part time job before I went into the "adult working world" when I worked in a library - people who come to the library are actually rather polite and I think it's because it's a useful resource so they respect it. That might just be my opinion though!
When I was 16 I worked at Limited Too, remember that store!? Haha, it was light-hearted and for the most part, fun for me. Some of the moms shopping for their kids were a bit demanding and over-dramatic about their kids' clothes, but otherwise, I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeletexo, Yi-chia
Always Maylee
i have worked in retail for the most part it was easy, we had to clean and stuff which was never fun and sometimes you would get the occasional jerk come through but that is pretty much anywhere, overall i thought it was a fun experience...i worked with a lot of people my age so we would goof off a lot haha
ReplyDelete-Jessica
http://www.jumpintopuddles.com
Interesting topic. I enjoy reading these comments. I've worked off & on in the retail business for many years. I really like people so most customers were pretty nice and my coworkers were usually fun and interesting. If the job was crummy (and many of them were!) it was almost always the fault of the MANAGEMENT! They set the tone. I've worked in probably 5 or 6 different places (we move a lot) and I've only had ONE manager that treated the employees like human beings! The long hours and the low pay make people act in crazy ways! If you're in a store and the sales clerk is a jerk it's probably because they are being pushed around by the management. Be Nice To Them. Their feet and their backs and their egos probably hurt!
ReplyDeleteConnie*
I'll keep an eye out for Malled.
ReplyDeleteGood to know you can remove (or have a seamstress remove) the elastic bottom of tops. I find tops I like but don't like that elastic bottom.
I love that blue top.
Been slacking a bit (see email) but I shall proceed / succeed.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I love the info about Lucy going to your school and the hardest girl was touch and calmed. Pets are so great for / with children. I had a Fox Terrier / Chihuahua mix when a kid and oh how I loved her. Got her in 3rd grade and she got hit by a car in my Jr. Year of HS.
Second off, I loved hearing about that lousy book and to know to avoid it. I am a very SLOW reader and struggled with reading in school. Hence, I don't consider myself a 'reader' - but that isn't an excuse. One of my BFF is an HS English teacher and she has been my mentor over the year and has been wonderfully patient with me. She has even given me assignments to accomplish. Really!
Third off, me -- I'm signing off and hoping that you have a great weekend in the PNW!
I worked in retail for the 4 years I was an undergrad. I worked at Bath & Body Works and it was... interesting. I can't say I hated it, because there were definite perks, but dealing with rude people was of course the worst part about it. Obviously you deal with that no matter where you work, but I noticed that in retail people tend to look down on you more and treat you with more disrespect which always really bothered me. I try hard to be extra-friendly to employees after working in retail.
ReplyDeleteI have not worked in retail, nor have I written a book about any job...hahahahaaa. My daughter worked for O N...a long time. She brought me some very low priced clearance items. I miss those, but she likes her new job much better.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE my retail job, but it's my family's small business so I'm sure that makes a world of difference. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you're interested in the sociology of shopping I highly recommend anything by Paco Underhill. I have a book review that I wrote of his book _Call of the Mall_, which I've just realized isn't posted anywhere online. Instead of rewriting myself I'll just copy and paste it here:
"I've loved Paco Underhill's first book, _Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping_ since I first read it years ago, and when I saw this book I was overjoyed. Underhill (after spending so much delightful time with him, I feel I should call him Paco) is a retail anthropologist - which is to say, he watches people shop, and figures out how the experience can be better. In this book, he takes you on a tour of the mall, and how it shapes - and has been shaped by - our lives. He's funny, urbane, honest, loves his work, and is, one somehow feels, very sweet. In short, if he can keep me reading a book about malls until 1:45 at night, you know he's got to be something."
I'll check out "Call of the Mall." I read "Why We Buy" a long time ago, but I really thought the title was misleading because it should have been called "HOW We Buy." Thanks, E.
DeleteNice post! :)
ReplyDeleteI'd love if you visited my blog at Missingsparkles.com. It would be fun to follow each other, don't you think? ;)
xoxo, Minna
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One holiday season I did a long time ago. HAHAHA That was my last stint. I don't like working with the public too much. There are so many attitudes you have to contend with. For every nice person, you get 10 more that are not nice. It's just not my personality. I think that's why I shop online so much. I hate going into stores.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.averysweetblog.com/
I hate it when that happens, when you have such high expectations of a book and then it turn out to be well, That what you wrote. I read a good review on 'By Invite only' about the gilt group, if it wasn't so expensive I'd have bought it by now
ReplyDeleteYou look cute, I feel like your style has evolved leaps and bounds ever since I started reading you. Good job madam
xx
meinmode.blogspot.com
Thank you, Mik! I really appreciate your kind words.
Delete--V
i work in retail now part time, its just to make ends meet while i work on my career as a stylist hopefully full time soon. retail is very soul destroying, its like standing around in your sitting room all day fixing cushions over and over again, it's a ridiculously negative environment from my experience and since it attracts uneducated people, it's very bitchy. i wouldn't want to read a book on it. haha xx
ReplyDeletehttp://supposeishouldblog.blogspot.ie/
great blog dear <3 It's so pretty <3<3<3 I've also a blog :) If do you like also we could follow each other :D
ReplyDeleteEverything is perfectly flattering on you in this post. Gorgeous too!
ReplyDeleteI did work in retail once and it was really under false pretenses so I was greatly disappointed, especially since they told me I was going to be a "personal shopper" and I turned out to be a rover. Oh well, sometimes we have to do the wrong thing to find the right thing.
I worked retail for about 4-5 years. I enjoyed working with people, but hated picking up after them! Love your top and your necklace is so cute!
ReplyDeleteGreat and honest review! I hadn't heard of this book before but now I think I'm going to save my money... I worked in retail for four years and it's not that fun, but you have to take it with a grain of salt in my mind. The occasional rude customer is annoying, but usually makes for a good rant. And there are plenty of nice customers too, so it all evens out in the end. My biggest complaint from working retail is all of the standing. I can't tell you how many nights my feet and knees were DEAD after work. Yuck.
ReplyDeleteAnnnnway, lovely outfit Vivienne! I love simple.
Julia
love this look!
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Allie
www.sparklesandstilettos.blogspot.com
that's one book i never intend to read. thanks for the warning. yes, i worked at 2 different clothing stores in college. very fun jobs! i liked helping people find the right thing, & being creative with displays, dressing for work, & mentally shopping while i was there. ;)
ReplyDelete