Having a job while being in school is sometimes difficult to handle. It is definitely not for those without time management skills. Usually, in the summer, I work as a lifeguard at a city pool where it's easier to schedule my hours around other aspects of my life. This school year, however, I decided to apply for a job in retail. The store is a small, locally-owned school within my hometown called "Tru South". We sell clothing and apparel that one would typically see in the Carolinas and Florida, such as, Vineyard Vines, Salt Life, Simply Southern, etc.
While working for a locally-owned store has many differences from working for a corporate store, there are still perks and nightmares of working in retail. I have had prior experience working with the public through being a lifeguard, but it's more intimate and personal in a sales setting. People of all different backgrounds, classes, and places come into the store. Here are 13 reasons how working in retail has changed my life.
1. Folding Clothes
I thought I knew how to fold clothes until I started working in retail. There's two ways to fold a shirt properly: the quick and easy way, or the long and neat way. You quickly learn how to fold things in a quick and organized manner, just to make the clothes look good until you have time to fold them better. I can't even fold my own laundry the same way anymore! At the store I work at, we use a folding board to make our stacks neat and organized. I've also learned the ways of "marketing", which is how walls, stacks, and products are set out to be eye-catching to a customer.
2. New Shipments
Shipment days are both exciting and a pain. While other corporate stores like American Eagle and Victoria's Secret in the mall I work at have to stay after until 2-3am, we get to put out shipments during our shifts. It's exciting to see the new and cute clothes we're getting in, and get first dibs on them. However, it's a pain to have to size, fold, organize, and make room for the new items. Either way, it's great to tell customers about new brands and products!
3. Slow Days
Like at any job, there are days where time seems to go by slower than usual. When the weather is bad, a holiday is in the way, or there's simply no one in the mall/store that day, slow days suck. One can only clean and refold clothes so many times during a shift. My coworkers and I joke about seeing tumbleweeds throughout the mall as well.
4. Rotating Walls
Rotating walls fall into the "marketing" skills I've learned from working in retail. Every week or so, the product walls must be rotated in order to show other items that may have been folded or out of sight from the customers. I learned quickly to develop the skills of color coordinator and how they work together to draw in consumers. Sometimes, however, it's a pain to make everything fit and work together properly!
5. Dress to Impress
One of the fun things about working retail is being able to dress cute for every shift! A decent amount of people come through the store every day, giving me the perfect opportunity to showcase some of my favorite outfits. However, sometimes the cute shoes aren't the best idea when it comes to long shifts. Heeled booties and tight tennis shoes are a pain about four hours into a shift.
6. Black Friday
Everyone hears the countless horror stories from employees on Black Friday, but I couldn't fathom them until I actually worked that day. While the corporate stores typically get ransacked and destroyed by customers, our small store was packed, with barely any room to walk. The clothes weren't as disheveled as they could've been, but it was definitely a lot of refolding and organizing! I will forever have a great deal of respect for all retail workers that have shifts throughout Black Friday weekend and Christmas time.
7. Discounts
One of the many perks of working in retail is getting a discount in the store you work at. It makes the long shifts and troublesome customers worth it when you get cute clothes marked down. It's even better when things go on clearance and get marked down even more than your normal discount! However, it can get annoying when family and friends want to borrow that discount all the time.
8. The Mall Food Court
While our food court is lucky enough to have a Chick fil-A in it, the other food gets very old very quickly. There's only so many times you can eat Chinese food, pizza, or burgers in a week. But CFA will never get old! <3
9. Grumpy Customers
Some people these days still don't know how to respect retail workers and their store's policies. If you kindly ask for help, we'll kindly give you help. However, when a customer is rude and demanding, we're more reluctant to offer our services. I've been yelled at and given attitude a few times now, and it's insanely difficult to keep a smile on my face and still be kind to these customers. PSA: RESPECT RETAIL WORKERS AND WE'LL RESPECT YOU!
10. Return Policies
Every store has a different return policy, and some people don't understand that concept (See #9). I've learned that these policies are in place for a reason, and definitely deserve to be followed. Sometimes there are exceptions, but very rarely. It's also difficult sometimes to explain to a customer more familiar with corporate policies how our locally-owned policies work differently.
11. The Crazies
In every job, you run into those people who have no other explanation than craziness. There's people that mess up every single display without buying anything, people who try to come behind the register, and others that hit on the employees. The worst people, however, are the ones that try to steal stuff. We've had an array of people attempt to take stuff from our store by ripping the sensors out of the seams and stuffing the items into their street clothes. It's a scary thought to have to chase someone down after shoplifting, so I hope I never have to do it!
12. Shifts
As time goes by working in retail, long shifts can go by quicker than the shorter shifts. I can easily get through a 6-8 hour shift, but a 4-5 hour shift seems to drag on for ages. It also doesn't help that I typically only get 15 - 30 minutes for a break, no matter how long my entire shift is.
13. Friendships
Work friendships in retail are different than other friendships. We endure slow shifts, long shifts, drama, customers, and everything in-between together. (and sometimes accidentally match!) They're also the ones you rant to about boy problems and what's happening in your life when things are slower. They sometimes know stories your normal friends don't know! To make things even better, the inside jokes are hilarious. Only certain employees understand them, and to try to explain the jokes to anyone else is impossible.
With that being said, working in retail has its ups and downs for sure, but everyone should experience working in the field at least once in their lives!
