The Secret Life Of Working Retail

By Francine Fluetsch on September 2, 2014

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Ah, the life of working retail. It looks pretty glamorous, doesn’t it? With the employee discount and the chance to see all the hot new styles right as they come out, the perks are endless, right?

While working retail definitely has its advantages, there are many things that employees have to deal with that aren’t so glamorous. Of course, everything must be handled with a great big smile.

Let’s take a look at some typical things you would have to deal with in the world of retail.

The Usual:

The late night shopper:

It’s two minutes to close. Two minutes! You’ve hardly eaten and your stomach is growling. Your eyes glance over the racks, making sure all the garments are hung nicely and nothing is out of place. The trash is out, one of the doors is closed, and you are just waiting for the seconds to tick past so you can close the other door, finish cleaning and then head home.

One minute to close. Right then, two girls decide to strut into the store, so into their conversation that they don’t notice you rolling your eyes at your coworker. They chat and brush through the racks, looking for something and destroying all of your hard work.

In annoyance, you walk over, take a breath, and with a big smile ask, “Is there anything in particular I can help you ladies find?”

The girls shake their heads, reply that they are just looking around, and continue on. You glance back at your coworker, who puts a finger gun up to their head. Don’t they know that the mall closes at nine, like it does EVERY SINGLE NIGHT?

After about ten minutes, one of them glances around and realizes no one else is in the store. “Oh,” they ponder, “are you closing?” At that moment, you could strangle them, but reply with a polite yes and watch as they leave without buying anything.

You then get to stay longer cleaning the mess they made.

The oblivious shopper:

The oblivious shopper is the one who doesn’t read any of the sale signs, or listen when you tell them about promotions.

We once had a sign that said “50 percent off all dresses, shorts, and tank tops.” You wouldn’t believe how many people asked if the whole store was on sale. I also had a bunch of people hold up every single item and ask me if it counted. Does a sweater look like a tank top to you?

Holli Tomlinson, a recent graduate from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, said “one of the most annoying things is when we have a specific sale rack that will have a big sign saying those are the last sizes available, and someone will come up and ask for a different size.”

The shopper who can’t stop:

When you are being rung up, you usually have a tendency to look at the things by the register, so it gives you something to do. This is normal.

What isn’t normal is walking away halfway through the purchase to look at something on the other side of the room while there is a line behind you. When this first happened to me, I was stunned. I told the lady her total and she just walked away to go look at more earrings. There was a line, and since we only had one register, I couldn’t ring anyone else up until she came back.

The shopper who wants to help:

There are shoppers who think they are helping out by putting things back on the rack that they don’t want to purchase.

While the intention is sweet, they usually don’t put it back in the right place or in the right way. This then makes a mess for us when we are trying to find the item for someone (the computer of course says we have it) but it is nowhere to be found. Customers don’t like waiting, so this can definitely cost you a sale.

The return junkie:

No one ever pays attention to the return policy. They think as long as they have the receipt they will get their money back. And when they can’t get it back, who do you think they take it out on?

I know it sucks when you can’t get the money back, but we didn’t make the rules. We simply have to follow them. I always think it’s funny when someone comes in and is all up in my face because it won’t go their way. Do you really think I want to try and bend the rules if you’re going to be rude?

We’ve even had people come in and say “Well Nordstrom’s would take it back.” Because, well, Nordstrom’s doesn’t have a return policy, but we aren’t them, so sorry.

And the not so usual:

Ian’s story:

Ian works at JCPenney in the shoe department. One time, a man and his wife came in, and the man wasn’t feeling so hot. He grabbed one of the shoes boxes, threw the shoes to the side, and proceeded to barf into the box. At least the shoes didn’t get all gross, right?

(Courtesy of Ian Dominguez, a third year student at Palomar College).

Jeanette’s story:

Jeanette is my manager at Francesca’s. She said that one time this man and his ten-year-old daughter came in, shopped around, and then left. The man came back later, saying the daughter left her purse in the store.

Jeanette said they would keep an eye out for it but they hadn’t seen anything. He accused the employees of stealing it and proceeded to call the cops … of course, the bag wasn’t there. The girl must have left it somewhere else and someone grabbed it.

(Courtesy of Jeanette Cloakey, manager of Francesca’s).

Matt’s story:

Matt used to be a cart attendant at Target, which meant he also had to clean the bathrooms. One time he went in there to clean, and this guy thought he was “peeping” on him while he was doing his business.

Matt then went outside to tend to the carts, and the guy followed him, acting all suspicious. Some of the guy’s friends came and Matt thought they were going to attempt to stab him with how they were acting. Talk about scary!

(Courtesy of Matthew Robinson, a second year psychology student at Palomar College).

Holli’s story:

Holli is now the Assistant manager at Francesca’s, but used to work at Plato’s Closet. She said that one time this girl was taking a really long time in the dressing room, so the employees unlocked it to investigate.

The girl had been doing drugs and attempting to rip the security tags off the clothes, resulting in blood from the pins stabbing her. She looked at the employees and asked if she could still purchase the clothing, bloodstains and all.

(Courtesy of Holli Tomlinson, Assistant Manager at Francesca’s).

These are just a few things that retail workers have to deal with. And while it can be annoying and strenuous, at least they make for some great stories!

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