Why do people hate retail?
I always wondered why people hated working in retail. As a fashion major I used to think that would be the best field to work in while I studied. I applied endlessly to multiple retailers and eventually got accepted for employment between Urban Outfitters and Forever21. At the time, I was a big forever21 fan and loved their inexpensive clothing. It was chic and within my price range but when it got down to choosing between the two I decided to work with Urban. Their atmosphere was ideal and I really enjoyed the interview process.
My first day was amazing. I was lucky enough to start the day that they were having their annual holiday party. Every single one of the employees was there and they were dressed to kill. The theme was prom and there were girls in flirty dresses, 80s hairstyle and just a cool demeanor. A mini breakfast was prepared by their coffee shop station filled with donuts, croissants, coffee, cookies, tea and orange juices. I loved it. They had a mini fashion show, played games where they would dress up mannequins and pick the team with the best outfits and even gave out awards for employee appreciation. I knew I’d made the right choice. But then it got time to actually start working. My first week was okay; I got the hang of things pretty quickly and worked my ass off to keep up. I kept my zones maintained, was a speedy runner * and talked to every customer that crossed my path. After a while I started to realize why people hated retail. It wasn’t the employer that was the problem it was the customers!
They were so unappreciative; they didn’t care about any of my hard work and always walked on those trying to assist them. Granted not ever customer is the same, but when you’re located smack in the middle of tourist central, you get the similar ones.
The underage white tweens:
There are the usual underage girls who you look at and ask why the hell are the parents dressing their toddlers in a halter top? Let’s get this straight; Urban Outfitters target market is girls in their 20s and up. Sure we get by with 15-19 year olds purchasing our clothing but when you see a little white girl who is 10 – 13 trying on a cropped sweater or dress that they don’t even have boobs to fill in you get a little worried. Sometimes they come in a group of their friends and just check out the clothes and purchase one or two items but then there are others who would come in with their parents and buy stacks of clothing. I remember this one time, a girl started arguing with her mom in the dressing room because her mom wanted to leave and she wasn’t done shopping. Honestly, I wish I could have spoken to my mother like that but being that she’s black she would have slapped me into the next year and on top of that, I have way too much respect for my mother to ever speak to her in that tone.
The overly fashionable Asian:
My least favorite customers’ award goes to the stylish Asian girls who honestly look like they’re trying to mess with you. They usually come in groups and they’re always dressed quite impressive so you can tell that they shop a lot. These are the girls who deeply inspire to be the next fashion icon and will try on twenty different items and then decide they don’t want any of it. Most of the time they never have the common courtesy to put the items back where they found them and would just leave it on a bench, or rest it on top of the fixtures so that the clothes gets stuck on the hangers. They’re the type to watch you as you fold a stack of shirts as neatly as possible to meet the standards and as soon as you’re done, it’s suddenly the only shirt in the entire store that they want the most. And, since they can’t decide between an extra small and medium, they’ll take both - one from the top and the other from the middle, toppling over all in between. Don’t worry, I still have love for you even as I’m gritting my teeth and staring at you out of the corner of my eyes.
If a sale associate offers you help, it’s not because I want to, it’s because it’s my job and you’re fucking up my section.
The tourist:
To be honest, I can’t even get mad at the tourist. They're usually one of the kindest customers. They're curious, lost and confused. They come in to gawk at the store’s appearance and buy a bunch of clothes since they didn't pack according to the weather. It seems like not a day goes by that I don't get approached by a tourist asking me how to get to their next destination. Majority of the time they do not speak English and will try their best to describe what they're looking for. I find it amusing when I correct their words and they try to repeat what I said.
The too cool for you black girl:
I usually don't have a problem interacting with black people. Maybe it's the melanin in my skin that causes me to find comfort in my fellow black peers. They’re the ones that likes to approach me and actually have a conversation. They'd ask me for assistance before dumping a pile over or for my opinion on which article of clothing they should purchase. I would say a joke and they'd laugh and it would be as though we were friends for years. And then they leave the store and I never see them again, except for the rare occurrence when a girl came back two or three times and would only talk to me as she shopped. My co-workers even assumed that she was my friend from outside of work, but nope to me she was just another customer.
The shoplifters:
You're sneaky, you're a pet peeve and you're cutting into my paycheck. Do you honestly need to put that 10 dollar necklace in your bag? News flash, if you can’t afford it, you do not NEED it. To be honest I can never identify a person that's going to shoplift by what they're wearing just by how they're acting. They’re usually the type of people to sneak off into the corner and avoid you like crazy. But honestly, there isn’t much we can do unless we catch you red handed.
The granny:
Older women always seem to fluctuate to my store. They love the atmosphere and the vintage section gives them life. But the fact that you’re older doesn’t mean you’re entitled and can be rude without repercussions. I once had an older woman snap at me because I couldn’t find a shirt that she wanted. What made me upset was that I searched endlessly for the shirt and as she yelled I had to grin and bear it. I looked in the back of our bays, checked every mannequin and looked at every tabletop just in case it was still on the floor. For some reason she felt that I didn’t look hard enough. We simply did not have the item in stock. Even as I offered to call another store to see if they had it, she spat out how “people can’t do their damn jobs now-a-days” I wanted to slap the shit out of her but I didn’t lose my cool. Like my boss says “Kill them with kindness.”
The uptight business guy:
He generally just comes in for coffee and never even whispers a Good Morning. They’re too “important” to talk to someone working in retail unless they’re asking where the men’s section is.
What upsets me most about customers is that they have no remorse when it comes to your hard earned work. They want the item and they want it now and don’t care who they have to step over to get it. But every once in a while you get the decent customer that will return the item to the fixture it belongs to. They’ll ask before touching a neat pile and they won’t just let the hanger stick out of the fixture. But these customers are rare in New York City.