Working Retail for a Day: What it's Like to Work at Hollister

By Joely Friedman on October 21, 2013

Like most college girls, I’m no stranger to clothing stores. Partially because the great Ohio State University doesn’t allow me to go around nude, but mostly because I like trying on new styles to see how good I look in them.

Despite all the time I’ve spent wandering around clothing stores, I have never really stopped and thought about what it would be like to work in one until last week.

Image from MorgueFile

I recently spent an afternoon shadowing Liz, a sales associate at Hollister, to get a feel for the experience of working in retail. I wanted to see what comes with the territory besides keeping the store organized. After failing a couple midterms this year, I figure it’s a good idea to explore some backup options, and working in a clothing store could be a viable option. After all, there’s a lot that a girl could do with an employee’s discount to Forever21.

I have never considered working in a clothing store because I know what it’s like to have to clean my room when my clothes are lazily strewn about. I would hate to have to spend day after day cleaning an entire store worth of clothes that are carelessly disorganized.

While I’ll be the first to admit that I am guilty of having hung a shirt back up in a pants section on the other side of the store, if I worked in a clothing store I would contemplate murder on those I witnessed committing this act. Liz told me that this is the most annoying part of her job. She hates having to go through each section of the store returning clothes to their rightful homes after careless shoppers have showcased their laziness.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Her day-to-day tasks consists of making sure all of the store merchandise is always presentable and in an orderly fashion. I was there for a week day shift but she informed me that weekends are twice as hectic.

When Liz is not working at the register, she greets people as they come in the store – being personable with all of the customers is her main responsibility. Customers often ask for her opinion or make small talk with her. Also, she checks to see if anyone needs assistance with sizing or a changing room. Basically, when not working the cashier, she is floating around the store helping out in anyway she can.

The main challenge she faces at work is trying to please the customers. People come in with expired coupons and get upset when she won’t give them the discounts. A few people even complained that the store was no longer carrying an item they had once bought.

Liz always reacts with patience and is extremely friendly, even when it’s pretty obvious that she just wanted to tell someone that they were being unreasonable.

Liz got into retail a few summers back when she was looking for a flexible summer job. She thought that working at a store she shopped at would be a fun experience and a great learning opportunity.

I learned a lot about the fashion retail business from my time spent with Liz at Hollister. Did I like it enough that I could see myself making a career out of it?

That would be a negative. However, it was a fun few hours and I went home with a new sweater.

Have you ever worked in fashion retail? Let me hear your story in the comments below.

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