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Old 05-19-2011, 04:58 PM
 
Location: Striving for Avalon
1,431 posts, read 2,475,491 times
Reputation: 3451

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So I'm a college student (rising senior) and as I need to look after my mother (cancer + hysterectomy + 6 week recovery), I can't do a full time internship in NYC. I was rejected from all in my field, save for an unpaid one in Germany,which is out of the question. So I looked into P/T retail within walking/mass transit distance (don't own a car/can't drive). I'm useless in food service.

What might come as a surprise is that I am actually interested in men's fashion, both the more common "what's hot/who makes it/where can one buy it" and the more obscure business side, such as the commodity prices (I'd kill for an I-banking position in commodities), tariffs and int'l trade etc etc.

Lord and Taylor had a position open P/T. They're upper-middle class in terms department stores, falling in between a better Macy's and Bloomingdales. I have been a regular customer there, and their men's department is 2/3 my style (preppy), so I'd be familiar and comfortable with what I am selling because I actually wear it. Their dress code calls for a jacket and tie, but as I often wear a blazer for fashion and weather anyway, it doesn't bother me. I'm also familiar with the staff, as I could pick out the guy who has been my cashier for my last three visits or the lady in jewellery whose son went to my HS. I like the "adult" environment (truth be told, I get along better with my friends' parents than with my actual friends).

So, I am wondering if the store's class/clientèle affect the experience. Does a higher end store bring in more tolerable customers? My sister deals with a number of winners at Pac Sun. And I've stood in line behind some dreadful customers at Macys. For some reason, I have not seen this at Nordstrom or Saks.
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Old 05-19-2011, 06:12 PM
 
Location: home state of Myrtle Beach!
6,894 posts, read 22,476,326 times
Reputation: 4560
Watch the clearance sales; if they have a lot of them you are going to be dealing with customer's that can't usually afford to buy from a L&T and many of them aren't kind to the merchandise they look over.
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Old 05-19-2011, 08:36 PM
 
Location: London
1,583 posts, read 3,672,137 times
Reputation: 1335
I'm not the expert on retail, haven't worked retail in years...but you aren't necessarily safe from entitled jerk customers in a department store setting, or around adults. They just have more money to spend, is all. (Plus I wouldn't really consider L+T to be "higher end"...but on the better side of most shopping mall-type stores.) They'd be fewer and further in between though, and it sounds like a nice environment. Good luck with the position!
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Old 05-19-2011, 11:27 PM
 
Location: Striving for Avalon
1,431 posts, read 2,475,491 times
Reputation: 3451
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doobage View Post
I'm not the expert on retail, haven't worked retail in years...but you aren't necessarily safe from entitled jerk customers in a department store setting, or around adults. They just have more money to spend, is all. (Plus I wouldn't really consider L+T to be "higher end"...but on the better side of most shopping mall-type stores.) They'd be fewer and further in between though, and it sounds like a nice environment. Good luck with the position!
Well, it's not Barney's true, but it's high(er) against most of America.
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Old 05-20-2011, 01:03 AM
 
7,971 posts, read 7,328,574 times
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The area where we lived years ago had a lot of wealthier New York transplants who frequented the upscale department store where I worked in the management office (I was secretary to the DM). Some of them were so incredibly rude! (My apologies to you New Yorkers, I know you are not all like this). They didn't always handle the merchandise nicely, either. Some of them used to get on their high horse and call the office a lot, criticizing our merchandise, complaining about our sales people, etc. One of them even insulted Pennsylvania for being full of "ignorant farmers". Where the heck do you think your food comes from, lady?
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Old 05-20-2011, 06:14 AM
 
Location: London
1,583 posts, read 3,672,137 times
Reputation: 1335
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mrs. Skeffington View Post
The area where we lived years ago had a lot of wealthier New York transplants who frequented the upscale department store where I worked in the management office (I was secretary to the DM). Some of them were so incredibly rude! (My apologies to you New Yorkers, I know you are not all like this). They didn't always handle the merchandise nicely, either. Some of them used to get on their high horse and call the office a lot, criticizing our merchandise, complaining about our sales people, etc. One of them even insulted Pennsylvania for being full of "ignorant farmers". Where the heck do you think your food comes from, lady?
I'm not originally from New York, but I wish some of the people in "our" forum who are always complaining about transplants would read your post! They're not so well-behaved themselves!
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Old 05-20-2011, 07:08 AM
 
7,971 posts, read 7,328,574 times
Reputation: 12041
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doobage View Post
I'm not originally from New York, but I wish some of the people in "our" forum who are always complaining about transplants would read your post! They're not so well-behaved themselves!
The worst was this one lady who, I swear to God, would call the office weekly, with some kind of gripe. It would start off about the store, or the merchandise, or the staff, then would escalate into snarking about the town, then Pennsylvania in general. The DM, of course, would never be available to speak to her, and I ended up having my work interrupted to listen to her insults. We had no "thee-ay-tuh" (I guess she didn't mean movies), no decent "res-ta-rants", Pennsylvania had no "cul-cha"...we were a bunch of ignorant "faah-mahs"...you get the picture. And I apologize, I don't intend to offend you New Yorkers, but Customer Service (who also took the brunt from her when I wasn't available) and I used to do these comedy routines immitating her amongst ourselves. The store I worked for was very much upscale, but they did have to tone it down a bit to cater to the local economy and typical shoppers who couldn't afford high end designer clothes for example, but who did mostly shop for the "better ready to wear" and were very good customers.
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Old 05-20-2011, 08:50 AM
 
17,815 posts, read 25,574,545 times
Reputation: 36267
I wouldn't assume that just because you work in a higher end store that the clients will treat you better.

I knew someone who worked in retail in Beverly Hills for years and came in contact with many famous people.

Some were wonderful, others he said treated you like something they stepped in.

Money doesn't buy class.
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Old 05-20-2011, 11:26 AM
 
Location: Ayrsley
4,713 posts, read 9,675,913 times
Reputation: 3824
There are rude, classless jerks at all income levels.
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Old 05-25-2011, 05:00 PM
 
Location: middle of everywhere
1,863 posts, read 4,291,866 times
Reputation: 1915
Everytime I've been in L&T on Fifth, it's so quiet even with people shopping in there. I buy more clothes at Macy's, but if I could work in L&T, I would jump at it.
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