Was anyone a retail manager before children? What are the pros/cons??

[fairymommy]

:)fairymommy

[Reya]

:)fairymommy

 

Cons: low pay, bad hours

Pros: Umm...still thinking, here.... :-P Commission?

[Jenny in Atl]

Cons: low pay, bad hours

Pros: Umm...still thinking, here.... :-P Commission?

 

Ditto... except I never was on commission. Only positive was the discount on bks (B Dalton & Chapter 11) and all the home stuff from (Linens & Things).

 

Retail is really a hard way to go....

[Reya]

Ditto... except I never was on commission. Only positive was the discount on bks (B Dalton & Chapter 11) and all the home stuff from (Linens & Things).

 

Retail is really a hard way to go....

 

 

In interests of full disclosure, I was a grunt and not a manager, but STILL...

[Greta]

I was (I know that's weird, B.S. in Zoology and I ended up managing a retail clothing store because you take what you can get when you have student loans to pay off!).

 

Cons: Terrible hours. It stinks to be working 60 hour weeks during what's supposed to be the happiest time of the year. Rude customers who think customer service means tolerating their bullying.

 

Pros: Employee discount is a plus . . . assuming you like their product. I made some good friends. If you're a "people person" you'll probably enjoy it. The work is not exactly challenging or difficult or stressful, so it's really easy to leave it behind at the end of the day and not carry home any "baggage".

[Kay in Cal]

My dh was a manager at Barnes & Noble.

 

There were some good things: Full benefits. 401 K. All that stuff.

 

The employee discount was awesome, but of course, we spent WAY more than we saved. He only worked 40 hours a week, though his hours were weird. But he had some control over what hours he chose to work.

[Tarheel Heather]

:)fairymommy

 

My dh was the general manager for the largest retailer: hours were horrid, worked constantly, there were no holidays for us as a family, the stress was ridiculous.

 

He was well compensated, but he left after 15 years. Now we have a life again!

[Riverfront Headmistress]

:lol:I thought the post title asked if anyone was a retail manager of children.....

[nancypants]

Cons: low pay, bad hours

Pros: Umm...still thinking, here.... :-P Commission?

 

Ditto that! Well... I was only a department manager but still... I shudder to think of it... :blink:

[mcconnellboys]

Well, years ago, the cons were back-breaking (literally) work and varicose veins, sometimes, or other problems due to long hours standing on concrete floors. Weird hours, like a lot of the service industry....

 

Pros? I guess the fast-pace of some larger, more competitive stores. Retail has really changed in the past 20 years, so there's not as much glam as there used to be. Nordstrom's, I think, and other higher end stores still offer some glam, perhaps.... Good manager's could move up fast and make great commissions, in some instances. Good managers who inspired a loyal customer following (unheard of, these days), had good job security back then, too....

[Mommy22alyns]

Cons - the holidays!!! Anything from Thanksgiving forward, forget it. And if you don't love people now, holidays in retail won't make you love them. At all.

 

Signed,

A former "retail rat" (and DH was too) ;)

[scrappyhappymama]

I worked in retail management all through college and then again when DH went back to college.

 

Pros:

~It can be a lot of fun. I really loved merchandising and working with the public and seeing my efforts pay off in strong sales.

~The odd hours can be a benefit while you are going to school. I was able to work full time and go to school full time. (aaah to be young and full of crazy energy again)

~The discounts and getting first dibs on all the bargains.

 

Cons:

~The hours. I worked 55-60 hours a week most weeks. I worked a lot of nights and weekends. I did it for a year with a baby and a toddler and it really stunk.

~The pay is not great, especially considering the number of hours you put in.

~Holidays can be nuts. I actually enjoyed the time of year from the business standpoint, but for a decade I never got to go see my folks for the holidays.

~Spending more than I needed to on "bargains."

~Dealing with people can sometimes be really frustrating and even disturbing. Oh the stories I could tell....

[KidsHappen]

You really have to be cut out for it. I loved it because I need the fast pace. I don't know what the going rates are these days but it paid pretty good when I was doing it especially if you reach the general manager level. Bonuses are pretty good as well. You almost always get some kind of discount, some places better than others. At the manager level you have pretty good benefits. Competition is not too tough either. Not a lot of people want to do it and lots who start out don't stick around.

 

It's not so compatible with raising children though. You usually work 50-70 hours a week, more if you have your own store. And you are usually required to rotate shifts so the hours are never the same. You always have to work holidays. The worse part was dealing with really bad customer problems. I have had to call the police or break up violence more than once. Employee problems are pretty bad too but I think that you have those as a manager anywhere you go. Turn over is really bad in retail so you are constantly looking to hire people.

 

If I ever go back to work after the children are grown it will probably be as a retail manager. I have my sights set on a book store.

[Mrs Mungo]

When I worked retail (back in the day) I refused to take a manager position a couple of times because it would have meant increasing my hours and *cutting* (yes, cutting) my pay because I would have been on salary instead of hourly/commission. I would definitely find out how the pay, benefits and responsibilities stack up v. being a regular employee.

[kdeno]

Yikes, it is a lot of hours. Something I enjoyed much more was working in cosmetics at a dept store. There is a lot more freedom that way! I will try to write more later.

 

Kari

[TN Mama]

Former retail manager here...

 

Cons: working nights, weekends, holidays, rude people, low wage

Pros: employee discount, depending on what the store sales, could be fun.

 

I worked in music retail and loved it! Of course, I was young and could afford to blow my paychecks on cds and concerts. :) I did learn to appreciate so many different genres of music and I had the opportunity to meet some really fun & famous people.

[Laurie4b]

Sister and mother have been. Some of it depends on retail for what.

 

Sister was manager in a retail clothing store. They make you buy all new outfits when the new stuff comes in and it's only about 15% discount. The pay is not great, so the clothes are a big hit on the paycheck. It is HARD on your feet and legs. It is boring. You have to be nice to customers who are rude. You have to handle people who are shoplifting.

 

Furniture was better. Mom managed for a long time. Good pay. Physical labor involved in moving furniture, etc. around (even for a manager at a high end store). Grouchy customers. Quarreling sales staff. Sales staff trying to get away with stuff. People to fire. It's not a low-stress job.

[teamturner]

I agree with what others have said about the bad hours, working most weekends and holidays, nasty people. And I felt it WAS very stressful at times since as the department manager, the achievement of the sales goal was all my responsibility. I could never enjoy my days off especially if we had nice weather since I knew that no one would be shopping when it was so nice outside (I lived in Florida at the time). That's pretty sad when you want it to rain and spoil your chance to be at the beach or out on a boat. :confused: Also, I felt like a barely got to spend time with my husband.

 

The pros were geting to be in the fashion industry (I worked at a high end specialty retailer based in Dallas ;)), there were some perks and it was definantly never boring or dull. It's a very fast paced and exciting, although superficial, world imho. Once my desire to start a family entered the equation, my heart wasn't in it anymore. I eventually got a nice retail inventory management job that was Mon-Fri 9-5 type where I rarely had to even be in a store and got to travel to some nice places. Then finally I got to be a mommy :D. I try to be very nice to all retail employees as I know it is a very hard job!

[Tess in the Burbs]

I was hired on/trained for a local running store when in WA state. I wasn't a runner, but they needed someone :-) I learned tons and really enjoyed helping women find shoes to walk/run/etc in . I moved into manager very quickly. I managed teenagers. Who don't show up to work often. Who call in sick often. Whose mom calls them in sick often. Who 'forget' often they are closing and have the only extra key which requires the other worker to call the manager(me) during yoga class. And I always forgot to turn off the phone and it would ring and ring until they threw me out of yoga class. Oh yes, I opened and closed more times than my dog would ever forgive me for.

 

Now, pay was low but I got to wear running pants/shoes to work :D

Having to work Saturdays wasn't great, but getting shoes at a BIG discount was cool.:D

Dealing with teenagers? Awful experience I don't wish to ever repeat...

 

i personally think retail is horrible. Work your butt off waiting tables for a few hours and make some real money. retail is slow and pays too little.

[sadiegirl]

The hours were the main thing with me. Especially around the holidays as that is retail prime time. And I'm talking about 13 years ago when stores only opened early at 9:00 and closed at 10:00. Now the stores are opened ridiculous hours during the holidays!

Plus, I liked the discount but as they say...the discount cost me more in the long run as I spent more there.