Anyone work in retail?

[christa112]

Good luck getting a job at a school. Those jobs are harder to come by than a retail job. Every mom would love to work when their kids go to school and be off when they are off.

Your best bet for getting a job with no weekends would be at your local school! Many moms work at schools so that they can be home when their kids are home.

 

[tkitty]

I have worked most of my life in retail. Currently, 15 years as a hourly supervisor for Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is one that will be hiring when others are not.
As far as I know, most larger retail places start out at a bit over min. wage, but your experience may bring that up. Most places won't even look twice at you if you are not available weekends. Nights and weekends are the busy times for any big retailers.
Both Target and Wal-Mart should take your application at the stores kiosk.
I do a lot of interviewing at work, and we have been only hiring part-time lately. We always seem to be hiring though, retail does have a big turnover.

 

[autumnsmommy]

19 years at Wally for me, another hourly supervisor and also community involvement coordinator. I like what I'm doing, I get a merchandise discount and many other affinity discounts.
There's not much chance of being hired without having open availability, but if you stick around long enough something may open up that suits your scheduling needs better. And usually the more hours you are available, the more hours you get.
There's always third shift, at least that way you are only working one shift and not bouncing all over the place.

 

[crazelion]

HomeGoods, TJ Maxx or Marshells has early morning shifts. I know use to work 7:00 am. to 11:00 a.m. Monday- Friday. I did have work Black Friday we was not busy like Best Buy was.

 

[LaurenLC]

I am an hr executive for a really large, well known department store... We DO have set schedules. They are the best thing in the world for our associates and frankly I don't understand why other retailers don't use them. They are four week rotations and they are great for associates and managers.
ANYONE that wants to work retail be prepared to work half of your weekends and have day or night availability during the week..
Happy job searching!

 

[Belle Ella]

The one and only job I have ever had has been at Target and I've been there for closing in on 5 years now (first job I got out of High School). The department that I work does most of it's work during the actual week and most of the rest of my team doesn't work weekends except for me since I got sucked into our Ad rotation and have been stuck there ever since and our schedules are set as far as the days, but sometimes hours are cut and we get off earlier, but it's still the same days. I can't remember the last time that I had to look at my schedule.

 

[Princess April]

I work in retail and the schedule you have varies greatly with the kind of job that you work within the store.... I work for Publix. I started off as a pt. cashier, ALL nights and weekends. But, over time, I worked my way "up" and now I'm the Administrative Coordinator (only 1 per store) and I have a set schedule. Sat. 8 a.m.-whenever I'm done (could be noon, could be 5 p.m., it's up to me) Sun - off. Monday- 8-5, Tues. 8-5, Wed - off, Thurs 8-5 and Friday 8-5 (unless I have time to cut from Saturday) I'm f/t only 40 hrs. a week for me! I have been at Publix since I was in high school and I really don't know how the "normal" people do it... no day off during the week????.... How do you do your dr.'s appointments??? banking???. I also love the fact that you can totally have random vacation times... no fighting the summer crowds for us!!!!! Dh and I both work in retail (he is a department manager) so we basically have our schedule worked around our daughter (his varies, mine no.) So we only have to take DD to her "nanny" 2-3 days a week, talk about a budget saver!!!! Another cool thing is that my schedule and (and dh's up to a point) is flexible so when DD has a field trip next year we can go without missing a day of work!
Se there are a lot of benefits to working in retail... also another thing to consider ... while tons of other businesses are going "belly up" the grocery business is doing well.... No lay-offs here!

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I've been at Home Depot for around 3.5 years and DW Lauri was with Hallmark for nearly 26 years.

Home Depot could be a possibility since the company is putting more of a focus on customer service and having associates on the floor to provide customer service. Yes, they had some layoffs, but they were primarily outside the orange boxes, at the corporate level or from the Expos closing.

Benefits and schedules can vary widely. Weekend availability is pretty much a given, although exemptions for religious reasons can be made. Some positions do have set schedules -- mainly operations like receiving or bookkeeping. Sometimes associates with seniority can get set schedules but that may vary from location to location and manager to manager. I was able to request and get every Tuesday off so that when DW was working and she had Tuesdays off we knew we had a day off together; I still have that arrangement so she knows a definite day when she can schedule doctor appointments.

Benefits at THD include insurance and stock purchasing, but they do not offer employee discounts. Reason is that the founders wanted to give benefits with long-term impact, such as insurance and stock, even for part timers.

ETA: I like the job pretty well. We have a good crew and a pretty good management team. Of course, every store is going to be different. Poor management or coworkers hard to work with can make any job hard, retail or no.

 

[Laurabearz]

I am looking to jump back into the retail market. This has been very informative

 

[christa112]

I can definately understand this. I am not sure that I could work 5 days in a row anymore. I have the same schedule as you, off on Sun & Wed. It does suck not to have Saturdays off sometimes, but what are you going to do. I have a pretty flexible schedule and can make my own schedule and get Saturdays off if I need them. Sometimes my corporate office gives me a hard time, but I pitch a fit and get my way.

I work in retail and the schedule you have varies greatly with the kind of job that you work within the store.... I work for Publix. I started off as a pt. cashier, ALL nights and weekends. But, over time, I worked my way "up" and now I'm the Administrative Coordinator (only 1 per store) and I have a set schedule. Sat. 8 a.m.-whenever I'm done (could be noon, could be 5 p.m., it's up to me) Sun - off. Monday- 8-5, Tues. 8-5, Wed - off, Thurs 8-5 and Friday 8-5 (unless I have time to cut from Saturday) I'm f/t only 40 hrs. a week for me! I have been at Publix since I was in high school and I really don't know how the "normal" people do it... no day off during the week????.... How do you do your dr.'s appointments??? banking???. I also love the fact that you can totally have random vacation times... no fighting the summer crowds for us!!!!! Dh and I both work in retail (he is a department manager) so we basically have our schedule worked around our daughter (his varies, mine no.) So we only have to take DD to her "nanny" 2-3 days a week, talk about a budget saver!!!! Another cool thing is that my schedule and (and dh's up to a point) is flexible so when DD has a field trip next year we can go without missing a day of work!
Se there are a lot of benefits to working in retail... also another thing to consider ... while tons of other businesses are going "belly up" the grocery business is doing well.... No lay-offs here!

 

[raysnkaysmom]

DD# 1 works at Kohls part-time (she's in college). While she doesn't mind it, business at her store has really slowed down. While she used to get about 24-26 hours a week she's now been getting 12-16 hours per week. Her store hasn't hired anyone new in a long time.

DD#2 works in a grocery store and is always busy. She averages 20-26 hours per week. No matter what happens people have to buy groceries.

I'm a mgr at Kohls, and this is the norm. During the holidays (prior and slightly after) most our part timers were between 25-30... now, yeah, sadly, some only get 4-12 hrs a week... BUT...we aren't hiring new people or laying off.

Pardon me for intruding on the thread...although I have worked in retail, so I could share my experience after. Did I read right in regard to insurance? You work four hours a week and carry insurance for all of you? Wow, that's great if you do.

I've worked in retail in several different stores. Disney, Victoria's Secret, an art gallery, now I work in banking.

All different forms of retail. Quite frankly, it's all very similar. And the thing that I find is it's all about who you work with. You can love a job and if the people around you are positive people, it's great. And if you're surrounded by a bunch of negative nellies, it can be a huge downer. So I would take a good look at whoever your interviewer is (hopefully someone who works there) and maybe ask some questions that will help you determine what the work environment is like. Or, if you know someone who already works there, that helps, too.

Yeah, we have a girl at Kohls who ONLY works Saturday nights in jewelry, and she does it solely for the insurance. Kohls is nice in offering insurance to part time associates after time in the company....

Not to hijack your thread, but I have a few questions about retail.

Do you have to work on the weekends?

Are there rotating schedules?

Would they give you a set schedule if you asked for one?

I'm thinking for applying for a retail position, but I really don't want to work on the weekends. I don't mind if it's a few weekends but not all weekends.

Would that be a problem?

Generally, if someone puts no weekends on their app, it gets put aside. Just not condusive to our busy time.
We can rotate schedules for the right applicant
Can also do a set schedule, but again, right applicant. Has to be worth it.


Just for those curious, if you do NEED something part time and Kohls is nearby, I've learned we mostly (in our Atlanta locations anyways) need ad set associates.. and they generally are from 7pm-1am, and can be anywhere from 1-4 nights a week, varying. Otherwise, most are generally not hiring, but always take apps.

 

[Grandmouse]

I work part-time for a major department store, nights and weekends only. We get our schedules three weeks in advance but there is no pattern to the scheduling so we really can't plan ahead. We work all holidays except Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. If you are late or call-off (mgmt doesn't care if you are sick), points are deducted and that goes against any raise you might be getting. I haven't had a Saturday/Sunday off in months. They expect you to have no life, that the store is your life. It used to be fun, it had a real "family" feel until a "bigger cheese" bought us out a few years ago.

 

[Nie0214]

I work part-time for a major department store, nights and weekends only. We get our schedules three weeks in advance but there is no pattern to the scheduling so we really can't plan ahead. We work all holidays except Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. If you are late or call-off (mgmt doesn't care if you are sick), points are deducted and that goes against any raise you might be getting. I haven't had a Saturday/Sunday off in months. They expect you to have no life, that the store is your life. It used to be fun, it had a real "family" feel until a "bigger cheese" bought us out a few years ago.

I can agree with most of this comment.

I worked for JCPenney during my last semester of college. I was going to school, working 30+ hours, volunteering, etc. I had mono in December, and it was awful. I couldn't get out of bed one day because I was so weak. I called out of my 4 hour shift, told them I would bring in a doctor's note, etc. The manager who answered asked, "Are you SURE you're sick and can't come in?" I just wanted to scream at her that she could wash my sheets covered in sweat or the toilet bowl I was hacking in, etc.

I liked my coworkers, they were mostly high school girls, so they were about 4-6 years younger than me but there was definitely a team atmosphere. There were a few rude managers here and there (like the one who did the above to me), but many were normal human beings.

After I got my full-time job when school ended, I told them I would work weekends if they needed help. My manager at the time was a great guy and would schedule me here and there. I told him that I would be 200 miles away on a certain date and to take me off the schedule, he said sure. I got a call from a head manager that morning yelling at me for not opening my department. My awesome manager had apparently give his notice and left the company, and I never got scheduled again. It really wasn't a loss for me, I was doing it for fun.

Be prepared for the phone calls asking you to come in on short notice. Be prepared for never being able to plan a day-trip away, let alone a weekend or a full-on vacation. You will work hard if you're in a clothing department. I worked in childrens/juniors and the dressing rooms could be torture.

Also, don't expect to be hired with only a small window of availability. Like the person above me said, they expect you to have no life. I was lucky during my last semester, I was on campus on Tues/Thur for 11 hours and didn't have to go to campus any other day, so I was available 5 full days for JCP.