Belts

I admit it. I never used to be a fan of wearing belts unless it was for a specific purpose, like holding up pants on my waist.

Now, however, I am a HUGE fan of belts!! Belts really do flatter everyone’s figure and they make your waist seem smaller by drawing attention to it (weird, I know).

So, the next time you’re shopping for clothes, try on a belt. Try it over a blouse. Try it with a longer cardigan. Try it with a dress!! You’ll be amazed at what a little cinching can do for your figure.

My BFF is Leaving

Everyone has a best friend at work, right?

At my full-time job, I am fortunate and blessed to have multiple close friends. I enjoy working with them Monday through Friday and I also love hanging out with them when we're not at work.

At my part-time retail job, I also have such a friend. I'll call her S.

S is the co-manager of my store and she's being transferred to another, local store. It's a promotion for her, actually, as the store to which she is being transferred does more volume than my store.

From Day One, when I was a retail novice, S trained me and showed me the ins and outs of Retail World. If S and I worked the morning shift together, she and I would get coffee before the store opened.

S and I would talk about anything and everything. She made it such a joy to come to work.

S is the only person older than me who works at the store, so she's like a surrogate big sister and mentor. S and I are two peas in a pod. And S is leaving. And I'm so sad.

S always scheduled me to work great shifts. She'd never overburden me or ask me to work crazy hours. She was patient when I screwed up, and she always helped to fix my mistakes.

S also has GREAT fashion sense!! I've tried on clothes that S has suggested (that I otherwise would never have tried) and she's taught me about the importance of accessorizing (belts, jewelry, scarves, etc.). I'll always be grateful to her for helping me create a new, stylish wardrobe!!

Although S will be just up the road, I'll miss her daily, calming presence at my store. We've already made plans to see each other soon and I know we'll be life-long friends.

But there was something about walking out of the store after my shift ended today, knowing this was the last time I'd work with S in the same place.

It's bittersweet -- I'm really happy she's getting this professional opportunity, but I'll miss her.

I'll miss my friend.

Get A Card!!

One thing that’s drilled into each sales associate is to open credit cards for this store’s national chain. I am brand-loyal with two such cards – one for my store and another card for another store at which I frequent.

The cards aren’t bad, really. There’s no annual fee and you can save 15 percent off your total purchase when you first open an account. That’s a significant savings when you spend a lot of dough on clothes.

Add to that the coupons and e-mail promotions you receive from this store year-round, and you have great incentive to take two extra minutes to apply for a card.

My personal best has been opening six cards in one day -- this just happened last weekend. There is a little tally sheet behind the register where you get to mark how many cards you’ve opened each day.

I always take great pride in marking down the number of cards I’ve opened. It’s like getting a gold star from your teacher on a homework assignment well done… my manager is always happy when I open a card and expects me to do it every shift I work.

I have found that the secret to having clients agree to open a card is to begin discussing the concept in the fitting room.

I know that when a client takes a large amount of clothes into the fitting room to try on, and comes out to admire herself in the three-way mirror and likes what she sees, this becomes the perfect opportunity to talk about the card and how to save 15 percent off her purchase.

Sometimes this tactic works, and other times it does not. In this economy, when people consider that they can save even $20, it becomes less work to convince clients to open a card.

I’ve also had clients open a card on a $10 purchase, which saves them $1.50 after the 15 percent is applied.

I’ve learned that if you don’t ask, the client won’t ever have the opportunity to say “yes.”

Famous People

Yes, we do have clients come into the store who are famous, locally speaking.

There is a retired TV weatherman who once came in with his wife. I sold her an adorable blue jacket and she was most appreciative.

We usually have a lot of female TV anchors come into the shop, as well. There’s a certain weather girl on the local news who always wears our sweaters.

There’s a well-known, female race-car driver who came in the other day, and she left her “unwanteds” lying on the bench in the dressing room (see previous post about “go-backs”). Could she really not hang them back up in some form or fashion and put them on the go-back rack?

And then, when she proceeded to pay for her purchases, she asked if the pants were on sale. No, they were not on sale. In fact, I told her she had to pay double (just kidding!!). But that’s what I felt like saying.

We’ve also had the mayor’s wife come in, as well as the former governor’s wife. Neither bought anything.

It just goes to show you that I wear the same clothes that famous folks do... I just pay a lot less.

Half-Open or Half-Closed?

We have two doors at the entrance of our store. They open out pretty wide to welcome you into Retail World.

The other night at 8:55 p.m. (five minutes before official closing time), I closed one of the two doors. My co-worker made a comment that she felt like doing such made a statement to people that screamed, “We’re about to close up shop for the night, so don’t bother coming in!!”

Faithful readers, do you believe this to be true? Please be honest, as I had not thought about this angle previously.

If you came across a store with one door open and one door closed at five minutes before closing time, would you feel annoyed? Angry? Upset? Bothered? Or would it possibly serve to inform you that the store is closing soon?

I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts and comments.