The end of a retail career, one reader's viewpoint

Discount Store News, August 18, 1997 by Jennifer Negley

When IMRA president Bob Verdisco turned in his column for the May 19 issue of Discount Store News, none of us had an inkling of the response it would provoke. The column, "I went to college so I wouldn't have to work in retail," was a call to action of sorts, urging retailers to consider the ways in which their companies can change young peoples' perceptions about retail careers.

Most of the letters on the subject we've received since have been pro-retail. Some of them appear in this issue on page 12.

The column also prompted one particularly eloquent letter about the downside of retailing from a woman in the Midwest. Due to some personal references in the letter, her name is being withheld. but the letter is worth sharing if only as a reminder of how the most enthusiastic workers can grow disillusioned with the field.

"I would like to give you another reason why `young people nowadays don't seem to find retailing careers very appealing.' It's the hours we are expected to work.

"I am a 31-year-old loss prevention manager for a major department store. and my husband is a district manager for a CE chain. We used to love our retail careers, but now are looking for other options. hoping to save our failing marriage because one or the other of us is always at work.

"A year ago. I left a higher paying loss prevention manager position at one of the Big Three discounters because I was tired of working various hours between 7 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. seven days a week. Our chain was also rumored to be going to a 24-hour format in the near future, was open every holiday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. except Christmas (every year we waited to hear that this was the year we would be open), and until midnight on Christmas Eve.

"There are no holidays in retail. I have not had a weekend off in over two years because, as you know, holidays and weekends are peak times. Vacations are encouraged during the slow periods (February and March). frowned upon during spring and summer months and forbidden from September through January.

"Things are slightly better at the mall; we close at 9 p.m., 6 p.m. on Sundays, and we were closed on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. Also last year, we had holiday hours on Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Labor Day, but not this year. We will be open regular hours (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) on those days from this year on.

"My husband's position is much more demanding. He has not taken a full day off since Christmas 1996, and only then because his stores were closed. He did not take a vacation last year and has no plans for one this year. He is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week by pager, cell phone or three different voice mail boxes, is on the road at least 12 hours each day going from the office to his stores, and also travels out of town seven to 10 days each month. He has two children from a previous marriage that he rarely sees; sometimes he takes them to work with him just so he can spend time with them.

"We both had the advantage of 'rapid advancement' in our retail careers. We are now paying [for it] with a relationship that we don't have time for.

"The young people my store employs don't want careers in retail because they can see how much retail takes from people but does not give back.

"Several associates with real promise for advancement have already given up on retail just because they could not be given time off for school events. One such associate told our HR director that she intends to have a life outside her career. She quit after being denied a day off for a school-sponsored graduation party. (The associate was told to find someone to work her hours or take the points against her for not coming to work.)

"Wen associates are treated this way and are expected to work for minimum wage or slightly above, is it any wonder that young people don't want careers in retail?

"By opening earlier, closing later, staying open 24 hours and holidays, retail is sucking the life out of its employees. Major retailers need to realize this, or they won't find the dedicated, career-minded young people they so desperately are looking for."