<p>I’m a little creeped out by Abercrombie & Fitch, and Hollister.</p>
<p>Frequently when my D goes into either store to shop, a manager or employee will approach her out of the blue to ask her if she wants a job. Last month she and her BF were just WALKING PAST THE FRONT of Hollister and the manager came out of the store, stopped them and asked them if they’d be interested in working there! Yesterday she was shopping at both A&F and Hollister, and at both stores managers approached her and practically begged her to apply there. Why? I assume it’s because she’s pretty, slender, and looks good in their clothes. They have no idea of her age (she’s actually only 17 and thus unable to work at A&F) or her retail sales experience (none). They just know what she looks like, and apparently that’s all they need to know. Each time they’ve stopped her, she’s politely told them she’s not interested.</p>
<p>Why does this bother me? My son was job-hunting for 2 months before being hired at a warehouse. He’s a 20 year old college student with retail sales experience, good references, and a 3.8 GPA, but he wasn’t offered a job while shopping. And D’s best friend - bright, personable, and not unattractive - applied to work at Hollister 2 weeks ago and has yet to hear back from them. Yet the manager at this SAME store stopped D while she was shopping to offer her a job yesterday.</p>
<p>D has been offered jobs at 2 Hollisters near us, an A&F near us, and an A&F we shopped in while on vacation in another state, so it’s not like there’s one “rogue” manager on the lookout for good-looking teens to work there. </p>
<p>Ironically, D only buys clothes at A&F and Hollister if she has a gift card, or if she finds something she likes in the clearance section. Otherwise she shops at Charlotte Russe or Forever 21, neither of which has ever offered her a job.</p>
<p>There are tons of teens looking for jobs. I wonder how many of them have been overlooked by A&F and Hollister, while they are busy chasing down kids with the right look.</p>
<p>Why do most law firms have a very attractive young woman in the lobby of the firm at the desk? Why are the women news anchors on the local news usually very nice looking? In some places, the “right look” is everything. Especially at A&F and Hollister…</p>
<p>I worked there last summer, and yes, they do place a large emphasis on attractiveness. They want young people that fit the mold of their store, and those people are generally “pretty” and “preppy”. But, to be honest, they recommend A LOT of people to apply, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be hired. But your daughter CAN work there, just not at A&F (the adult clothing store), but at abercrombie (the children’s store).</p>
<p>Same thing happened to my son; ironically, it was before he could drive, so he would have had no way to get to work. And he wasn’t looking for a job anyway.</p>
<p>It is creepy, because they’re obviously looking for a “type.” And if you apply and you’re not the right type, too bad.</p>
<p>S2 has been searching for a job. He saw a car wash hiring sign. He is crazy about trucks/cars, has washed his to death. Went in and talked to the manager and was told they were only hiring girls. He looked around at that point and noticed only really cute girls in very short shorts. I’m sure he would have been a better car washer but wouldn’t have looked as good in the uniform…ugh.</p>
<p>The same thing has happened to my D so many times I have stopped counting, and these are just the times I have been with her. She has been approached by managers at several A&Fs, Ruehl, 2 different Gilly Hicks, Rugby and others. We live in the rural northwest, nearly 100 miles from major shopping malls, so its not like D is in a mall every week. I think she is cute, but Im her mother. After many years of classical ballet training she carries herself in that manner. She has a sweet smile and good fashion sense, which I think the store managers notice. For Ds 18th birthday we gave her a spa day at the nicest hotel in the closest city near us. They offered her a part-time receptionist job. Unfortunately, we live 2 hours away.</p>
<p>Abercrombie - The only thing I know about it is from those skits about the place on Mad TV. :)</p>
<p>Hollister - The only thing I know about it is that they make shirts with their name plastered on it in large letters and I wondered why anyone would want a shirt with ‘Hollister’ plastered on it - my having actually been to Hollister, Ca. and not being that impressed with the place. I think they should pay people to advertise on their shirts.</p>
<p>I can say my girls have never bought anything in those stores. We went there for the first time because we couldn’t think of anything to get for some friend’s kids in Australia. My head was pounding as soon as I walked in A&F. Even my girls tried to rush me out of there as soon as possible. They were having a huge sale (I am a real sucker for sales), I kept on asking them if they wanted anything, “Nope, don’t wear that, lets go.” Cashier tried to get us to try their latest fragrance. I said, “If it’s what I having been spelling since I walked in, there is no need to spread any more on me.”</p>
<p>There is nothing special about those stores, what they are selling is an image. They want you to believe if you wear those clothes you would look like their salespeople.</p>
<p>^The reason could be a very simple one: some folks would not want to be assisted in the dressing room by a salesperson of the opposite gender. How many male bra fitters does Nordstrom hire?;)</p>
<p>LOL, I agree with your assessments of these stores.</p>
<p>Oldfort, I agree about the loud music in these stores. But if your teen is a size 00, stores like A&F will have jeans that fit and are long enough to not look like you purchased them in the kids department.</p>
<p>Tututaxi - Hollister, Ruehl & Gilly Hicks are all owned by A&F. So there must be some sort of corporate policy to hunt down good-looking kids. </p>
<p>I agree that they are selling image. They want teens to walk into their stores and say, “Gee if I buy this outfit I’ll look like that gorgeous girl (or guy) who works here.” </p>
<p>Sadly, although their workers have the right “look”, we haven’t always found them to be enormously helpful. The last time D was trying to use up a gift card at A&F, we stood in front of the fitting rooms for several minutes waiting for someone to unlock a fitting room for her. There were 3 employees in the store, all within view of the fitting rooms. One was working at the cash register, the other two were sitting on the counter, chatting. Finally I had to walk over and ASK one of the counter-sitters to unlock the fitting room. </p>
<p>** Of course, Californialife, some of their employees are very helpful - as I’m sure you were!</p>
<p>Ah yes, S3 worked for Banana Republic. He exceeded sales goals, was usually able to up-sell with accessories, etc. got a great performance review and got his hours cut to 10 per week after the Regional manager was there. He is athletic and heavier and although he can and did wear their clothes, he is NOT the photo type they publish. I always thought he sold to girlfriends well because he looked like someone’s brother or boyfriend and they could see what the clothes looked like on a real person.</p>
<p>they call the employees who work in the stores “models”
that basically explains it.
they are on the lookout for people who fit the mold.
abercrombie/hollister/etc. are selling the “look”</p>
<p>for abercrombie its northeastern casual “preppy” (although it’s not really preppy at all)
and for hollister its californian beachy</p>
<p>and they try to find “models” who can help sell this look. employees also need to wear clothes from that brand while working and the perfume and everything. i’m pretty sure the store managers are responsible for making sure that they do everything they can to complete the picture, and are probably pressured into making sure they have an attractive staff that works with the brand’s image</p>
<p>i have a couple of friends who work there. actually i was just with one of them and we were all making fun of him since he reeked of hollister cologne, haha.</p>
<p>Packmom, I’m in agreement with usc<em>ucla</em>dad. The car wash only hiring girls is HIGHLY ILLEGAL. Unless they can show that gender is a bona fide occupational requirement, they can’t discriminate based on gender. (Ask the airlines, who lost this exact lawsuit and had to begin hiring male flight attendants in the 1970’s). From what I’ve read, just about the only true “bona fide occupation requirements” would apply to actors and wet nurses, although I bet Hooters could get away with it as well. ha ha</p>
<p>If your son isn’t employed yet, you might want to do a little internet research on employment laws, print out the info, and send him back to the car wash with his printouts… unless the name of the Car Wash is something akin to “Hooters.”</p>
<p>I agree that the town of Hollister, CA in the central valley is anything but beachy, but I’ve always assumed that the Hollister brand surf wear referred to the popular Hollister Beach/Hollister Ave. area of Santa Barbara. That Hollister is very beach and surf oriented.</p>
Yes . And if you go into any customer specific retail store their sales people will look the look .be it cosmetics at Nordstroms, designer handbags at Neimans, or a Volkswagen Passat dealer.</p>
<p>Oops, sorry, I didn’t catch that the “girls only” was the hiring policy at a carwash :eek: I thought we were talking about Hollister… I believe Hooters got sued by a couple of guys - I do not recall what happened to that suit.</p>