I worked several retail jobs in college and first year of law school. First was at the best bikini store in the beach area. Next I moved up to surf/beach wear, but that store was at the mall. Finally, I worked at The Limited, also at the mall. That was good for starting to build my soon-to-be lawyer work wardrobe. My D17 is now working retail this summer, both at J Crew and Sunglass Hut. Great discount at both. If I were to work retail today, I think I would work at either Lululemon, or a high end jewelry store. I liked that Tiffany suggestion above.
I had one retail job in high school—worked on Sundays (my mother wouldn’t allow me to work more) for a small grocery store. I started at 8 am and there were no customers until just before noon. One summer, (still during high school) I worked in a gift shop at a high-end hotel/resort. I wanted to waitress there, but they only hired men to be waiters in the hotel restaurant. In college, not sure if restaurant work is considered retail, but I was a hostess at my uncle’s restaurant and later got promoted to waitress. If I had to work retail, I would work in an art gallery. I actually do know a gallery owner (where we have a vacation home) who would probably hire me.
Oooh, definitely a quilt/fabric store! Our local quilt shop is always looking for people and I’ve given it some thought. Worked at one when I first moved to Phila in 1983.
Bookstores would also be cool.
If I could handle the physical requirements, Costco.
BTDT with food service. No thanks.
I worked at Barnes & Noble part-time for many years while my kids were young (retail hours allowed me to work when my husband was home). Loved the 30% store discount (40% at Christmas time!). I was exposed to lots of great new books, and I bought way too much. I usually gave books as gifts. Retail is always challenging. But I truly enjoyed it. I liked helping customers find what they were looking for or making suggestions. The Children’s Dept. was the best! I’d work there again.
@Creekland. That’s awesome. Good to know
**I would commit seppukku before working retail. Thankfully, I’ve never been in a public-facing job. The public is best served by my not having to deal with them. **
My first job was selling sheets and towels at Lord and Taylor. I made $57 a week which was paid in cash in a little envelope. I worked lots of other retail jobs when I was young. Now that I’m retired I get to work at a fabric and quilt shop.
Earned 19 IRS W-2s by the time i graduated college. Selling seafood at the city market was a glamour job. Buds looked forward to my crab feasts and always had a seat on the bus to myself (Phew, stinky!). Parking cars downtown was also glam - cool cars, attractive older women ( they must have been 29, or older!). There was a dark side … learned about hookers . Can’t stomach this Epstein guy who is the news these days. Lasted one day day selling men’s outwear at Montgomery Ward – what a bore. Got fired after one week at a Jewish deli because i couldn’t memorize the names of all those salamis.
Upon retirement from my “professional” career I hope to be a storm water inspector,…more fun than golf and, in either case, I am always in the weeds!
@Wellspring, do you get a discount on the machines? That would be a major attraction to me, as I want a machine with a wide enough throat to quilt, but I don’t have $$ or space for a full-on long arm. Of course, pay vs fabric/equipment would be a total wash.
I worked in bookstores for years, from my senior year in high school through college and occasionally beyond. I wouldn’t mind doing it again in an emergency, but I won’t work weekends or evenings, which pretty much rules retail out.
@abasket We still have 3 scrapbook stores within just a few miles of me. We are lucky!
And we have 4 quilt shops! I wouldn’t make anything working at either!
My daughter is working at an American Eagle outlet store and a Children’s Place store in the mall this summer. She really likes her managers and co-workers. Both employers are accommodating about her hours, so she can coordinate her schedule. Of course, that’s because employers in Maine are DESPERATE for help!
Anthropologie, a local bookstore, local nursery would be my picks.
I worked at Montgomery Wards in high school in the infant and children’s department. I learned to put together baby furniture. I hated that the manager would take crib orders and promise delivery by a certain date. Never happened and I’d have to deal with the upset parents to be. I also worked in a small gift shop in a tourist location one summer during college. Hated dusting all the merchandise.
I worked in retail plenty as a teen, soft serve ice cream shop, grocery store cashier, seasonal gift wrapping at a nice local department store just to name a few. If I were going to work retail now I would like to work in the local gourmet cooking store in the little downtown where I currently spend summers in Maine. Just visiting the wall of gadgets brings wonder to any foodie. It’s hard to imagine any customer being grumpy when buying a new special piece of cooking equipment for themselves or as a gift.
I have never worked any retail job. And I can’t think of any retail place I would like to work. I would work for Shipt and buy groceries for others, but I’d be pretty particular about the orders I’d take. Not signing up for 20 cases of 20-oz bottles of water.
I don’t do very well working for others. Best if I’m in charge.
I worked in retail in high school and college, and I would work for my former employers again. They were lovely, and treated us all like human beings.
A national park gift shop (I work in one as a volunteer now) or a museum gift shop. Both have happy people usually.
As a young person, I worked in a grocery store (freezing cold and nasty supervisors) and a store that sold swimming pools and supplies (irritated customers and lecherous supervisors, but at least I met my husband there).
If I had to work retail, I would want to work somewhere where the products are inexpensive and don’t break much, so you don’t have irritated people coming in and complaining (like the swimming pool store customers who had problems with their expensive filter equipment or who couldn’t use their pools on a day when they had guests because they’d messed up with the chemicals and the pool was full of algae). If there were still bookstores, I would love to work in one, but they are few and far between now. So maybe a Hallmark store – cards and gift wrap and suchlike.
The only retail place I think I could tolerate now would be a bookstore. I no longer wish to tolerate the general public, having totally burned out on that working for the Census Bureau as a regular field worker doing their regular, ongoing surveys.
My prior retail experience: during a semester off from college, I worked at the Stamford, CT Bloomingdale’s Trim-a-Tree Shop. Later, I worked at the flagship downtown Filene’s in Boston, first in the candy department on the first floor, then in a couple of the lower-priced women’s clothing departments, also on the first floor. Believe me, you saw a lot of characters working on the first floor of a major downtown department store!
I worked only one. Newport Creamery. A small chain like Friendlies. Cleaned bathrooms and washed floors before opening in AM. Then was responsible for hand packing the pint and half gallon containers in the freezer. It included hand making the ChipWhich. Two Choc chip cookies with vanilla ice cream in between. 15 minutes in freezer and 5 minutes out to warm back up. Alllll day long. lol. Finally promoted to take out window. I thought it was like hitting the lottery.
FYI. Rode bike there in AM. Approx 10 miles each way. No ride or parents to drop off like today. Different time.