TinysMom
Well-Known Member
As many of you may know - I am a merchandiser. I work for um....8 companies now? Maybe more. I got hired one with one company last week - they begged and pleaded with me to go to a town 50 miles away to do a set-up on a fixture for sunglasses (what I'll be working on for them in MY town). Then they did the unthinkable - they offered me $100 for what SHOULD have been 3 or maybe 4 hours of work (since I'm new to it).
SO I bit.
SHAME ON ME!
I did the smart thing - before leaving town today - I even called the store to verify - did they have the fixture and product. Yes...they did.
So I go. I arrive at 9:30 - bringing Robin along to help me. This should be easy - we'll be out by noonish - maybe 1 pm at tops.
Right.
Well - the fixture is in place by 10 am or so...and according to the department manager - I'm to merge the old glasses on the old fixture into the new fixture along with some new glasses they have. I can handle this. We start merging.
I go back to the back and get handed four smallish boxes of glasses. If there are more - she'll page me. Ok...I can handle this. I take them back out.
We put them up. Its looking pretty good - but sparse - so we decide (after talking to the dept. manager) to try and merge the reading glasses in since we can make space (we don't have all the accessories we're supposed to have).
Now before I go further - let me explain. This store has not had service in months - maybe as much as a year. One company had the contract - they lost it - and now a new company has it.
I'm taking the trash back to receiving when the head of receiving says to me, "Oh good - you came back. I was worried when you didn't answer the page..".
I never heard her page...Robin thought she might have - but I thought they said, "XYZ" which is the name of my town - not MY name.
DUH.
So the receiving manager and I go to look - she has a PALLET of boxes which are mine. There are like 8 or 10 of them.....3 of which are HUGES.
I'm ready to cry.
She and I start talking and she says, "You know what? These three big boxes are the new company - the little ones are the old company...".
Great - we just put out four little boxes of the old company's glasses...so we get to pull them - plus redo the reading glasses we did - plus....well....you get the idea.
To top it off - not all the brands match the planogram. This is what is called "Visual merchandising" - you put the brands in the right spot - but try to arrange them so they are neat and attractive.
We have enough "Panama Jack" glasses for 2 1/2 towers....only its not on the planogram - and what is on the planogram - we don't have.
I try again to call my district manager. She told me, "I'll be available all day to take any questions or talk you through how to set this up."
Yep....she sure is....NOT!
She's in a meeting all day.
So after taking maybe 15 minutes of break time total....at 4:20 Robin and I finish the job.
It looks nice - so nice - the dept. manager and the store manager told me that they hope I am willing to accept the store and become their rep.
Meanwhile - the receiving manager is wanting to know what to do with all the boxes of old product she has...
....and per my company's instructions - I'm leaving the store w/ the discontinued, broken, and "missing price tag" glasses from the old display....
....all 133 pairs.
I still haven't figured out which pair looks best on Miss Bea...or Zeus...
So for a total of almost 14 man-hours of labor (vs. 4-6) ....I get $100 plus 133 pairs of sunglasses/reading glasses (I think there are 2 pairs in there).
WHINE.....
Oh - here's my display - I must admit - I'm proud of it even though I notice at least one pair of glasses was crooked for sure...
I forgot to add - part of what took so long - each pair of glasses was individually wrapped in plastic...
SO I bit.
SHAME ON ME!
I did the smart thing - before leaving town today - I even called the store to verify - did they have the fixture and product. Yes...they did.
So I go. I arrive at 9:30 - bringing Robin along to help me. This should be easy - we'll be out by noonish - maybe 1 pm at tops.
Right.
Well - the fixture is in place by 10 am or so...and according to the department manager - I'm to merge the old glasses on the old fixture into the new fixture along with some new glasses they have. I can handle this. We start merging.
I go back to the back and get handed four smallish boxes of glasses. If there are more - she'll page me. Ok...I can handle this. I take them back out.
We put them up. Its looking pretty good - but sparse - so we decide (after talking to the dept. manager) to try and merge the reading glasses in since we can make space (we don't have all the accessories we're supposed to have).
Now before I go further - let me explain. This store has not had service in months - maybe as much as a year. One company had the contract - they lost it - and now a new company has it.
I'm taking the trash back to receiving when the head of receiving says to me, "Oh good - you came back. I was worried when you didn't answer the page..".
I never heard her page...Robin thought she might have - but I thought they said, "XYZ" which is the name of my town - not MY name.
DUH.
So the receiving manager and I go to look - she has a PALLET of boxes which are mine. There are like 8 or 10 of them.....3 of which are HUGES.
I'm ready to cry.
She and I start talking and she says, "You know what? These three big boxes are the new company - the little ones are the old company...".
Great - we just put out four little boxes of the old company's glasses...so we get to pull them - plus redo the reading glasses we did - plus....well....you get the idea.
To top it off - not all the brands match the planogram. This is what is called "Visual merchandising" - you put the brands in the right spot - but try to arrange them so they are neat and attractive.
We have enough "Panama Jack" glasses for 2 1/2 towers....only its not on the planogram - and what is on the planogram - we don't have.
I try again to call my district manager. She told me, "I'll be available all day to take any questions or talk you through how to set this up."
Yep....she sure is....NOT!
She's in a meeting all day.
So after taking maybe 15 minutes of break time total....at 4:20 Robin and I finish the job.
It looks nice - so nice - the dept. manager and the store manager told me that they hope I am willing to accept the store and become their rep.
Meanwhile - the receiving manager is wanting to know what to do with all the boxes of old product she has...
....and per my company's instructions - I'm leaving the store w/ the discontinued, broken, and "missing price tag" glasses from the old display....
....all 133 pairs.
I still haven't figured out which pair looks best on Miss Bea...or Zeus...
So for a total of almost 14 man-hours of labor (vs. 4-6) ....I get $100 plus 133 pairs of sunglasses/reading glasses (I think there are 2 pairs in there).
WHINE.....
Oh - here's my display - I must admit - I'm proud of it even though I notice at least one pair of glasses was crooked for sure...
I forgot to add - part of what took so long - each pair of glasses was individually wrapped in plastic...
The store that I work at just set up all of the planograms for "Back to School". Now it is just the fill-in of regular store merchandise. What is frustrating is fixing the mess-ups of other, less experienced associates, and going through the trouble of getting product separated and ready for placement and getting the look that says, "Why would you do that?" Not even a, "Thanks becauseseparatingthe product according to planogram really speeds up the process of getting things set."Nope.... Like I wasted a half an hour of my life trying to help management and new-bee's get their unorganized crap together! Maybe I need to look into what you do. At least I could "be my own boss" instead of disappointing the management I deal with, seemingly, on a daily basis.
