junior administrative assistant

Addition Elle

The manager was insanely controlling and mean to everyone, took out her frustration on employees and customer and was overall very unstable. More than once she would go cry in the back store or in the car and/or be yelling at someone over the phone. The assistant manager was awesome though and put out every fire the manager created.

The company itself is slightly problematic due to them asking for way too many tasks to be completed in a very small amount of time, while giving limited hours to get them completed. One person would often be left to close the store, clean everything, do quick finds (online orders), help customers, unpack stock, and anything else that comes up. 

Also, employees are scheduled as "on call shifts". For example, we would be from 10am -12pm On Call, 12pm - 4pm Confirmed Shift, then 4pm - 5:30pm On Call. WE AREN'T DOCTORS, we don't need to be on call. Perhaps it was my manager but she made it clear that it was company policy, which is insane considered we have to clear our entire day JUST IN CASE we are needed at the store.

a typical day starts with managers handing off their duties to you on top of your duties and then complain about how your not doing your job. The customers are fun energetic people, which is why i stayed for 10 years. you build real bonds of sisterhood with these women. The co-workers are genuinely nice most if the time and we help each other out when needed. I learned how to deal with aggressive angry customers and problem solve fantastically. the hardest part of the job is when the computers break down or are very slow and customers get annoyed and very agitated and are about to walk out on you and you lose that sale. Like i said the most enjoyable thing about the job is the discount and making new friends with the customers that rely on you for fashion knowledge

For working retail, it's pretty standard day-to-day work; organizing stock, helping customers, processing transactions, etc.

I love the company for what it stands for, but they could work a lot harder in the 'management' division of the company. I think they'd really benefit from some one-on-one time with their staff to help them come to the realization of what their pros and cons are.

They have a 'structure' to their day to day tasks, but sometimes have a hard time sticking to it. 

Their way of scheduling shifts is disorganized and needs some serious work. Requests for certain/specific days off are almost never given to you or even considered.

The staff are friendly and encouraging, and are really good at problem solving in tricky situations.

What I learned at Addition Elle has been priceless. It was a place where plus sized women could shop comfortably without judgement. The highlight of my shifts was successfuly helping someone finding fashionable outfits in their size and leaving happier when they came in. Unfortunately, near the end of my time there, customers noticed and voiced their concerns multiple times about seeing more average-sized staff being present and making them feel uncomfortable. Soon business, and (imo) staff morale went down. My hours and pay were cut. Despite that, I enjoyed my brief time at Addition Elle and am grateful for being a little part of canadian retail history. 

Provided customer service to various types of people, managed my schedule, learned how to properly fit a full figured woman and how fit is truly crucial and provided an optimal eye on the safety as Safety representative.
As Safety representative, I would go through the provided checklist and ensure the utmost safety of the store, I would also corroborate that the safety kit was fully stocked and available for any associate that would ever need it.I have obtained advanced critical thinking and problem-solving skills, methods to keep calm in a crisis situation, to understand deadlines and respect them, to have an eye on audience perception, to be versatile and also be flexible to any situation that may arise.

This was a very toxic environment to work in. I did not get the proper training at all. I think I got two days of training. And because of that factor, the DM would loudly call across the store to chastise me when I did anything she thought I should have known. But how could I know when she did not train me properly?? She would do it in a very patronizing voice too. She was an enormous bully. I had to report her to Reitmans head office right after I quit because she was a terrible, terrible boss. To be honest, I am glad this store no longer exists and that I have lost so much weight, I would never have to shop there anymore anyway because I am no longer plus sized.

Pay: terrible

Hours: does not guarantee hours you ask for 

Scheduling: very unstable (one day you work morning, next day you work evenings)

Management: my manager at the time was very childish. could not go to her with any problems. worried more about trying on clothes than worrying about how the store was running. Never worked evenings.

District store manager: Very rude. Did not bother getting to know me. Judges the way you look.

I would not go back to work for this company. Not in my area.

Overall I enjoyed working there. Okay pay, the store manager was awesome, but some of the co-workers were catty and immature.

Pros:

-It was always fairly busy so the day went by quickly

-A lot of the ladies who shopped there were very friendly and it was fun helping them shop

-It was great seeing the confidence boost bra fittings can give

Cons:

-Some of the leads and co-workers were incredibly pushy on wearing AE up to date brand clothing/accessories

-One manager would freak on you if you took a two minute washroom break (even if only once a week)

-A lot of co-workers were older and talked down to me because of our age difference

the environment at this job is very friendly and customer focused.

I learn a lot about fashion every day at the store, and I love being able to help women feel confident and comfortable on a daily basis. 

the group of women I work with are amazing, it is such a team environment, we have fun and help people feel good about them selves.

the hardest part of my job is trying to overcome some obstacles that arise customers have on the type of clothes we sell vs their comfort zones due to the wide variety of styles that we offer.

the most enjoyable part of my job is watching a customer walk out with a new perspective on feeling good.

I worked at Addition Elle for a little under a year as a part-time fashion associate and I enjoyed it tremendously. I was brand new to retail, and while there wasn’t much of an orientation to the job, my manager and coworkers were very understanding and supportive. All of the girls that worked at my store were friends so that made it a fun and comfortable place to be. There were of course the occasional overly demanding, rude, or downright mean customers but the majority of the time, customers were amazing.

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