American Apparel

While working at American Apparel as a Back Stock Associate, I was required to email a summary of store inventory at the beginning of the day if I was opening and at the end of every shift if I was closing. This helped head office keep track of each stores inventory needs as well as keep track of the different trends in sales for each location.

I learned a lot about what goes into organizing and maintaining a high-volume clothing retail store. I learned how to be attentive to fine detail, how to keep myself organized in order to make the most of my time at work and how to properly communicate inventory numbers using spread sheets.

Management was friendly, and promoted a forward-thinking mentality when approaching situations that required problem solving in the back room. If I had an idea on how to help the store become more organized, management would often take my suggestions seriously and implement these ideas if they fit within the current system that was in place.

All of the staff that I worked with became good friends over time. We became a sort of family because we all depended on each other to get the job done properly.

The hardest part of the job was learning how to use Microsoft Excel as I had no prior knowledge on how to properly harness the power of that program before working at American Apparel.

The most enjoyable part of the job was the people I worked with. We all worked together to create a welcoming environment for each other through shared interests inside and outside of work.

The 50% off all clothing was pretty much the only benefit of this job. 

When I was asked to interview for American Apparel I was flattered and excited. When I was offered the job the next day I thought i was the coolest, hippest kid on the block.

Shortly after I was hired, I received very minimal training and a lot more discouragement than encouragement from my coworkers and managers. I worked for two stores, and both had poor management. I felt disrespected, underapprecitated and sometimes even bullied on a day to day basis. At the store I worked at in Toronto, our managers would save payroll to make themselves look good by sending us home after 3 hours if we hadn't met out incredibly high and unreachable sales targets. In Halifax I had a lot better of management and some of the folks who worked with me are still good friends of mine today. However, management did not understand that University was my and several other staff's and would schedule us during exams and other important dates. Additionally at both stores, some staff would make unprofessional, hurtful remarks about my physical appearance, sense of style or lifestyle. 

The most enjoyable parts of the job included the awesome customers that came in - they lit up my day. Additionally, the discount and "clothing packages" (free swag) were fantastic!

A typical day at work at American Apparel for myself as a sales associate goes as follows :
- Clock In
- Greet customers, tell them about the promotions at the time and continue on with helping them find a garment and leading them to the change room and following through with the sale. 
- Go to the task list sheet
- Complete tasks 
- Clean during down time ( if there was any ) 
- If other were busy helping customers out then I would immediately go and do cash.

As a Visual Merchandiser:
- Clock In
- Check weekly task list and complete every task set for day one of the beginning of the week.
- Help customers out when I could.
- Send management and the Visual Merchandising team in Canada pictures of the tasks completed and I would fill in my daily log.

What I learned at my time in American Apparel is that time is everything and you always have to be on your toes and on top of the game and it's always a competition.

My co-workers are the best people I've met! They're friendly, amazing at their job and we always got along.

The hardest part of the job would be when I would try everything I could think of to up sale and we still didn't meet budget.

The most enjoyable thing about my job as a sales associate was that it wasn't as stressful as it was being a merchandiser and I had plenty of time to actually interact more with customers.

Management is nearly non existent. Probably because my manager was a just a teenager and she was more or less concerned with becoming friends with the employees. Staff would waltz in thirty minutes late and it would not be a big deal. There were no recourse set up for incompetent, disobedient employees.The staff would be mostly comprised of high school students and post secondary students, so they were fun to be around but they were also not mature enough to uphold duties. American Apparel has a fairly scandalous corporate culture, which made it hard for more educated (post secondary) employees to take the brand seriously. Upper management would all be early twenties girls and guys, using a condescending tone to get the sales staff to shamelessly upsell to customers and to fully embrace the "nouveau chic" look. For the most part, this was only enforced if we knew upper management will be popping by, otherwise we would revert to our old ways. On to the things I liked about being there was the autonomy, discount, fun co-workers. What I didn't like was inexperienced management and lack of professionalism

A typical day at work would be verifying sales receipts and making sure that the transactions were correctly processed and entering the sales in Excel. If the transactions had errors we would have to make the necessary adjustments. Other tasks would include verifying retail sales for Tax Adjustment purposes and booking general journal entries in MAAS. Working at American Apparel has taught me that paying attention to the smallest details are key in the accounting field. My co-workers were always friendly and ready to lend a hand. The controllers were very approachable and easy to work with. The hardest part of the job was the extremely tight deadlines that forced everyone to bring work home even during holidays. The most enjoyable part of the job was that the CFO and the controllers were never breathing down your neck and the work environment was always pleasant.

I was really excited when I was first hired at American Apparel, as I always loved shopping there. I was hired as a cashier because of past experience and quickly moved up to cash supervisor within weeks. I overlooked all cashiers and assisted in returns and refunds. I was then moved up to floor supervisor and was in charge of delegating tasks throughout the store and making sure all employees were always busy. I handled the break schedule and I also made sure everyone was on task, I was to report everything to my manager at the end of the night. Though it was difficult at first for me to tell people what to do, I realized that it was just apart of the job and in order to move up, you have to step up. My co-workers had different reactions to my promotion, but after a while they understood that it was just part of the job.

- A typical day working at American Apparel includes helping customers find requested merchandise, sizing and putting away clothes on the sales floor, making sure sales floor is clean and presentable and making sales goals. I am also a cashier at American Apparel, I cash out customers purchases, tell them about promotions we currently have and let them know if items are final sale.

- I've learned how to interact with all types of customers and how to handle difficult situations while at work. 

- My management and co-workers are very friendly and inviting. We work as a team to make store goal and to ensure customers find requested merchandise quickly. 

- The most enjoyable part of the job is seeing a customer satisfied with their purchase and knowing that the store has made goal.


I worked here for around 6 months, I enjoyed my co-workers and generally speaking they were helpful and team oriented. But at times would redirect blame onto anyone they could instead of taking the responsibility. In the stock environment, prepared to not to be trained fully and to have people expect you to do things out of your training level. As far as management on a district level, at times they can be helpful to problems, but generally expect far too much and will not take responsibility for their actions. The CEO actively threatens store managers over the phone, most managers are over worked and under paid. It was a good experience for what I don't want in a work environment.

A typical work day at American Apparel consisted of receiving shipments, checking inventory, and ensuring that the product on the floor was properly displayed.

I learned how to properly order and maintain an inventory so that product does not run out and frustrate customers.

Management was inconsistent, with the managers consistently changing.

Thoroughly enjoyed the co-workers as they became like a family.

The most difficult part of this job was the uncertainty of how long a manager would stay, and how to cooperate with the new manager.

Finally, the part I enjoyed most about this job was the community that was built amongst the co-workers.

Typical day at work would be, managing about 20-30 personnel. Ensuring that sale quotas are being met daily, weekly an monthly, as they are extremely important for the company to strive. I learned that being a store manager is no easy job, it takes time, dedication, and understanding of a business perspective. My co-workers were very important to me because they were my team, they were part of the reason why my store strived from 5% to 8% to YTD sales. My hardest part of my job, was letting people go who I had grown fond of. The most enjoyable part of my job, was knowing that my team was like my second family and we treated each other with respect and honestly.

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