The Retail Stigma

Retail: long hours, little pay, terrible work environment… best job ever?

Retail has a stigma of being a less than stellar career field, a place to get your feet wet, a job to pay the bills until something better comes along. I ask you to think long and hard about your last visit to the mall, big box retailer or even the grocery store, now picture yourself working a register, how does it make you feel?

I did ten hard years in the retail game and I will be the first to admit it is no easy task, long hours, zero holidays off and less than stellar interactions with the public. Yet I regret nothing. Retail was great and taught me some very valuable lessons. I had some amazing teachers and coaches along the way that encouraged my passion with a sincereness I had never felt before. Retail taught me strong leadership skills and taught me that the customer is not always right.

I became a store manager early into my twenties and was nowhere near ready for the responsibility. As a store manager you are responsible for everything that happens in your four walls no matter whose shift it is. You run inventory, are held liable for staff development and training and on top of that you have to make sure your business is profitable. First and foremost, you are not a manager but a small business owner.

A small business owner has to adapt and be quick to find solutions in time of crisis. Retail barely gives you a moment to breathe let alone solve an IT issue when you have a line full of angry impatient customers who are late for their movie or dinner plans. Which brings me to the point of this post, why does retail get such a bad rep?

Retail teaches you discipline, management skills, flexibility and humility. Working in an office environment you don’t have every Tom, Dick, Harry or Karen coming up to you and telling you that you are stupid or that your job is meaningless. What I never understood is how people can come into a place of business and berate the people working there. It baffles me that some people have no tact and would rather take their aggressions out on the 16-year-old kid working the register than deal with their true inner demons.

The winter holiday season truly brings out the worst in people and as a store manager you have to be the guiding light that leads the way for your team. Retail managers make a meager living and their employees make even less, I would use my own money to throw pizza parties or buy birthday cakes because every little bit counts. The struggle is truly real for retail workers and the employees are not paid nearly enough for the anguish they must endure. The retail employees of today have an even worse struggle as they battle anti-maskers and new cleaning protocols due to COVID-19. I truly feel for every employee stocking shelves, running cash register or cleaning up at the end of the night. Retail is a thankless job and is often overlooked as a job for those under qualified for anything else.

The funny thing about retail is though it is such a difficult industry it is also one of the most flourishing and some of the best people come out on top. What I learned in retail couldn’t be taught in a school environment or an office. So, the next time you think about yelling at the cashier because they didn't have your size in the back, think about why you are taking your anger out on a stranger and what that says about you.