Working at Hollister Incorporated

The products are excellent. Love working with my clients.

Very poor management with very few opportunities to progress.

70% of our customers are not white. 50% are older than 30. At least in my store.

0. The Hollister I work at is in a very good area, there hasn't even been PDA in the store as far as I know. Other than Co-Workers

Not that they've taught me, im pretty outright so I just say "Hi Welcome to Hollister, let me know if you need anything." Now theyre making us say "Hi my name is ****, Welcome to Hollister, these are out deals: ******, if you need a fitting room or a size check just let me know, my name is ******" We have to talk to customers, even when theyre upset or ignoring us. My manager gets pissy about it. We all know who the other employees are unless they were new, I wouldnt worry about it. Possibilities: You look like you dont speak english, you look like youve come in before earlier, theres no manager on the floor, we have a huge amount of work to do, you were rude to one of us/made a big deal out of nothing and we all hate you. Try talking to someone, we get bored. Were not supposed to talk to each other.

Part of the hiring process is being two things: Diverse and SoCal(tm). It would probably help you get the job if you knew how to surf haha.

Model, Im to hot to be in the back ;). I was raised in Europe so military time was my standard, but my co-workers dislike it. I love being a model when its not to busy, impacts to me feel like grunt workers. Even though I love everyone :)

We get stolen from a huge amount, a ridiculously unbelievable amount. Our clothes are expensive, but the material we use for them are really good even if they are all make for pennies in 3rd world countries. The company makes enough. Managers have to constantly hire employees, the turn over rate is super high. Its not because of our duties, its because of some of the companies polices. So no correlation for our store atleast.

We 100% have hidden quotas that I cannot confirm. Im pretty sure the managers have to hire based on ethnicity, our store is mostly white but we have a lot of different people too. The old CEO was the one who was pretty racist, the board is doing a good job now. If someone is white, compared to someone who is different and they have the same credentials we will hire the different person each time.

Theyre not for sale, honestly were probably one of the best stores to steal from, we dont prosecute if you're not an employee.

SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a call in tomorrow at 9, so I have to call at 8. They are NOT going to need me.

We had a women come in, she shopped for a solid hour, forced her way into a fitting room with probably 20 items of clothing. She left to go get another size, and someone threw the stuff she got in the go-back bin. She literally cried. Managers still blamed us.

There is no specific reason for it, but my thinking is that they want to make you feel like your at a club to make the customers think they'd be wearing these shirts at those settings. The brand is a focus for looking good all the time at all times. The style is meant to have a preppy image of a socal surfer, or a prep student at some boarding school. But with that cool image, they want to make sure you look so good in your outfits so often, that you can wear it for nearly any social occasion. This is all just my theory though, I have no clue as to why they torture us with the music that loud. Customers complain constantly, and we have to tell them there's nothing we can do

I do, just because the discount is worth it. I don't mind wearing my brand for the fact I'm still young haha

This is true. They like to rely on the fact that you have a natural, laid back SoCal look. This is why most of the employees are very attractive, at all times.

The stock room is always fun to be in, because we get to play our own music, eat food, sit down, and just relax. Granted there are no seats to sit on, we can sit on pretty much anything in the back. Some of the best memories I have in the back are when u first started there, because I was like the new guy in waiting with a whole group of guys who had such a great bond in the workplace. They were very funny to watch *** around. Now it's nothing compared to that, because the stock manger is more about keeping very one in control.

No, my managers are all awesome! My store manager is really cool, and is great at running our store. The manager we had before was awful, and he totally pulled our store out of a slump. Plus, one of the other MIT's is a redditor too! Maybe she'll eventually see this.

Not too many, because they'd go to a&f for the expensive stuff. Our customers are mainly Jews, Hispanic people, black people, and all of the foreign tourists.... It's a whole new experience of customer.

We have controlled the fumes emitted in our location very well. What we have done, is a theory that we haven't thought of at all.... Not spraying the cologne anymore, and letting the sweaty customers spray it around themselves.

By far, the best story I can tell: Another day of working in the back. Boxes of new clothes getting processed, prepping clothes for the floor, and generally doing nothing. My manager comes through the door with an item, most likely checking for a size, but a woman comes in from behind him and watches him go get the size... Strange lady. So, I go out onto the floor to put some clothes on a table. Then I see this really tall black dude walk right past me and leave the store. The alarm goes off, as he may have stolen some clothes. I approach him telling him I need to check his bags, but he keeps walking away. He takes off his hat and runs away. ***, this guy totally just stole and I need to get my managers! I radio for them over the walkie talkies, and they both come to the front of the store in a hurry. My store manager is saying we just have to let him go, because there's nothing we can do. However, my MIT(Manger In Training) sees that same woman who came in the back and followed him, leaving the store. He turns to me and my store manager and says "wait a second, she came in here with another guy!! That must have been him!!" and as soon as she notices we were onto them, she runs away as well. Again, my manager tells us there's nothing we can do, but my MIT literally BOLTS after this woman. A foot chase begins, as my MIT follows this woman down the escalator, past the floor below us, and is still chasing her. They run towards one of the exits of the mall, and the *** knocks over a poor little kid walking in with his family....Big mistake for her, as the father of this poor kid starts chasing after my manager and this woman!! My manager chased her out to the parking lot, where she saw her accomplice peal away in his car. He is not going down with his girlfriend, as she is caught by my manager. He begins to tell her that the police will be coming, security will apprehend her, yadda yadda yadda. The father of the kid that was knocked over though, was still on pursuit, and caught up to my manager and this woman. In the heat of the moment, the man winds up, and punches this chick right in the face!! In disbelief, the woman starts going nuts on him, and tries to swing, but is held back by my manager. My manager tells the guy to leave as soon as possible, because he was in some serious ***. The dad left, getting redemption for his kid, and giving this woman the ultimate lesson to never steal again. We joke with my manager still, saying he is the one who punched the woman... and the baby.

Employee theft isn't that common in our store. We have sit down interviews with our district Loss Prevention team each year, and this is when they accuse every employee of stealing, to try and crack them. We did have one really bad situation of theft though, it was reported in the paper and everything. One of my friends was caught stealing thousands of dollars worth of items working with one of the floor models. They'd pass clothes in and out of the stock room, de censoring them. They left each night with the clothes in their bags. I still feel bad for the guy, he didn't need to be put on blast like that.

They tie us up in the back and force feed them to us. They're usually not chopped up, so there is a good amount of deep throating involved..

There is a certain look that A&F wants for its employees, but it goes much further than whether or not you are toned/thin. I don't know why they can get away with it, but they can. The people on the salesfloor are referred to models. You have the impact position, which is mainly in the back, and the model which is on the salesfloor. Whenever we have a new hire they get their picture taken in "triple A" clothing and it is sent to home office. Why? I don't know. Whenever our district and regional managers come in we are given a numerical grade on how attractive the employees are. Again, I don't know why, nor do I care.

1. No. I have been in a serious relationship for 3 1/2 years dated on and off before that. I treat all of my customers like, well, customers. Plus the fact that they are messing up all of the clothes I worked so hard to fold is kind of a turn off. 2. Yes guys hit on me, along with my other female associates. The guys that work here get hit on to. Sometimes I think people go into the store just to hit on the associates. 3. I think people should wear what they want. If an older man feels comfortable in Hollister then he should wear it. A&F does have Ruehl which is designated for adults. 4. I would say 80% straight, 20% gay. I'm only sure of the 20% because they make comments about the male associates. There could be more, though. 5. I think the most I've ever seen sold was around $650. It was on tax free weekend and it was a Hispanic male who was purchasing the items.

None. I get compliments from customers about how nice and friendly I am. I always have a big smile on my face and I do my best to be as helpful as possible. Most of the other employees are the same way, with exception of a few.

We have spotlights in the store set up to direct you to our clothing. They use the same tactic in video games. This explains it best in the fourth paragraph: http://www.l4d.com/blog/post.php?id=2129 If you walk into a Hollister or Abercrombie you will notice that the only things that are lit up are what we want you to see. Clothing, accessories, pictures on the wall. Black Friday was a disaster. People were complaining about the lines and could not understand the fact that we only have three registers. This was the fifth Black Friday that I had worked in this store so I was used to it, but we had a lot of new employees working which was a pain. They didn't know what they were doing and were overwhelmed with the amount of people that were in our tiny store.

1. My favorite thing would be the people I work with and my flexible hours. Every time I come in for my shift all of my fellow associates and managers are happy to see me. Most of the associates are pretty upbeat and always have a smile on their face so in turn it makes me smile. Also, since I'm in college I need a flexible work schedule. There are always more than enough employees if I need a shift covered (I think we have around 65 right now), and if I ask off for certain days I always get them off. 2. Plenty. Probably the weirdest ones are about employees from other stores/kiosks. I've been stalked and so have my fellow female employees. There were times when another associate would have to go on break with me because these guys wouldn't leave me alone. It was such a pain because I had to see them every day and they were constantly asking for my schedule/number. 3. Every. Freaking. Day. Especially around this time of year. Last week we had this older couple cursing and screaming because our sales had changed from the previous day. A sweatshirt they wanted had been on sale for $25 but it went up to something like $26.38. My manager attempted to override it to give them the other price but the computer wouldn't let her do it. The couple was cursing and telling her that she was worthless, an idiot, etc. If I had been there I would have told them to leave the store. When I got there my manager was in the back crying. She was an MIT (Manager In Training) and had just gotten promoted to manager.

We have handicap accessible doors on either side of the "porch" area. An associate in either of the front rooms should come help you open the door. If they're not then they aren't doing their job. There is a button you can press that will open the door for you if no one comes to your aid. If you are referring to the general layout of the store, I have no idea. We are instructed to move mannequins and foliage out of the way for customers in wheelchairs and customers with strollers but I think they should just make the walking areas larger.

Not one bit. The only time I smell it is when they spray it around the store and it makes me sneeze/my nose run. I normally ask whoever is doing it to skip the area I'm working it. I used to like it because the perfume we sprayed was a much lighter smell than what we spray now. Since I can't smell it normally I don't get a headache, but as a customer I'm sure I would.

No I haven't, surprisingly. I figured that by now I would have since both men and women go into the same fitting room. I've found dirty diapers though.

1. We get a lot of the "soccer mom" types and they can get pretty rude. I have people take things out of my hands as I'm folding it, push me out of the way, and just invade my personal space in general. We also get a lot of young kids trying to steal which may just be due to the area the store is located. The rest of the customers are just normal people you would see in any store. 2. Over the years our dress code has changed. Currently, you must wear flip flops that are either navy blue, white, or leather. For girls the jeans must be skinny jeans or jeggings that are navy blue. For the tops we have "triple A" items that we can purchase (every season new triple A items are given and they are 50% off for 2 weeks to all employees) or any top that is navy blue, white, or gray. There is a strong emphasis on plaids and flannel and they frown upon us wearing just a normal t-shirt.