r/retail • • 9d ago

It's that time of year again!

0 Upvotes

As you're probably well aware, Halloween season is upon us.

The time of scary frights and spooky nights. šŸŽƒ

When someone gets sitewide banned their posts are deleted. (Much to my annoyance.) So I'm going to posit this question here.

#What are your best sellers right now?

I myself work restaurants, but that doesn't stop us from enjoying the holiday spirit. Right now my best selling dessert is a vanilla Halloween cupcake that's been colored black, with an orange maple frosting. Purple spooky sprinkles on top.

I will see how many we need once I get in, if we're not too busy, I'll take a photo.

No matter your store/line of career, let's hear it. What item is hot at your store right now?


r/retail • • Sep 08 '26

State of the sub -Automod/Misc.

15 Upvotes

Hey everyone, just wanted to drop a few lines on how the sub is doing.

Since I took over 4 months ago, almost every single post that is posted, Auto mod snags. I'm going to be honest, I should not have to approve every single post, and to be even more honest looking at the Auto mod code, I don't know what the hell was up.

Pretty much Auto mod was removing every post.

Nonetheless everything should be fixed now, most of you shouldn't have any issues posting or commenting.

I have reduced the threshold for karma and account age, I won't reveal these numbers, just know they are pretty low...

#It should be easier for you to post now

_____________________

#Changes to brand affiliates

Here we have what are called brand affiliates. These are accounts/bots/users that have an official connection to a company.

You may have seen them around the sub, in this sub we allow news affiliates.

We allow corporate accounts/bots to post news related to our industry. These are the only bots that are allowed on this sub. (I'm not calling all of you bots.)

Starting today, any brand affiliate, must:

  1. Use the "News" flair on the post your posting

  2. Your user flair must say "brand affiliate"

  3. Disclose whether or not AI was used in the writing of the article.

  4. Use [AI] -or- [Human] at the very beginning of your post title, to indicate whether it was written by a human or AI.

Post will be removed if they do not meet these qualifications. I will be sending a mod mail to the accounts that I'm able to see. Corporate overlords, keep your eyes out on your inbox.

#If you are not a brand affiliate, you do not have to worry about this... Post as normal.

I will be going through here shortly, and changing your user flairs

___________________________

#Moderator Discretion

There has been a large uptick in post regarding a certain company. 11 posts automod snagged in the past 4 days. (Again the Auto mod issue is fixed) I've been a mod for a few years now. Including a sub that was used as a bot training ground. (Not joking in the least.)

This is what is called astroturfing. There are services out there that provide bots. These can number into the thousands. You may have heard about these companies, in reference to videos "views" and "upvotes." Most people these days make money by ads in their videos. The more people that view the ads, the more money goes to the Creator. (I'm not a Creator there's probably more to it) So some people will hire these companies, to provide bots, to "watch" these videos, or make comments increasing engagement. By increasing engagement, most algorithms will show that video to more people.

More views=more eyes/engagement=more money

I'm going to explain the moderator discretion rule.

  1. I will never remove a post, just simply because I disagree with it.

  2. I will never remove a post, because I do not like the user.

  3. I approve almost every post, as long as it's within the rules.

  4. AI posts will always be removed. I want to engage with humans here not bots. (Please reference above.)

  5. App developers are not welcome within this sub. All new posters, have their posts and comments reviewed. If there's evidence of participation within a laundry list of subs I have blacklisted, they're banned. Let me make this clear, I do not care if you participate with an AI subs, you develop AI apps, or anything else. What we care about are the app Developers, that are using this sub to collect reference material to build their apps. A lot of these devs can be identified easily because they address us as a whole.

"Retail workers, what's the worst pressure point in your job?"

"Restaurant managers, I'm having trouble doing inventory"

They will normally have a second account, that will pop on, that has never participated in the sub before, and they will post a link to some AI software

Just be aware that this is a real issue that we have to deal with

  1. There are certain times when posts push the boundaries, most of the time I will approve these kinds of posts. BUT!!! It will depend on context, the content, and the behavior of the poster. If you're posting something that pushes the boundaries, for nefarious reasons I will remove it.

  2. And finally number seven. I like to run an open forum. Anyone can comment whatever they want, as long as it's within the terms of service. I'm not going to remove stuff because people are being an asshole, let the downvote show how stupid they are. If it turns into insults, I'll remove it. But normally I'm not going to remove things, just because they aggressively disagree, but again no insults

That is not what this sub is for

Anyways, I hope you all have a good day.

I have to go kick Thunderblight Ganon's ass

#To reiterate, this post does not apply to 99% of you. This post is targeted at Brand affiliates.

-


r/retail • • 8h ago

Interview advice

0 Upvotes

Hello guys. I have an interview scheduled really early right after I finish my first class. Even though it is my only class.

My question is should I risk being late to go and change into something more formal. Or should I just go straight to the interview in dark cargo pants and a hoodie.

For context the interview is for a seasonal specialist spot at Apple if anyone knows if they value clothing/presentation during interviews.


r/retail • • 17h ago

Need a job asap

5 Upvotes

I haven’t worked a job in years but I have prior retail experience. I applied for seasonal positions at 6 places. I only had 1 interview so far. But it’s not even been a week so hopefully I will get more. Any tips for getting hired? I’m super eager to start working!


r/retail • • 1d ago

Please direct some of that energy towards the customers

18 Upvotes

People stay complaining about our store being messy and unorganized. It’s a common thing that’s said about other locations too. I just don’t get why customers aren’t seen as the problem. Us employees can only do so much within the hours given. You can spend hours straightening things up just for a customer to just destroy it 10 minutes later. People don’t care to pick up after themselves or to put things back in their proper places. Customers will place mats and rugs on the floor and leave them. Customers will even break items and not tell anyone. I’m a cashier, and customers will even place unwanted items in the Q line instead of handing the item directly to me. I’m not blaming the customers for everything, BUT they do play a major part in why these stores always looks like a tornado went through it.


r/retail • • 1d ago

Starting a new job @ Build A Bear

5 Upvotes

For context I’ll be starting a role with Build A Bear soon! As one of their Chief Workshop Manager, I’ve been in retail for 8+ Years in the field of kids clothing, and that’s all I’ve ever known.

Wanted to see if there were any previous employees or even current managers/bear builders that are willing to give me some light on your experience and if you feel like it was hard to transition into your role? after doing something completely different for so long


r/retail • • 1d ago

What is Target Like as a work environment

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I just recently applied and even interviewed online for Target for the On-Demand Guest Advocate and general merchandise position, and I just had a few questions about the work environment, scheduling, etc.

  1. What is a day-to-day like for someone in the position I applied for?
  2. I very recently broke my phone, and I am waiting to see if it's fixable or if I can get a new one, but I am using a "donor phone" of sorts that belongs to another family member. Is my schedule provided to me through a mobile app, or, if I wanted, could I view it on my personal laptop? I could always install any scheduling app on the donor phone if needed, though.
  3. Since I am a college student but I don't have my own car yet, I made my available hours when I applied to be around my city's public transit times, which leaves little time for me to go home and change into a work uniform.

With that in mind, I was wondering what the dress code is like, and if I come straight from school, would I have a place to change and leave my school bag?

  1. On my application I listed all the days and times I could work, which is every day of the week, but if I wanted, could I change it to only work during Mon-Thurs, or only weekends + Fridays upon hiring?

  2. Lastly, how soon after completing my virtual interview, which I did this Saturday, Oct. 10, should I expect an email back, or do they call instead, though all of our communication has been through email so far?

Thank y'all in advance for any help, and feel free to add any extra advice.


r/retail • • 2d ago

Why do our managers suck so bad

1 Upvotes

Recently unionized outdoor clothing brand in NYC. Our managers are so out of touch and they are morale killers , she is the reason we unionized , currently understaffed and they fired a good employee. They are not replacing staff as they don’t want to add to the payroll and we have to suffer for the holiday season. This sucks


r/retail • • 3d ago

Has anyone gotten fired because they couldn’t interact well with customers

15 Upvotes

Not like in the sense of arguing with customers but like just welcoming them and making sure that their shopping experience is good.

I work at a clothing store and one of my managers keeps pestering me to talk more when I welcome customers every time they walk through the door, but I always mess up one way or another.

Most customers that walk in,I can sense they don’t know what they’re looking for specially and simple want to look around and not be bothered. So I tell them our promotions for the day and let them look.

My manager doesn’t like it. She said I should’ve asked like 2-3 causal questions like ā€œoh what are you looking for? Any special occasions? And fun plans this weekend? Going on a special trips you need an outfit for?ā€ I know there’s a time and place for those kind of questions while people look around but she wants me asking those right as they come in. And it just feels unnatural and forced. Somehow she does it well and they love chatting with her. But when I do it, they’re like ā€œoh I’m just browsingā€. Like they look at me and they don’t want to talk. And it’s making my job so hard because she’s breathing down my neck and pulling me aside saying ā€œremember ask them what they’re plans are so we can get them styled and they’ll feel the need to buy moreā€

Idk I don’t think she’s right. People will buy from our store regardless if we have a small conversation or not. The products should speak for itself. We sell a lot of cute outfits. My manager wants me to get to know there styles but I don’t know exactly what we have in stock to be confident to suggest what we have. We have sweaters for the holidays and it’s scattered everywhere. We have jeans of different styles and it’s all over the shop. I just don’t know until you try it on. usually I talk more about styles once the customers find something they want to try on.

Overall I think my manager loves picking on me because I have an introvert personality. I’ve talked to customers, just not when she’s around. I wish nicer customers would walk in when she’s training me but they never are and it makes me look bad in front of her.

I feel like I might lose my job just because I don’t know how to engage with every customer in a way that feels natural and not totally fake.


r/retail • • 4d ago

I'm slowly losing my marbles. A manager that i used to clean after, got promoted. She was on PIP 9 months ago. We got a new store manager that wanted to start ' with a clean slate'. Now, she got promoted after doing about 40% of the work I do. We were at the same level before she got promoted.

5 Upvotes

Yes this is a rant. Yes i know how corporate life works. I'm just....angry. frustrated. Dissapointed. Fuming. Boiling. My sleepless night, my reliability, my knowledge, my split shifts, my training her. All of it. And i know leaving is the best option but let's face it. The job market sucks right now. It's not easy. But gezuz christ.


r/retail • • 5d ago

My first interview since 2009 is tomorrow!

1 Upvotes

I’ve been on disability since 2012, I haven’t worked since then. I am better now and can work. This will hopefully be my first job in a long time. It’s for Bealls department store. I’m really excited and nervous at the same time. What can I expect at the interview and how do I prepare? I also applied at bath and body works and Kirklands but I haven’t heard back from them yet.


r/retail • • 5d ago

Tips on working in luxury retail

4 Upvotes

Any tips for working in luxury retail? I typically wear all black to/for work and look presentable. Would wearing a small heel also be appealing? Getting nails done? I’m trying to maximize my KPIs as I want to pivot into the finance world in 3-6 months.

Thank you for any and all tips!


r/retail • • 6d ago

Swire Higher ups Can you Answer my Question?

0 Upvotes

Why are ā€œnightā€ shift merchandisers being switched to a 10am start time and labeled as ā€œday-flexā€ employees?? The reasoning of ā€œbetter up-keeping of storesā€ doesn’t make sense to me as we won’t be there as late to stock up.

Honestly it also doesn’t really make sense to me for us to start as the second shift when the first shift still has 4 hours till they’re done.

So why is this shift in business operations happening? Can someone offer a better explanation than ā€œbetter up-keeping of storesā€?


r/retail • • 7d ago

Eddie Lampert [2004]: The Scum Who Ruined Thousands of Lives By Destroying Sears and Kmart Forever

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59 Upvotes

Because of pure greed, he was able to strip these iconic brands and sell them off for parts piece by piece until nothing remained. Pensions gone, retirements went up in smoke, and local communities went belly up.


r/retail • • 8d ago

Maybe he should have listened

17 Upvotes

I've been working in retail for the last year, and boy did I choose an "interesting" location. I never know where to put these stories because they're just... bonkers. I hope someone here enjoys the joke that is my life. Here's what happened today:

I hear over the communicator that someone is walking around the candy aisle with a crack pipe in his hand. I take a look, and see him walking towards the front. When I arrive up front I see him standing in line with a bag of gummy candy, and his favorite piece of glassware. Surprisingly, he's not stealing.

I hop on the spare register, hoping to quickly check him out away from other customers without making a scene. While he pays in spare change, I tell him he needs to put the pipe away. It's illegal, there are kids around, why do I even have to say this? He seems incapable of putting the pipe in his pocket, or understanding what "put it away" means.

He buys a sprite. Fiddles with a chain in his pocket and tells me, "I'm trying to show you, but she's being bougie right now. It's probably because of you." I have no idea how to respond to that, so I just prompt him to leave by repeatedly asking if there's anything else I can help him with, if he's sure he doesn't want a bag, etc. Eventually he leaves.

About 30 minutes later I end up outside with the store manager, look across the parking lot at the bus stop, and who do I see? Our friend, who seems to have made more friends with the police. He was searched by 3 officers, and released. I personally couldn't care less what drugs people do or how they live. But maybe, just maybe, I had some good advice about hiding it from the general public.


r/retail • • 9d ago

ShitpostingšŸ’© Good for Walmart for honoring one of its long time employees

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345 Upvotes

We need more companies like this who value their workers! Thank you Walmart!


r/retail • • 9d ago

Why are customers so hateful.

23 Upvotes

I’ve worked at restaurants and trust me there is a lot of rude customers there but they are no where near as rude and entitled as people at retail stores. I’ve been called racial slurs(for a ethnicity I’m not even a part of),I’ve been run into with carts,been threatened,had men touch me and be strange,been screamed at because I couldn’t check a price right then and there. I get that ā€œthat’s just retail for youā€ but why has it become so normalized to be abused by customers as retail workers. It’s genuinely one of the most mentally draining jobs just due to the customers. Good ole Corporate America ig.


r/retail • • 9d ago

I wonder if…

2 Upvotes

…the last 10 years were real?
I left Target a while back after being a TL for over 10 years & life still feels surreal. I literally feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone because it warped my perception of/on time. It’s been a couple of years since I left, and I am still adjusting to living a life where I don’t work at my old Target.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? Is this even the right subreddit for this post?


r/retail • • 9d ago

How to cope with a retail job?

6 Upvotes

I've been working at a dollartree for a month now, and I still feel almost depressed or anxious every day when I clock in.

I try to handle it and endure it because frankly, retail is everywhere. You're bound to work as a cashier at one point. You're bound to talk to customers that are mean and such. I mean even if it's not retail, you're always gonna experience people in your career that will make it tough I'm sure. I need this job to help for college tuition, so I try to be optimistic that I'm getting money and learning new experiences but I still feel so sad.

Every day since I've worked in September I've had dreams about ringing people up in the cashier or stocking items. I feel so anxious because of some of the people I help due to how they act, while most of the customers I've met so far have been usually nice.

I think I'm just dreading the unexpected, and what could go wrong.

Any advice on how to handle it would be appreciated, I don't want to sound overreactive and such.


r/retail • • 9d ago

Luxury retail folks, what shoes are we wearing?

2 Upvotes

Ive been working at a luxury clothing store for a year but am still looking for comfy shoes. We’re not supposed to wear running sneakers—I do anyway sometimes—so Hokas are out (and I find them too cushioned for the quick dashes I’m making around the floor).

I’ve gotten Birdies recently and some Adidas taekwondo shoes that I wear with insoles. I want something with even more support to add to my rotation. I’m looking at Birkenstocks, which I’ve been told are fine to wear, and I may leave a pair at work so I can switch between shoes. I’m looking into sebago loafers too.


r/retail • • 11d ago

I mean they were polite but still

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234 Upvotes

r/retail • • 10d ago

hours flexibility & back pain

0 Upvotes

I'm applying for a retail position at a handbag store and they told me it'll be 12-20 hrs a week, 4-7 shifts. Does that mean my hours and shift duration are completely up to them?

I prefer 12 hrs a week and 4 hr shifts, are they likely to accomondate that or is it usually the norm where they give me whatever and I just have to take it.

Also, is it a bad idea for someone with chronic lower back pain?


r/retail • • 12d ago

Impatient people at self checkout!

22 Upvotes

Just needed everyone who understands to laugh a minute along with me after my encounter at the grocery store.

I’m on vacation from work this week so instead of buying my meals there like I usually do or stopping quickly to grab dinner from the store on my way home I decided to make a quick run to the store for some food for the next few days after dinner this morning (3rd shifter) since I hadn’t planned this far ahead on my last shop for food.

Being I only had 9 things I went to self checkout and as I got up there the two people in front of me started walking to registers that just opened so I was patiently waiting my turn for one to open when someone came up behind me asking if they could get by.

I’m sorry but the register with the light out and no one at it wasn’t working (it was clearly visible from where I was standing), and the reason I wasn’t walking to the register with a green light on was because the person ahead of me just walked there but hadn’t started scanning anything yet, and all other registers were occupied, where’d they think they were going or think I could go so they could checkout faster?

I understand it was around 12pm and they were most likely on a lunch break or something so probably pressed for time, but no amount of rushing would open a register any faster than the people at them could checkout so what good does it do?

I swear people’s brains completely lose all common sense the minute they enter a retail store sometimes!


r/retail • • 12d ago

Let the countdown commence.

8 Upvotes

One bad apple.

Turns the entire bunch.

I took over a store about 60 days ago now. Its been a bumpy ride to say the least. I started with 35 employees and am now down to 10-15. I thought at first it was the old store managers culture they had left behind impacting my team to leave when I came in

This week I realized it was my one core (has been there since the old SM) assistant manager that's been stirring the pot and causing problems. She shares confidential conversations with the employees, tell them everything i know or confide in her about.... and has started a walk out with my team convincing them to quit with her and leave me stranded with like 55 days until black friday.

I won't really be hurting for associates, but... my entire management team is walking.... one was supposed to be talked to about an loss prevention issue... but she told him before I could get together with LP.... and the other is supposed to fet a talking to from my boss... but I think my asm warned him and he too is going to quit when I return to the store....


r/retail • • 13d ago

Just got chewed out at work. Need advice on how to handle.

7 Upvotes

Hey everyone. I work at target as a fulfillment specialist. I’ve been there for about a month so I’m not brand new I’ve got a grasp on what I’m doing and how to do it. I’m able to pick and find OPU batches with ease I’d say the things I don’t know are maybe the small dos and donts of the job. We’re understaffed so my training lasted for about a day and half and even then my trainer left mid way because they were gonna meet their meal quota so everything I’ve learned has been from watching others and asking questions. As of recently I really thought I was getting the hang of OPU and Ship batches had no complaints from anyone thus far being able to complete the batches on time is really fun for me. But Apparently I screwed up majorly the other day for reasons that I can somewhat understand in hindsight but was never told I shouldn’t do. But the other day my team lead blew up on me she started raising her voice and all that saying what I did today was completely unacceptable and didn’t elaborate further. Now I know how to handle criticism I’m 22 and have experience with giving and receiving criticism when it’s structured and given to me but when I’m getting yelled at it feels like an attack on me personally. So when she was yelling at me I mainly took it on the chin, apologized and kept it pushing but I was hurt and I tend to work a little slower when I’m hurt but regardless i know there’s a time and place for feeling your feelings so I complete another OPU batch and seeing as she seemed really passionate about what I did wrong I didn’t want to stir up any problems. There was no one thankfully in the immediate vicinity of us that I could see when she did chew me out but she raised her voice high enough that I’m sure someone around us heard. I’m a mainly quiet and non confrontational dude I don’t really like to stand out at work and the previous jobs I’ve worked being warehouse jobs have had no complaints about my work ethic. So getting yelled at like this is pretty new to me. I know I was probably in the wrong about what I had done and maybe even deserved it. I guess to give more background at my time in fulfillment I’ll admit that I did suck balls at OPU for a little bit since this mega store is thirty minutes away from me I didn’t understand the lay out so when I was told to go into an OPU batch as you can guess I went over goal now thankfully they were understanding. My store has this rule though that if you’re going to INF an item check in with a team lead first. understandable. My batches seemed to always have atleast one item that I need to INF which resulted in me constantly asking for help finding them I could see that after a while they were starting to get fed up with me asking and since I hated seeing their reactions I made sure to double check the location areas, truck lines, possible miss placements, and return areas before asking which almost always resulted in my OPU goal coming close to red which then resulted in the TLS being more annoyed by me. But as I’ve stated previously I got the hang of it and my batches are all completed with time to spare but these small interactions beforehand have made them already a little bit annoyed with me to an extent this specific interaction I viewed as the explosion of all these tiny events from this one specific team lead. but my question is should I have just sat there and taken it? I understand that fulfillment is a highly competitive and fast paced job but regardless is this sort of reaction normal? I’m not really trying to argue I just want to understand. I know that fulfillment isn’t for everyone and it certainly isn’t for me but I want money so I’m kind of forcing it to work for me despite how much I hate it. This job is full of a lot of cliques and stuff so I know for a fact that everyone’s probably gonna talk about it and seeing as I have been unable to make any work acquaintances I’m assuming im going to be outcasted even further. I don’t really know what to do this post is somewhat a rant to get this off my chest but im also just looking for possible advice on what I should as well as methods to handling these sorts of situations I have another better paying job lined up I’m just waiting for that tentative offer before I put my two weeks in. But it would be a great reference for understanding how to handle future situations like this.