assistant manager

Jean Machine

a typical day at work would be different depending on the time of the year, when we are rolling out product for spring/summer or fall/winter days at the office get hectic to say the least. as a team we have a divided list of departments we constantly monitor of drops or rises in sales on a wtd (week to date), mtd ( month to date) and ytd (year to date) numbers. We then compare those to numbers from previous dates in the same season and continue to break it down by department, down to the style, and then the same for particular items. this process gets divided and then shared. Another daily task is then analyzing the successes in sales and impact on budget and eventually calculating the "clean" revenue. A not so enjoyable part of the job is calculating money lost on items that were not successful, and then calculating further the difference lost every time we promote the items at lower prices and watching revenue deplete as we struggle to get rid of dead inventory. Other days or sometimes everyday we communicate our findings and learn from also, the visual merchandising teams, sales managers, and our sales reps. We break down the budgets given to us and everyday monitor how all aspects of the process effect the final numbers, monthly. 

I have learned that it is not always the items that you personally enjoy or the style you necessarily go towards, which sell the best. I continuously get surprised and impressed by the styles that do well, that I didn't think, would and vice versa. The most definite thing I have learned that it is the most unpredictable series of events that one could never foresee the future of, and yet also the most exhilarating and exciting aspects of this job which drives me so much. I really enjoy that the success of this job doesn't rely on personal preference of fashion, but the personal preference of the end consumer. If one is able to openly allow the public dictate their decisions, one would have potential at this job. realizing what the consumer wants, is all you need to know, and then give it to them. if you are wrong, you are in trouble. and there is no way around this and never will be, if you push items that are no longer of interest, you lost them, if you release a trend that is not yet a trend, you lost them. Timing is the most critical part of the process and its accuracy is completely reliant on the success or failure of reaching budgets, and having hits, or failing to do so and costing the company unbearable amount of money.

Management is very small and very much family run and favored. positions are being held by those that are decent and adequate at their roles, but do not get considered to be moved aside for excellent and outstanding potential candidates, because of seniority and favoritism. Many things get forgiven due to this circumstance and its quite unpleasant and unprofessional to witness. besides that, the people as people, very nice and most, are very driven and productive.

My main priority at Jean Machine was to help our customers find the perfect pair of jeans. I enjoyed working with our customers, most of them were regulars. The staff at our location were like a family. We were responsible daily for sales budgets, merchandising, and customer service. We were in contact with our area manager on a daily basis. I was responsible for the hiring and training of all employees, sales budgets and results, and any customer service issues or inquiries. The best part of my job was helping a customer find the perfect outfit. When someone left my store happy and confident in their purchase it was a great sense of accomplishment. The hardest part of the job was to meet sales budgets in a struggling economy. There were many factors that affected our sales, and most of them were beyond my control. Working every weekend and every holiday was also a downfall of the job. Customer complaints and returns were not my favourite part of the job either, but when I could resolve the issue satisfactorily for both parties, that also was a great feeling. I worked for Jean Machine for 7 years. I gained much experience from my employment here, however the stress levels that go along with the manager position far outweighed the benefits.

At Jean Machine, I was an outbound sales associate first, and warehouse associate second. During my role as an outbound sales associate, we would travel around Ontario on certain weekends from Thursday-Sunday, and we would set up and run a "warehouse sale" at various hotel venues. We worked in a very tight-knit team and ran things extremely efficiently. We had a core team, and each person knew their roles. Unfortunately, there was a clear separation from management and laborers, which made it impossible to move up in the company. I was once offered an assistant manager position, only to find out that it was informal and was not made to sign any forms. I then found out that the same position was offered to my co-worker, who was also not made to sign any forms to make it official.

During the times we were not running any sales, I would be working inside the warehouse to prepare for the ones that were coming.

The hardest part of this job was the demanding hours (we worked 11-12 hours Thursday-Friday during our sales), but the fact that we got to travel and explore Ontario was the most enjoyable of any job I have ever had.

Jean Machine is a great place to work for the clothes, and the job itself. It is a very sales focused retailer and for those of us who love to sell and make people fall in love with clothes,we thrive! Our days consist of budgets that we are required to meet. Unfortunately that doesn't always happen because we live in a slower city where mall traffic is minimum. Jean Machine has been great in helping me to develop my leadership skills more practically and with more confidence. My co-workers are great. We work as a team and that helps us to reach our daily goals. My manager and assistant manager are great and supportive of anything that I bring to them. The hardest part of the job would be that our store is very slow. Some days we may only see about 5-10 people and since we have quite a few slow times, most of our tasks are done by mid-day if we don't receive stock. If we receive stock that may keep us busy for a few hours. The best part of the job is my management team. We work very well together and always keep ourselves up and lifted even when the day is going by so slow.

Working at Jean Machine was a great starting job, and job to have during school. 
My typical day at Jean Machine would include being coached at the beginning of the shift, and recap of sales, conversion, and sales that we have( current or previous) 
I would learn everything every day, such as reviewing the "product knowledge" binder of the many brands we carried, to insure I could best serve each customer with each question they had. 
We would sell clothing, and we were taught how to increase sales by asking questions about client to gain a personal approach to the sale.
I would learn more about the customer and find more things we sold in store that would best suit the customer needs and wants.

Hardest part of my job would be standing on the feet all day, but also remembering the numerous brands we carry. With practice, it became easier.

Most enjoyable part of my job was not only having co-workers but when leaving Jean Machine, I felt I left with gaining friendships.
I really enjoyed making the customer feel welcome in the store, and getting to know each person that walked in the door.

Jean Machine was the worst job I ever had. It started with a lie that I would be making $12/hour which was actually $11.25/hour as the assistant manager. They required me to work 42 hours a week and only paid me for 40, breaks were not included so I ended up being at the store for 50 hours a week and my breaks were constantly interrupted. I worked very hard for this company, even filling in for my manager when they sent her away and got literally nothing for my sacrifice and unpaid work hours. This is not a job to work if you are looking to actually make money as you are required to wear current Jean Machine clothes from head to toe except shoes and it is very, very expensive especially since even management makes less than $400/week after taxes in some cases. Commission is minimal and only really worth it if you work in a high volume store which are very hard to get into. Little advancement opportunity. I did learn a lot about selling and jeans though which was kind of nice as a life lesson.

Stay away if you can. Unless you are extremely desperate then apply for their jobs, they will hire whoever instantly as they ALWAYS have high turnovers. People just leave due to the nature of this company: unorganized, no strategies/ structure in profiting (other than having a terrible and disrespectful district manager verbally abusing you by phone/ email every hour), shipments delay often, just cheap cheap cheap. Terrible commission and terrible pay. It made me wonder how other AMs made a living with this ridiculously low pay. An assistant manager gets paid less than a key holder , how does that make any sense ? The company's got to really knock some sense and sit down with the entire company and go through how this Jean Machine thing can continue to sustain itself. If you aren't profiting, admit it and understand why.

Overall a good place to work; some managers were a little tough while others were a little more lenient which made it a little difficult when helping out at other locations. Sales associates received the lowest discount which was frustrating due to the fact that the sales associates have to wear the product in season; for someone not receiving many hours this makes it difficult to purchase clothing because of the high prices; meanwhile head office sits at the warehouse all day and get 50% off which is double the discount sales associate receive.

Looking back on my experiences as the senior assistant manager of the Jean machine located in Toronto’s Eaton Centre I definitely have many things to be proud of and reflect upon. 

I’m proud to say that I commited 250% of myself into my work and helping develope and coach my staff to run a successful business/location.

I’m now looking forward to starting a new chapter of my life and working career with new challenges and endeavours.

I really didn't enjoy working here at all, the only reason I stayed as long as I did was for the clothing and the staff. I was part of the management team which was great but with the lack of training I had received, even after discussing it with my superiors it was hardly addressed, I might as well have been hired as a part-time employee. Co-workers were great for the most part, but like I said the management needs improvement or they needs more training themselves.

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