Retail Summer
“All the glitter is not gold” Family Business – Kanye West
First and foremost I have to apologise for my total lack of posts recently but hopefully this will explain why I have been extremely M.I.A.
From the moment I got back from Paris way back in June, I have been on my feet – literally! As for the past eight weeks I have been working at size? in Covent Garden, that exact store where I had my Air Yeezy experience was where I would be working. Working at size? let alone working at all was amazing. It’s no secret that right now there are record levels of unemployment in the UK especially for students so I was extremely grateful to have a job.
But I stand by my opening quote that “all the glitter is not gold” because the novelty of working at size? started to wear off. Now I know you shouldn’t burn bridges but I feel with this post that I am not being ungrateful or throwing back in their face what was given to me. You really have to understand what I have been doing these past eight weeks.
Size? is situated in Neal Street Covent Garden which is a very fashion orientated part of London, with stores such as American Apparel, Carhatt, Offspring and Slam City near. I was at the centre of it all and was happy to be able to see different styles, kicks and cultures every day. But it was my position that at times brought me so much joy as well as boredom. The store itself is split into two parts. With the upstairs entrance acting as a show room and the downstairs being the actual store. I mention being bored because, after you re-lace the same shoe for the third time that week or even day, you’ve told the customer that there are more shoes downstairs and they can try some on and SIT DOWN, (a pleasure taken for granted I must say) what more is there to do? Except wait for a customer to come in that will not ignore you, not look through you as if your not there and is willing to talk to you. It was those moments that brought me the most joy from my time at size? and made working there worthwhile.
The BF made a point of saying how many customers come into the store and just want to be left alone to look at the trainers and do not care if you said hello or not. To a certain extent he was right, you could really tell that some customers didn’t care whether you said hi and sometimes that hurt. I have a “problem” in that I care too much for what other people think and a customer once said, “Why am I asking you anyway – you just sell the shoe” and I took that personally and from that point made the effort not be the Sales Assistant. I think people thought I was trying to give them the hard sell and entice them downstairs and make sure they left with a bag when in all honesty I was just looking for casual conversation to pass the time and see what was going on in the world outside my space – so I always said hi!
My philosophy is that you meet a different person everyday but it’s the connection that you make with them that determines whether you meet them again. And I really did make a connection with some customers who came back numerous times to see me, give me books, go to lunch with me and who really took the time to talk with me about anything and everything! We talked of politics, fashion, music, food, weather, hairstyles, our generation and more, it was always reassuring to hear that someone shared the same idea or opinion as you or learn a new view to a popular debating topic.
I must say some of the most passioned conversations I had was undoubtedly about kicks. With every person I spoke to we always came to the conclusion that sneaker culture is indescribable. You can’t pin down one word to define the culture and feeling. For longer than I should have I stood and spoke to customers about their own collections and experiences, what we had in store and whether they got the thumbs up or down and what releases where coming in the future but most of all what we enjoyed from the past. I think that it is important, to know where a shoe has come from and how it has transformed and been influenced by designers or elements from today. I asked Marcus Troy why he particularly liked the Air Jordan True Blue III’s and he replied for nostalgic reasons. The fact that a shoe could you take you back and evoke memories is amazing and that is very common of the main series of Jordan shoes as the designers pick and take certain elements from past shoes to create a new one or hybrid version of one as we can see with the Air Jordan 60+ which incorporates the Jordan I, II, V, and VII.
It’s no secret that I am trying to get into the footwear industry and working at size? presented me with a fantastic opportunity to meet people who were where I would like to be and had turned their passion into a career. I met representatives of great brands such as Fred Perry, Adidas, Pointer, Helly Hansen and Marks & Spencer. Meeting all those people was a chance for me to essentially shine and be my cover letter and CV right there and then and get across my passion, knowledge and ambitions.
Working at size? gave me the opportunity to really know what I want in life and point me in the right direction on how to obtain my goals. I now know I would like to work specifically with a brand where I can focus my energy into one thing.
Everyone needs to start somewhere and that’s what happened with size? this was the foot in the door that I was talking about in previous posts. I think it’s important to excel after this point, with any dream or aim you need to be thinking about what is next.
Everything is a progression.
Yes, it was boring and tedious at times but you have to start somewhere.
