To wish supermarket staff were a bit more glamorous.

[SurferJet]

Obviously this is lighthearted - but strolling through Tesco earlier I thought how much nicer it would be if the staff had a touch of glamour about them - supermarket shopping is such a boring drudge isn't it, & I for one would be so cheered up if the staff were a bit more 'Hollywood' - obviously it doesn't have to be the full Audrey Hepburn or James Bond - but maybe a step up from dowdy overalls.

Anyone else?

I clicked on the thread because I couldn't quite believe what an arseholish title it had, and sure enough

yet again it's full of women judging others by their appearances and defining their worth by their sodding nail polish and slap.
My local supermarket is largely staffed by enthusiastic, polite and lovely students. Some glam, some scruffs, all doing a job with little respect and numerous PITA customers.
Do I give a toss what they look like, on minimum wage? In uniforms?

Another interesting post from Limited.

Those sorts of threads have been increasing, I think. I wonder if it's because people are feeling increasingly vulnerable/anxious? Or perhaps it's just my imagination.

I worked in retail for 10 years. Pay was shit, hours were shit and some customers were occasionally shit, but most days were a good laugh and most customers friendly and chatty. Happy memories

The worst uniform I had to wear was a red A-line dress that was too tight on the top half but massive on the bottom half. With a tabard on top. And a hat. All in polyester Oh yes, it was so glam, all that sweat

I think the modern retain uniform of trousers and a polo top looks fine TBH. It also looks far more comfortable.

Retail not retain

The joys of 1980s retail uniforms. Marks and Sparks. Polyester cream dress. Fitted bodice and flared skirt with m and s in a crisis cross pattern across it. It went well with my goth back comb. Or WhSmiths which was a grey pinafore with flared skirt with a blouse that went under it with a neck tie scarf thing.

T shirt fleece and trousers I would have been much happier with.

Incidentally, I never actually pulled anyone up on not having baggy enough trousers. Frankly, they paid me less than £3 an hour, and that was nowhere near enough to encourage me to point out to people that their trousers were getting a bit tight. Presumably they knew fine well they'd put on weight anyway and would not welcome me pointing out that their trousers were supposed to be baggier.

I restricted myself to reporting of there were uncovered sockets or boxes left where people might trip over them or no lid on the bucket for rehydrating dehydrated pickles and other things that didn't involve offending people.

I think they all wear their own trousers. They can wear whatever trousers they like as long as they are black.

Doesn't sound like a very good employer to me. But good employers are very hard to find these days. Some of the biggest ones are the shittiest.

The employer should provide a uniform if they require a particular look for appearance and particularly for safety purposes. They should also provide a change so employees can account for washing and wear and tear. This should be worked out in the contract. Every employee should get a contract.

My husband is a menswear retailer who insists that male staff wear things from his clothing range and provides a generous allowance for them to do that. He doesn't do female clothing so the female staff get a similar allowance towards clothing from elsewhere but unfortunately don't get the access to the luxury clothing that the men do. However, they do get access to sample sales from suppliers, who do womenswear, if they want to buy from there. They don't have to, but they often do.

They appeared happy last time I looked. But he might have just cracked the whip...

Wow. Ok

you misconstrued

I didnt even construe never mind misconstrue. I posted a face because it was a phrase to use about someone's job especially when using it in the presence of the people who do the job.

possibly because you were joining in with the other poster

I hadnt seen dame's comment about your comment until after i had posted. Perhaps your mistake of assuming i was posting in some kind of unity with dame has led you to also mistakenly assume i objected for the same reasons as dame.

you were wrong to assume something about my post that wasnt true

What did i assume about your post?

thats what i do when i get the wrong end of a stick

Which is what i am assuming you will do now as you have the wrong end of this stick. I did not get anything wrong. I fully understood your intent because i am able to read and saw your full post. As i said way back, it is the phrase that reads badly. It isnt a nice phrase to use about someone's job.

I work retail and tbh, so long as people are clean and presentable, I really don't think it matters.

Uniform needs to be easy to wash, and something that dries quickly. Stock comes in on open roll-cages - boxes have often leaked or been left in the rain, or have been dropped on the way to the store and therefore you get dirty pretty quickly. Kneeling on filthy floors = filthy trousers even if you've only been at work 30 minutes.

You can come in pristine, clean and fresh, but if you're lugging heavy boxes in a polyester jacket in a filthy warehouse, you're not going to stay like that for long.

I would love to see tesco staff in glam uniforms

Feathered head-dresses, like Vegas show girls. For the men too, of course.

I'll take ^^that as "oh ok, i get it now"

I have never seen you be nasty on Mn mrsd so this is quite disappointing. Really no need for that.

ANYhoo

a pp said something about mnetters not wanting dcs to work in retail

this time last year ds was anxious. Not-leaving-his-room anxious. it was awful, I can't tell you

a few months at supermarket and he's a different lad

they've trained him to be friendly, helpful and polite

HE DOES ACTUAL SMILING

I am beyond happy he's got a job in retail. He went in a boy and he's come out nearly a man

Life is odd

This thread is really unpleasant.

I've worked in retail, the uniforms are designed to be practical and easy maintain. How unfortunate that they're not aesthetically pleasing enough for the customer .

Broadly speaking, the worst thing about working in retail is the shitty attitude customers usually have about shop workers. When working in retail I was spoken to appallingly badly by people who I suspect would never even consider being so unpleasant otherwise. Though middle aged, middle class women were the worst offenders if talking about my anecdotal observations which are backed up on this thread.

Only food retail though. Somehow people who work in a clothes shop are a cut above. Which makes sense because people need clothes in order to eat, right?

The joys of 1980s retail uniforms. Marks and Sparks. Polyester cream dress. Fitted bodice and flared skirt with m and s in a crisis cross pattern across it. It went well with my goth back comb. Or WhSmiths which was a grey pinafore with flared skirt with a blouse that went under it with a neck tie scarf thing.

My Saturday job Argos uniform was a thing of immense beauty. And a lot of polyester. A hell of a lot.

Great post Mudda

perhaps a retailer might like to run a competition to design the uniform

children /adult /design student category

and the staff panel pick the winner assisted by GOK ?

I quite fancy a tabard and builders utility belt. It would be rather practical for everyday wear.

I work for a Supermarket. I'd love to be more glamorous. I also love being secure in my employment - shelling out for LBD's and elbow length gloves would somewhat diminish my companies ability to provide employment for us all.

And, we work bloody hard. Polyester doesn't look great on anyone, but I'd rather wear my uniform with pride than muck up my civvie clothes.

Leave us alone or shop online.

ta v much Pirate

re: cat's bum faces in Boots

I've overheard staff in our local Boots talking and I gather they're a pretty shit employer these days

you can tell as a customer- the staffing levels are bobbins- it's like they've got the ideal number then cut it by about 40%

I just like my supermarkets to sell food and stuff