retail assistant manager

retail store manager

retail assistant store manager

assistant store manager

guest service agent

DXL Big & Tall

I really didn't want to come back to retail, but it was here and I have a lot of experience in this field. From day one, Casual Male Retail Group, now Destination XL group; seemed like any other major retail corporation.

The corporate parent, CMRG, Casual Male Retail Group is now Destination XL Group. The Casual Male store, our predecessors are dinosaurs of the retail landscape, a throwback to the 90s florescent purgatory that was typical of that decade (think caldor, bradlees, et al) It was long in the tooth and desperately needed a makeover - that's where our store comes in. Originally, the DXL concept was exactly that - an experiment at rebranding, to update ourselves and modernize the locations. The ten initial test stores did very well and this was chosen to be Casual Male's new future - we were one of the pilot locations and thereby one of the original DXLs.

At our company, which caters to the big and tall man, we occupy a niche market and serve a niche clientele - the company is aware of it. A DXL store is grossly overpriced for the merchandise that we offer. A standard, casual button-down shirt is $75, sales are rare. I know that may not be uncommon with some of the boutique brands that we offer, Lacoste and Polo for instance, but everything, absolutely everything that we offer, including our house brands, are priced just as high. I feel the company does that because to be frank, many of our clients simply cannot get clothes that fit them in many other retailers, so in a way, it's the "gotcha" attitude taken to the extreme. that was my first indication of how this company is run and how they view their customers.

From an operational standpoint, this is a firm for whom metrics are key. UPT is a standard 3.5 across the board, DPT is fixed at $200 and this is expected at all times. There have been occasions where I have been flat out threatened with my position if my standing in our matrix didn't improve. While this may seem fairly standard-issue policy in most of the retail industry, it is heavily countered directly by the sheer cost of our merchandise. As stated before, the average price of any one single piece of clothing is typically upwards of $100, therefore in order to maintain that 3.5 UPT average one MUST, in general, transact in amounts of upwards of $350-$400 dollars each just to remain compliant. What I found would often happen is that I might sell a few high tier pieces, but not hit the UPT goal or conversely sell several lesser-priced items, but then fail to maintain the DPT (dollars per transaction) goal. Granted, my particular store is in a very high-income area we do have a lot of people who come from all over, just because of how specialized our stock is - and not all of them can afford to spend like that on clothing.

Another concern of mine with this company is the staffing. In general, most Casual Male stores are single-coverage, with the exception of a floater around for a portion of the day to cover shift changes. DXLs are all typically far larger than the old CMs, so we usually had much more payroll. Our store has the manager, an assistant and two keyholders and two cashiers and one tailor - that's what we were zoned for. The day I started, i was replacing a key who's parent became ill, causing her to move home. Two weeks later, our Assistant Manager was let go because he was using unauthorized discounts to improve his sales. We replaced the key a month ago and we are still working without an assistant. I started in July. My store manager is UTTERLY unable to hire basic cannon-fodder without the district getting involved and an RVP's input - even for a cashier's job. DXL being the company's baby, everything we do is micromanaged so it can be quantified later. The result of so much tinkering is the most amazing bureaucracy imaginable to complete even the most mundane, basic task in retailing - building staff. My store manager has had a long time in retail, he's talented and yet he and myself have to work ourselves to death over christmas because we literally had no other coverage, and both of us put our needs behind the company and did the best we could, which brings me to...

...the fact that I lost my vacation time doing this. In most jobs i've held, I've never just slapped my vacation time down on the table and walked out the door to enjoy a week or two off. I ALWAYS make sure the company is taken care of - after all, they sign my checks and i don't want to leave a mess. Holiday was tough without adequate coverage, so was January, which was all meetings and inventory and store seasonal changes. At the beginning of February, our fiscal year ended, and with it, any unused vacation time from the previous year ended with it, to be replaced by this year's allocation. I had a week in the tank from 2012 and because I wasn't able to take my vacation, I was denied from a. taking the time and b. being paid as my district put it 'i failed to get coverage from another store'

...i couldn't. as stated before, CMs have little to no coverage as an SOP. The only other DXL with a large staff was located out of state. coverage was out of the question. I figured that if i stuck it out and worked as hard as i could, surely the company would see that i had no other way, and would have allowed me to take my time, right? right? WRONG.

It took three weeks, numerous calls to payroll, district managers and corporate to track the buck down that was being passed around on this issue.

And I was made to feel as if I were at fault for not taking my time and speaking up. Lesson learned, next time, I don't care if we're down to ONE employee, i'll moonwalk right out of there when I want to take my next vacation, guilt-free - as thats how the company apparently wants me to handle it.

it was a kick in the teeth. no staff, insidious sales tactics and loss of granted benefits. those are my takeaways from DXL. I expected better, i even anticipated better. The staff in the store itself, pretty ok, but the utter lack of support from corporate and the shameless shearing of our customers has left me cold, and dying for another opportunity.

Oh, one last thing - the dress code there is full business, a complete suit. I know this may not be terrible, but for a clothing company where there is DISGUSTING mark up on many of the items, it would behoove the company to do a little something for it's employees if it's going to force them to dress this way. Most people who wear suits to work are standing still - behind desks and the like. We are building walls, opening endless shipment, getting dirty cleaning backrooms and dusting shelves - even the best suits will get destroyed with that kind of treatment. Most of us work for peanuts and they're pricey too - a decent suit is going to cost at least $300, (and even that's cheap) and you'll get chastised if it's 'cheap' (I once overheard my district manager talking about another associate and his 'cheap' wardrobe. I explained that person only makes maybe $8 an hour to which she replied, 'not my problem') I look pretty good in businesswear, but man - i don't appreciate chopping half my paycheck for a suit to be sacrificed to slaughter.

I operated as a member of a Casual Male XL management team for 5 years, coming in as an assistant manager and promoted to store manager.

The Good

I adored my guest.  The customers made my job a pleasure.  A guest that you can actually see the value in your service as a transformative act.  We provided a degree of expertise and compassion they so rarely receive in other avenues of menswear.  The training was extensive which i honestly grew to value.  The company sets a standard when it comes to the guest experience, one focused on not stalking or hounding, but creating an interaction that relieves pressure while still being engaged.  The tools at my disposal permitted me and my team to become experts at fit and fashion which elevated our service and ultimately our business.  The corporate team members (some execs included) i had the pleasure of getting to know never felt corporate, they were always accessible and in some cases actually knew more than just my name and store, but knew ME.  The companies charitable dedication to St. Jude should be highlighted, THEY'RE BIG ON IT and i loved being apart of our giving. The benefits were honestly fair, nothing amazing but my deductibles were manageable and i walked away with a decent penny in 401k savings.

The Bad

During my stint as the ASM, my feelings in regards to upper management were less than warm.  Quite cold considering my first 9 months upon hire were without an actual Lead in store.  And no, this wasn't an uncommon practice at the time.  The store manager i then received was burnt out in just over a year, i then stepped up into their role from my assistant duties.  My experience with corporate and upper management varied.  My first two Regional's were barely that.  My third and last was an asset to my development and quite honestly the only reason i stayed but they were an exceptional case and not a fair litmus of their peers in terms of dedication to their people and our success.  Its sadly a luck of the draw, you could end up with a great leader like i did, or stuck with one of her not so great peers depending on where you are in the country.  Over my time, the shuffle of upper management settled down but ultimately change is and inevitable part of business and some shake ups benefitted us on their store front.

THE (Incredibly) UGLY

Poor pay = Poor Staffing = Poor productivity = Poor profits

All of that equaled a poor work/life balance for all parties involved.  Given 96 hours to spilt between a team, take out my mandatory 40+ hours and my assistant's 35+ and i was left with roughly 20 hours for 1 key or 10 for 2 keys.  A key holder pay rate of $7.50 plus a staggered commission rate capped at 6% making for an average composite rate of $10/hr in a market where the median keyholder is making that WITHOUT fighting for commission.  Pretty hard to keep that position filled, an issue that every manager in my region combatted.  This led to high rates of turnover which placed added pressure on other team members.  Upon taking over the store, for 3 years I gave the company back no less that 60 hours in paid time off EVERY YEAR because there was just no way to take it all off and keep my business (and my people) going.  Managers could not request time off if our stores were not staffed, no exceptions (accept of course in stances of death...meaning your own). And don't bother getting sick. This company has a culture of burnout that it is choosing not to fix.  I was able to negotiate my pay to a comfortable rate that i didn't have to compete with my people for sales which increased the value of their time with the guests but as a manager i shouldn't have had to go as far as putting in my notice to get a raise to improve the selling environment in my store.  I still eventually exhausted myself.

In conclusion, make sure you're applying for a Destination XL and not a Casual Male otherwise expect to be overworked and underpaid and held to the same standard as folks getting paid twice as much for doing the same job.  Even then, STILL expect a revolving door of people that can't justify the workload with the pay even at the DXL stores.  This is honestly a job best suited for someone just looking for part time spare change.  I did truly love my job, i just wish i was more empowered to create a work environment equipped with a living wage for all members of my team as they all played a vital role in our success and providing one of the best guest experiences in the business.

If you're concerned about pay, the company pays PENNIES compared to most places for an assistant or general manager. The excuse they give is that you make commission and if you want to "make more" simply "sell more". A fair point, but considering that I made more as a sales associate than I did an assistant over holiday season simply should tell you that your salary can fluctuate A LOT, and by no fault of your own. 

The core of the job isn't difficult: You're a wardrobe consultant. You get the customer what they need, then start piling on the add-ons using the company's script/floor process. 

Operations is fairly simple as well: keep the store clean and neat, follow the visual charts for merchandising, run shipment, keep up with the LARGE amount of paperwork that piles up in a single day of business, run scheduling, conduct interviews etc.

Where the difficulty comes in is that you will ALWAYS work understaffed. Most stores in our district run on 3-4 people, and if you lose one, it's very difficult to maintain balance in the store. You'll find yourself doing EVERYTHING all at once from operations to customer service, which is possible to manage once you find a rhythm, but hit one kink and you may find yourself a day behind very quickly. And there is NO cutting corners with this company. 

Your overall experience will also be driven by your general manager and the higher managers. I faced a lot of passive aggressive behavior and learned very quickly that the best way to get along was to smile and nod and treat upper management like every word they said was gold. It's a very "fake" environment in which you're encouraged to give feedback, but nothing changes and the only response you get is "What an interesting idea! Love the feedback! Great input!" in a "I'm hardly listening" tone of voice. Certain branches are very clique-ish and it feels, at times, like you're back in high school.* If you want to avoid the drama, make sure you cross your all your T's and dot all your I's and that your numbers are always where they are supposed to be. Either way, you'll have weekly/monthly calls in which they go over the numbers and sales plans, be ready.

Some of the expectations of upper management are also near-impossible. For the most part, as I've said, balancing all the duties of operations and customer service can be difficult, but is certainly possible, especially with a well trained and dedicated team, but the company doesn't give you any additional tools to do so. On top of being understaffed, hours are often spread thin, but you're expected to always be out recruiting and setting up interviews. Even if your store is fully staffed, you're pressured to find potential recruits for the upstate stores as well. A work-life balance is simply something you won't have working here. 

If advancement is something you're focused on, its certainly possible here. In fact, training everyone to be potential managers is something they take very seriously, as they genuinely believe in promoting from within. Just smile and nod and keep those numbers high. 

To that point though, please note: if you work at a smaller location, you DO NOT matter. you'll have to work a lot harder to prove yourself and your focus should be on transferring to a larger store ASAP. there are a lot more opportunities to earn higher places in the company if you work for a DXL rather than a CMXL.

Finally, a last point to the stores running understaffed: it is entirely too common that if you lose store members you'll find yourself working open to close shifts for days at a time, multiple weeks in a row. There is very little sense of urgency when this happens. Just be prepared to essentially live in your store.

It was fun at first working there, it felt like we were a "team" but it wasn't as it seemed. 
Everything is a competition when you work with commission, but nothing like I have seen in this company before.
- The manager would say that they will ring up your customer and they would input their code, as if it was their customer. So when it was pay day the commission wasn't adding up.
- The manager always had a 9-5 schedule, all the time. And when they help out their last customer before they leave, they would never clean up after them. 
- The manager would always complain if something wasn't done, when in reality it was and you'd stay late to clean EVERYTHING.
       They would inspect in the morning and then give you a feedback when you would walk in the door.
- When it was the manager's day off, they would state the day before that no one should call them because it was their day off. VERSUS when it was someone else, they would call and or text.
- The manager never followed the rotation, or better yet they never introduced one to us. They pretty much knew their regular customers that would spend $$$$ so they would take it, they would say "oh that's my customer"
- Managers would give you their customer and at first you're like, "okay they're giving me a sale" and the customer would only have a $100 or less purchase because they don't want that sale. So therefore, the next person that would walk in would be their customer because the manager gave you theirs as an exchange.
- When the store would be busy it would be the best because you get to help more people and get more commission but the manager would tell you, "it's time for your break" meanwhile the store was busy. 
- The manager would ask us to heat their food up and dirty bowls would stay in the sink.
- The manager wouldn't do inventory when it would arrive. They would send us to do the work so they keep up with who walks in and who assists that customer. AND they always expected it to be done in two days when they would be off and when there would only be 2 people working.
- The manager would make assumptions and comment with other co-workers, which are HR violations.
- ANOTHER THING, HR never did anything when you would bring it up to them. There was a meeting and all they said was, "hopefully it changes"
- ALSO, the AREA MANAGER never did anything when it was brought up to them. 

Once you get caught up, you get more vigilant and you defend and stand up for yourself. But like I said, the Area Manager never did anything about the situation, so everyone left. During the holidays this was the best time to work. The commission was great but the manager and the environment was bad.  
      You work because you need the money but when someone starts taking your commission it's just bad, because it's your money that they're messing with.
     If there was different management, anyone would stay. No one really lasted there to be honest.

Hope this helped!

Enter building, disarm alarm, turn computer and registers on, clock in, open up registers to receive till association, Open up safe, remove bank deposit,close safe, go to bank, return with deposit slips, turn on lights, turn music on, open safe and remove cash for registers close safe, count money for each register. Download daily sales information from the day before, highlight and file papers. Open doors to store to begin receiving customers. Greet customer, assist guest with finding a wardrobe for them, bring their purchases to check out, enroll customer into rewards program, check to make sure all customer information is correct, make correction if any errors are found and add additional information. Sell product, bag product, walk guests purchases to them, send guest out with a, "thank you for coming in today I enjoyed working with you, I look forward to working with you again." Receive new freight from UPS, make calls informing guest there ordered purchases have arrived. Make documentation notes on invoice stating guest has been called, date and initial of caller is noted on each invoice. Merchandise product that has been received between waiting on guest. Recover store after each guest.Take trash out, vacuum and windows, mirrors are maintained as needed. Receive information via store computer on all updates, extra required tasks, any recalls, any sales training that needs to be accomplished. Read store e-mail for updates as well. For closing, I get register reports at the end of the day, count down tills, create bank deposit, document coupons received, as well as returns and exchanges, voids, etc. Send e-mail daily to district manager of daily sales. Close down registers, put money in safe. Assemble paperwork in order to be ready to receive bank receipt of deposit the following morning. Turn lights out, turn music off, make sure doors are secure, dressing rooms are clear and doors open. Clock out. Reset alarm, leave building and lock doors behind me, check that door is locked, leave.

I have one co-worker my manager. The hardest part of the job is when there is no customers and all other work is accomplished. I enjoying keeping busy.

I enjoy interacting with customers and helping them find great clothes  that fit to meet their various occasions.

I worked for this company for a very long time. Put in my time and was finally promoted to an Assistant Manager. After about a year the company made the switch from Casual Male to DXL and I moved with them but was told I had to re-apply. A 20 min conversation with some lady half way across the country who doesn't even work for the company decided I was to be demoted along with my store manager as well. Pay was cut way down, hours were cut way down, and new management was brought it that didn't know anything about clothing or the company. Both myself and my old manager were training them to do our old jobs and then because they were not learning anything we would end up doing our jobs as well as theirs. It turned out that the new store manager was very shady, stealing money and clothing etc. not to mention he was verbally abusive and conniving. Reports of the abuse went no where. He was permitted to get away with all of the horrible treatment of employees and manipulation of their time cards, for 4 months and then they finally sent someone in from LP to investigate. The District Manager was even covering for him and telling him things that were being reported so he would have a heads up. Their investigations proved that he had stolen and I ended up quitting the day before due to all of the stress and I was also offered another job. However, I found out later that they were planning on firing me next because I was around while another employee stole. So even though I reported this manager it wasn't enough and I was supposed to have known the about the other employee and reported them as well. Customers were amazing and things I learned here I still use. I loved everything about my job except the politics. Now, this District Manager that covered everything up and protected the store manager among many other illegal and immoral things he did, got a promotion! Its all about who you know, not how hard of a worker you are. I reported his behavior to HR and they did nothing! They were going to let him fire me if I hadn't quit.

I worked for Casual Male/Destination XL for over 5 years. In the beginning it was a great place to work. The business caters big and tall men, and helping them was the best part of the job. Because they are usually ignored by most retailers, the customers were really appreciative for our help and advice in meeting their wardrobe needs.

Unfortunately, as time went by, the company changed the commission structure a couple of times where it was not as beneficial to my paycheck. Also you don't get raises unless you get promoted.  I was an Assistant Manager my first year there and was a Store Manager for four years. My first two years as Store Manager, my store made sales goal and I asked for a raise both times and did not receive one. By the time of my last year, the change in commission coupled by less sales because customers did not come into the store as much because of online competition, I was making little more as a Store Manager than I did as an Assistant Store Manager four years earlier.

It became harder to hire and keep help, because the starting pay for key holders and assistant store managers is lower than in other retailers.  Key Holders in particular would leave after only a few months because they did not make the kind of money they thought they would be making. The regional manager would blame it on you if you could not get and keep help in your store and would imply that you should go out to recruit on your own personal time. When my store wasn't performing up to par, it was implied that my job was in jeopardy, thus causing me stress. If I had been paid better I would have just dealt with the stress, low morale and high employee turnover. But for what I was getting paid, it was hard to make the bills and the stress had reached the point that it was seriously affecting my mental and physical health. So I felt I had no choice but to seek other employment.

I took over a Casual Male in Henderson that they slotted to close with in 6 months to a year , said there was no clientele there to support the store. That was so far from the truth. My team and I busted our butts to increase not only sales, visual, cleanliness, guest services, implementing a back to school program, appoinment selling, wardrobe seminars, and marketing to the area casinos and security companies. Never a failed lp visit, never a failed corporate visit, and our inventory % went down in the first 6 months.
We built the Henderson Nv location so well that they decided to put an additional Dxl in Henderson that was never slotted to happen just for my team and I to get slapped in the face and after being promised the new location for months. It didn't turn out that way.
Because of the lack of integrity of the conpany and giving the location to someone who didnt make or beat the numbets my team made . Their turnover high throughout since that lication opened. Jake Bell 
 intentionally used me and our team to make the changes to give to someone else. Our staff decided to stay on til we closed and go in our different directions.
We all felt hurt and betrayed by the very people we busted oyr butts for. They offered us an opportunity to go to the new Dxl but with a demotion. ABSOLUTELY NOT. We did the work and they gave it to someone who didnt even care about the location. I miss my customers more then anything. The upper management should stick to the moral of the company and promote and advance the very people who made it happen. Its all political and back stabbing to the upmost. If your looking for getting credit where credit is due this company isnt it...

DXL seemed like a great place to find a foothold and work up a ladder when I initially joined. However within a few months it became clear that was not the case.

• Promotions seem non-existent unless leadership leaves. With so few spots in stores that are far from each other promotions will likely be hard to get in retail locations.
• Making a decent wage can be hard when competing with management for commission.
• Emergency exits are often blocked in the back with racks, trash, or boxes.
• Management also needs training regarding religion, it is constantly spoken about in store and through work communications. As someone that is from a different religion than management it can be quite uncomfortable.
• Management also needs training on inclusivity, several times I have overheard hateful speech regarding size, sexuality, or politics. This has come from an assistant manager in my instance.
• Management also shows heavy favoritism. From granting late time of requests that can short staff for the day, or even overlooking large issues that would be unacceptable from other team members. There is a clear favorite and little oversight to address these issues.

To sum the review, there is a heavy need for leadership to receive proper training regarding safety, and inclusivity training. Also more oversight needs to be applied to store management, and communication channels need to be opened between store staff and area/district managers to help address these issues.

DXL provides an excellent resource of fashionable and basic Men's Clothing for the Big and Tall man.  The Guests were the most enjoyable part of the job - being able to help them find what they wanted or needed was rewarding beyond anything you might think.  The managers lacked some practical experience, for different reasons (age, amount and type of previous experience), but were moving towards becoming professional store managers.  Workplace culture was generally pleasant with the usual politics, but overall was a pleasant place to work. The hardest part of the job was the constantly changing "new" methods to create more and larger sales and having to practice those ways constantly, the management's approach made it a process for an 18 year old on their first job, and should not have been used on seasoned employees in the same way. Then that method went away and we had another new "role play", sometimes at odds with the previous "role play". These had a vaguely beneficial effect, but became a source of frustration and confusion for all.
It is a lean operation and responsibilities include Guest Service (Greet & sell) stock check in, move stock to selling floor, display and merchandising, cleaning shelves & fixtures, vacuuming and cleaning toilets.  The job requires a strong and effective work ethic.

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