sales associate

store manager

technical designer

merchandiser

assistant manager

J. Mclaughlin

As a product coordinator at Jmclaughlin, I communicated with oversea vendors and mills in regards to the development process of our products.  We worked with different factories from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong.  In addition, I utilized excel extensively to input, organize, and analyze data on our products.  The job starts from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Friday. I learned a great deal about communications and management during my experiences when coordinating with companies overseas.  I worked under the Vice President who was responsible for the company’s line of products every season.  She coached and taught me the different products and systems the company utilized.  The culture is detail oriented and fast paced, where the workers are required to be prepared for meetings and presentations on fashion trends and projects.  One of the challenges I faced was communicating with oversea managers on the lead time for completion of company products, where delays and revisions are often an ongoing issue.  By providing a time frame in advance of when the products are needed can often assist with the issue of receiving them on time. The most enjoyable part of the job was to learn the development process of women’s ready-to-wear from China’s factories and mills to the United States.

• Develop and maintain the open to buy checkbook for current and upcoming seasons.
o Implement company wide selling report formats that enable a more concise and effective analysis of business trends
• Analyze sell through, gross margin and on hand stock levels in order to strategically react to business
• Write orders for all women’s categories based upon historical performance and gut instinct
• Organize and own all Best/Worst Seller meetings and develop strategies to further increase business
• Manage over 4,000 sku’s for all seasons as well as determine and supervise all markdowns
• Manage line plans for women’s and tracks inventory productivity
o Analyze class performance and PO checkbook
• Develop seasonal assortments and work closely with design to implement new product and ideas
• Manages inventory levels by style and door as well the flow of product and delivery deadlines
• Helped contribute to a sales plus of +36% LY through identifying and maintaining successful business strategies on a sku level

I worked there for a short amount of time because the staff was stuck up and NASTY. They stuck me in the backroom doing stocking and rarely let me come up front because I was young, skinny and good at sales. They literally hated me because of my age and body type! They also said I had to buy the clothes to wear them while working there, yet it had to come out of your own pocket and its SUPER EXPENSIVE, hence the reason I needed a job with a higher salary. The staff was so nasty that when I finally had the opportunity to work with a customer, another woman would come and steal my customer away from me and take the little bit of commission I would have made. Commission is only in "J Bucks" which you used to purchase the clothing yourself. The management was very insensitive and was not helpful. There was a lot of favoritism and overall the store was not run properly and the staff was old and cranky

This company has so many pros - fun clothes, beautiful colors, great design- but the corporation only cares about the bottom line and rarely shows gratitude to employees.  The EVP of stores would be happier if we were all robots. They are growing way too quickly and shops are popping up in WASP enclaves like mushrooms but each store is understaffed and staff are worked to death, trying to handle merchandise shipments and display, customer outreach via phone or e-mail, fulfilling constant web orders while also helping customers who actually enter the store. Shop Managers are not sufficiently supported by Corporate and internal communication is always last-minute and constantly changing but this is all covered up by their fake “culture of kindness” mantra.
We were supposed to share a virtual “holiday greeting” with the CEO and it was literally rescheduled 4 or 5 times before being scrapped all together. 

Since I was a trainee at the company, there weren't many challenges my role faced.
I learned many things that had to do with Merchandising and Management. 
My boss was a very humble and caring woman who always attended to my needs. She was also very productive as a Merchandiser and set a great example. 

Coworkers were great, it was an all female office making the experience worthwhile. 
The hardest part of working at J.McLaughlin was having to set appointments with the company's CEO. The merchandising department was required to get the CEO's approval before distributing merchandise to boutiques throughout the U.S.

Every Friday the company would provide us with a whole day of free food and beverages, it was also "casual Friday" meaning we were able to dress how we liked as opposed to dressing office formal. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The wonderful clientele!  The salary was competitive.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Getting time off for a vacation or holiday.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I worked for the company for 7 years, it depended on the manager at the time.  A strong and fair leader resulted in a positive work environment.  A manager who gossiped a lot and who was unfair really demoralized the staff and several of us left as a result.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Opening the store, pulling merchandise for special orders and preparing for shipment,  opening new shipments, assisting  and styling customers wardrobes, building business through customer service and follow up.  Maintaining the appearance of the store and merchandise.

You will gain an amazing foundational skillset for retail operations with this company! I learned so much in just a couple of years. The type of so well-run that you reference their policies and procedures--and events and promotions--in executive meetings at your future jobs. There is an incredibly high expectation of sales and service but you are provided with intensive training and a network of resources to assist with virtually any problems you will encounter. Thorough standards at every level that are clearly stated and supported by upper management.

Very supportive and positive store management without any negative or excessive pressure to convince customers to buy something they won't be happy with. Superb customer satisfaction and support is highly valued so the customer always returns happily for their next wardrobe addition, despite possibly leaving on one occasion without a favorite new article of clothing. Polite honesty and care with customers happiness is valued and appreciated. 

Teamwork is exceptional; managers and co-workers value each other's happiness, lifestyle, and always encourage learning and growth. 

J.McLaughlin seems like it would be a fantastic and engaging place to work... If you're a manager or above! Anybody with a title takes advantage of the people below them, and the lower the are the worse it is. As per our contracts, my manager and I were both entitled to one weekend off a month, yet month after month she took two weekends and I was lucky to get two Saturdays. Until one month she took three, three or four day weekends in a row and I didn't see one for six weeks. They say they run on a "culture of kindness", but that kindness is only shown to those smiled upon by the corporate office.

Work with P&D team for sourcing new fabric every season, oversee the fabric sample and production in timely manner and all quality issues. I can manage my own work well but insufficient channels to share with other departments, especially to higher managerial levels, that is the very frustrated and feels being ignored. The good thing is a warm and friendly working atmosphere that no stressful feeling in office.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Sales associate 28 salaries reported	$20.29 per hour
Store manager 4 salaries reported	$38.38 per hour
Technical designer 8 salaries reported	$86,000 per year
Merchandiser 1 salary reported	$28.00 per hour
Assistant manager 1 salary reported	$31.00 per hour

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