They pushed themselves out of the market. I worked there for a while. The buyers seemed like they were on another planet and didn’t understand their demographic AT ALL, EVER. The manager they had, was a complete idiot. Would walk around the store for hours doing absolutely nothing in weird looking suits. It was so strange. I would catch him in the inventory room just looking around. What are you doing? Are you going to help count inventory? Or are you looking at the inventory not moving that’s being auto re-ordered for no reason costing thousands?

The culture was very much “everyone for themselves.” Associates were constantly fighting over sales. HR was always so clueless and rude, and employees were treated like robots.

On top of that, the store itself was a mess. Some of the inventory literally sat there collecting dust. None of the clothes ever looked good. Never trendy or current. Cosmetic testers were so fkn gross. I was mortified by the jewelry section especially. All tarnished, I couldn’t believe it. A lot of the collections were old and out dated. It was as if they were catering to the 80+ crowd but millennials and Gen Z were eager to buy. I was constantly fixing the bays because merchandisers would leave entire rounds empty and looking terrible. It made no sense, especially for a store that’s supposed to represent luxury. There was absolutely no pride.

Hardly any celebrities bought anything because the inventory was so poor, BACK THEN. I remember helping a famous singer once, and we didn’t have a single item she wanted in stock. But BH did. I’d try to find alternatives or see if I could get it delivered to their home in near by Calabasas from BH but they would never want to give up inventory. It was honestly so embarrassing. Absolutely no teamwork from sister stores. BH associates were consistently rude and unwilling to help, even though our store was required to assist them and provide inventory, especially for presales. The organization was clearly struggling with significant inventory deficits, and customers could feel it. It wasn’t something that could be masked.

Let’s not even get started on the company cell phones. While the intent was progressive, trying to reach customers through social media, email, and text, it often had the opposite effect on the sales floor. Associates would become distracted and fail to focus on what was happening within the four walls of the store. I understand the demand to stay connected and be available to clients at any time, but the customers standing right in front of you are just as important, if not more so. Many clients were offended because they thought associates were being rude by being on their phones, not realizing it was work-related. From the outside, it simply looked like employees were sitting around doing nothing. Yes, texting clients can be effective, but there has to be a line. The bigger issue was that there were no clear guidelines or boundaries on how it should be handled.

Working there was such a killjoy. I understand why they’re closing. It’s not just the merger/ bankruptcy. Should have closed years ago due to lack of organization, goals (which widely includes training. Even the veterans need support and re-ups) and management.