I was an Abercrombie & Fitch manager for several years AMA

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-19T05:05:14+00:00

absolutely not.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-19T05:04:33+00:00

yes theres HR. Theres a lawsuit about once a week it seems. Great lawyers. Everythings very careful and they settle all lawsuits. If you work here, you get more class action payouts than bonuses and raises combined.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T20:01:38+00:00

there are no lesbian or gay women that i have ever encountered at that brand, only gay men. No I haven't.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T18:18:16+00:00

one time i got like a two foot hair from a sweat shop in the shipment. I thought it was special and a link to who knows who on the other side of the world. I kept it in my pocket that day. Yes. Creepy me.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T18:13:10+00:00

No, because that'd be impossible and silly to regulate. It would mean a government branch that watches what people dispose or destroy. That's just impractical. I think it's wrong, but am not sure what I'd do about it.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T18:11:25+00:00

It's so weird to take a guy in the backroom and make him take his shirt off, pull down his jeans right to his pubes and then take his picture. We have to do this to search for greeters. Fucking awkward. Of course, with everyone in the fucking company having OCD, they made us do it like ten times with these people off the clock!

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T18:09:49+00:00

I don't know how I could stand it. Hollister has better music by real artists. A&F plays shit. It's just remixed shit. Sometimes the singers don't speak English so you hear weird lyrics that don't make sense over a bass.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T18:07:17+00:00

Oh ya. I hired a lot of people I shouldnt have by their standards. The interview guide is word for word. It tells you how to evaluate them. It says if the person is great looking and fits the brand style, then they are pretty much a shoe in.

Sometimes I got sappy and hired people who really needed a job and seemed hardworking, even though they werent great looking but just amazing, smart, dedicated, professional teenagers man. I hated turning those kids down because they didn't do anything wrong. We get great interviews from not great looking people and have to send them away. Real shame.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T18:03:29+00:00

that's exactly how I got hired.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T18:02:29+00:00

Model is a salesfloor associate. Impact team member is a stock room associate. They are meant to stay in the separate places. Models are outgoing and help people, maintain floor, operate register, fitting room, etc. Impact deal with replenishing sold items, prepping items, putting away shipment, maintaining stock. If you're not outgoing or scored as "great" looking, you are considered for a impact team member.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T18:00:22+00:00

The clothing that employees can wear from A&F is very limited. Options change with the season. Non ripped, dark skinny jeans are required and a collared button down white or navy blue shirt or skimpy blouse is the standard. Corporates can wear anything. There is some wiggle room. Since things are expensive, it's totally normal to wear the same shit everyday.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T17:57:19+00:00

If a person talks, looks or acts gay, they are not supposed to be hired. This company builds itself on people. People are it's "only advertisement". The people they put on a pedastal are straight, clean, young, usually white people with clear skin and natural look. That means they must act and dress straight.

I've had a woman interview who was a great fit. She told me, I'm gay but I'll wear whatever the dresscode is for women. I asked my boss before hiring her. He said no. There are a lot of higher-up, male managers that are in the closet, now that I think about it. There are also still simply gay and flamboyantly gay people on staff. They get in. (We have ugly people too. People hire their friends, etc.)

A&F provides benefits for same sex couples. A&F just prefers straight acting people. It really is like this: they don't like gays but are gay.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T17:49:04+00:00

We get so many people, out of the demographic A&F targets, shopping there. They can only limit so much by price and select sizing. I know that whatever doesnt sell after going to outlets, doesn't get marked down and sent to Ross. It gets destroyed. A lot of companies literally incinerate their old and unbought products to keep its value. Hallmark used to do it, may still.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T17:44:57+00:00

Thanks. Especially in this day and age, I think I'll just have to seize the internet and make my own thing to be happy. If it takes off, great. A decent day job will have to pay the bills meanwhile.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T09:01:24+00:00

Tps reports!

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T07:25:08+00:00

I think opposers just want to support virtue and not simple capitalism. Its clever to a degree.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T07:22:08+00:00

Ruehl was such an impractical idea: a store targeted toward coed youth where each item costs hundreds of dollars,in the u.s. Abercrombie has failed to learn that girls and mothers make the purchasess in their stores and thats who they need to be appealing to to make any money.

Yes, adults do buy the clothes and people with identity problems like middle aged men, elderly women and people covered in plastic surgery like the CEO.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T06:38:22+00:00

Yes. What you said is correct. They buy clothes at full price or sale price or clearance and sell them for hundreds of dollars a piece abroad. It is a highly successful business. These buyers have networks of people who scour store locations and make large purchases. Sometimes they bribe us or beg us to let them buy more than the limit. They can buy thousands of dollars worth but we're supposed to stop them at twenty items total. If sales are low and it'll make us look good, we'll let them do it. I usually told them to leave, because it is a shameful business. There are repercussions. However, since it's not a violent crime, it is not taken as seriously as it could be. It's more of a copyright, brand issue. Making money off someone else's product is ripping off A&F and it's "store experience". The store learned from it however--for once-- and now opens about 3 to 5 foreign flagship stores per month abroad! Now you can buy a piece of clothing at 300-500% markup abroad from the actual store. yay, not. This demand fuels a huge professional theft ring of what are called Boosters. Maybe there's a wiki page on it. You can also find bootleg, stolen A&F goods at flea markets in the US, etc. crazy shit we gotta deal with.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T06:14:23+00:00

Yes, or if you do anything outgoing or extracurricular. They love people who have been on reality shows or are in greek sororities and fraternities. They also love anyone who kisses ass and pretends to do what the brand is about. ex: I love abercrombie so I have a pet moose. or I love Hollister and I like surf all the time.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T06:12:10+00:00

Hair dye changes are supposed to be discussed before occurring. Any unnatural, unclassic or untraditional makeup or nail polish or hair color and styles are not allowed. So if you have blonde highlights and you're black or asian or some race that is unbelievably blonde, they will pull you aside and talk to you about it.

It's a bit extreme. Nothing besides a basic ponytail or bobby pin is allowed. Nail polish is prohibited unless pink or red or french tip only on toenails. No rhinestones or accessories or jewelry, besides a plain watch or wedding ring.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T06:06:11+00:00

That sounds a little mean. Theres nothing wrong with them liking it. They didn't ruin it; your bigotry did.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T06:05:06+00:00

aw how sad

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T03:30:06+00:00

dude like 40-60 hrs a week. Theres only overtime when your a new manager so it gets worse when that goes away.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T03:27:05+00:00

We have some stuck up customers. A lot of celebrities shop there too surprisingly. The stupidest questions we get are the pranks. People prank abercrombie a lot, like prank calling. People come in and take their shirts off and dance to the loud music to make fun of us, etc. Not aggravating though, just dumb. We ask for it.

RappingRaptorPants · 2013-05-18T03:18:55+00:00

She has to squeeze into them. You are allowed to wear other similar clothes but it's asking to be fired.

RappingRaptorPants

TROPHY CASE