Justin Paxton

I’m Riding Solo

Here I am, on my third week of being on my own, and I feel relatively comfortable with my job and the tasks I need to accomplish every day. The first week was not too bad, as Fall watches and handbags had not hit all my stores yet. I got to work with my favorite sales associate, Flo, who destroys my cases at Town East Macy. I literally walk in thinking we sold a bunch of watches, but soon find out that they are just laying around the case in the back. Seriously, it’s not that hard to put it back on the clips. Today, I walked in to find all the back stock in the cases. It literally looked like someone had vomited watches, as they were in disarray. After scrounging around for some egg crates, I was able to put some Michael Kors and Fossil back where they belong, in back stock!

My Dillards at Town East has been equally challenging, but the employees are more helpful. Each week I have gone, there has been another watch move. The first week, EVERYTHING was moved. Thankfully, the sales associates put watches by style together, so all I had to do was move watches to meet the schematic. I have also had handbag issues there, but I was able to move the back wall to where my other Fossil handbags are. Before, they were in two separate areas, which was not ideal. As sale bags dwindle down, I’m hoping to grab even more space, because there are still bags in back stock. Stonebriar Macys has also had its problems, starting with handbags. During the first week, I was working with Candace, the merchandising veteran, who realized we had about 30 bags in back stock that were on markdown. We had to spend a considerable amount of time getting them marked and then placed in the sale area. The second biggest problem was losing my Men’s leathers table, which I later found out is a corporate directive agreed upon between the two companies. I can’t wait to head there tomorrow and fight to get the table and suitcase back up.

Besides work, life is going well in Dallas. I haven’t been going out very much, but I have made working out a priority. It not only saves me money, but makes me feel much better than a night of drinking! I have started studying for the GMAT and hope to take the test in mid-to-late October. Jarrett and I are still getting along (at this moment in time), and I’m sure it will continue. There is always a learning curve living with someone new, and I’m compromising as much as possible. (Aka trying not to be an absolute control freak.) Last weekend, we went to a comedy club for free in Mockingbird Station. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the two comedians (one was Dante from Last Comic Standing) were absolutely hilarious. I was thoroughly impressed. This weekend I have Jarrett’s birthday, and I plan on hitting up another coffee shop and grinding out some GMAT work.

As far as riding solo, I enjoy making my own decisions and “running my own business.” It can get lonely at times, but it just forces me to build relationships with sales associates! I thought I wouldn’t like being out in the field, but I can’t complain about being on my feet all day. I have my whole life to sit at a desk!

Training Wheels.

These past two weeks I have been shadowing my coach, Christine, who has been a brand rep in the field for the past year. I was able to go to all of my stores that I must go to weekly. Town East is out in Mesquite, Texas, which is an interesting mall. The Macy’s has been a disaster both times we went, but that was mainly do to the fact that the company was doing inventory. None of the watches were placed back correctly, and all of the tags were left out. I think I spent an hour just doing one watch bay, so I was very happy to have the help of my coach, who is about 5 times faster than me. The Dillards on the first day was also a disaster, but the sales associates are friendlier, and the handbags associate is new and very nice. I will have to become her new best friend, so she can help me out when I am not there. The Stonebriar Macy’s is huge, as it is one of the biggest malls up in Plano, but the product itself stays pretty neat. Thankfully, Candace, another merchandiser who has been doing this for years, has the Dillards at Stonebriar, so we can work together.

Merchandising the watches and other product itself is not rocket science. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t challenging. Trying to make the product we have look like the schematic can be downright difficult. There is a lot of creativity and problem solving involved, and I enjoy that aspect of the job. Something I’m looking forward to is building relationships with the employees and managers at the store. I know with my business background, friendly personality, and RA experience, I will be able to build strong relationships with the important people in each store. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we will be spending much time in the corporate office, but that can be a plus and a minus. I was looking forward to the projects in the office, but I have plenty of time to sit at a desk. I need to enjoy the ability to travel around and be on my feet while it lasts.

I thought I would be more intimated for my first day on my own tomorrow, but I am pretty confident. My coaches have taught me well, and I have strong support group to call or email if I have questions. The training wheels are off. It’s time to work all on my own.