Justice has been the must-have tween brand since 2004 and many of us can say we were frequent shoppers when we were younger. As we got older, some of us wanted to work at Justice too, probably thinking we would still want to wear the graphic tees and buy all the big stuffed animals that Justice carried. If you ever got to live out that dream, these are things that you are all too familiar with.
1. All about the most popular tween toys.
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You knew everything about Webkinz and Monster High dolls, even if you never really understood the appeal. When all of the kids were asking about Rainbow Loom, you learned how to make the rubber band bracelets just from listening to the kids talk about it in the store. But even with all your experience with tween trends, you still don't get why Shopkins are so popular.
2. When the hot seller is sold out.
It's right in the middle of the holiday rush and everyone desperately wants that mermaid tail blanket. The problem is, you've been sold out for a week. That doesn't stop the calls from desperate moms at home, who want the best for their girl, are worked into a frenzy because it's sold out online too. Even worse is when the customer wants you to find it in another store and won't be satisfied until you've called every store in your district, and sometimes even that isn't good enough!
3. Customers that get annoyed when you ask for their information.
There are always things we have to ask at the register: phone number, e-mail, your girl's name and birthday, if you want to sign up for the Justice credit card, and during the holiday months, would you like to donate to Nationwide Children's Hospital. Yes, we have a lot to ask the customer, especially if they're only getting a single item. However, it's part of the job and when a customer gets angry or annoyed, we know we're only doing what we've been paid to do.
4. Frustration when the customers don't follow the signs.
Because Justice no longer has entire store sales, signage has become extremely important. If a small sign on a face out says that an item is 30% off, it's normally just that item that's included. But we still get customers that will pick a different top (which doesn't have a sale sign on it) and then be surprised when they find out it's full price. Worse than that is when you greet a customer with, "Our active collection is 40% off today," and they later bring you a set of pajamas to ask if it's 40% off too. Nope. It's just the active collection.
5. Explaining Style Buys.
You wouldn't think Style Buys would be difficult to explain but it normally is. They're our everyday low-price merchendise, mostly basics and a few nicer tops and leggings. They're all marked with pink heart signs and, because they're priced so low, they aren't included in most sales. But there will always be someone who is unsatistfied with the $7 price tag and will ask for an extra percentage off (but will say no applying for the credit card which would save them 15% off of everything).
6. When someone asks for a size 5.
Size 5 is old news at Justice so you won't be able to help your customer find anything in the new collections in the right size. But you want to help so you have to drag them to the clearance section to show them the four shirts and two pairs of pants that are all that's left of your size 5 collection. These items have been sitting in your clearance for months and you've begun to think that they will last at Justice longer than you will.
7. Do you sell boy clothes?
Whether you ever worked in a Brother's store or not, you know about the boys section that Justice briefly added to many of their stores. Despite Brothers having been shut down over a year ago, people still ask about the boy clothing and you always feel a little bad for the boy that won't be able to find what he was looking for in your store. But remember you sell Shopkins and Shopkins are good for everyone.
8. Half Sizes
You always feel a little anxious when you see a half size in a customer's hand because basically no one understands how they work. If your girl is between a size 10 and 12, a 10 and a half is not the size for you. Only really frequent shoppers know that a half size is code for plus size and a 10 and a half is going to fit like a 14. So when a customer comes to the register with a half size in hand, you feel obligated to double check their knowledge about the size so they don't have to come back and make a return later but you always get the response, "That doesn't make any sense."
9. The worst type of freight.
Panties. They're all individually wrapped and they always come with a couple hundred per box. Anytime these show up in your freight box, you leave them for last and you only start processing them when you've finished literally everything else. You've also learned to avoid the hanging boxes with more than 100 items in them if only to avoid unpackaging panties.
10. When people don't want your help.
The worst part about greeting is when a customer will ignore your entire existence when all you want to do is help them. You'll cheerfully ask your open-ended question only to be purposely overlooked but when they realize they do need your help they'll come all the way back to ask you about the promos, which they would've known already if they had listened to you in the first place!
11. When you don't have an item in stock.
It's never any fun to tell a little girl that you don't have her size in the dress that she fell in love with. Or that they only sell activewear for her sport online because tennis isn't common enough to sell in every store. Luckily, we can order online for the customer but even that doesn't help too much because many moms say they would prefer to buy online themselves (who knows why). The best you can do to still help that little girl is to find something similar but it always breaks your heart a little when she can't get exactly what she wanted.
12. Early morning floorsets.
Waking up for 6 a.m. floorset is not the most enjoyable part of working at Justice but every month you'll have to drag yourself out of bed way too early to go do physical labor at work. But some of the best times you'll have will be with your coworkers with no customers in the store!
