I did some of my best learning in a gingham apron.
When I was a merchant at Bath & Body Works, the company had a practice I came to love. Once a month, merchants left the office and spent a weekend working in a high-volume store. Not visiting. Not walking through with a clipboard. Working.
My stores were South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California, and Park Meadows mall in Lone Tree, Colorado. I would show up, tie on the apron, pin on my name tag, and join the team for the weekend.
I learned more about consumer behavior on those store days than anywhere else in that job.
Store days were the best research lab I ever had. I could observe consumers, get feedback, and talk to store directors and staff about what they love and hate and how they sell.
Specifically, I learned that men felt intimidated by all the options and wanted easier, faster ways to select products. Women, on the other hand, loved to shop and wanted to know what was new, whether it was a new fragrance or a new product.
When I worked the floor, I was a magnet for men. They would come straight to me and ask what they should buy for their mother or girlfriend. I like to think it was the apron.
The store teams
The store staff were amazing.
They were with shoppers every day, not one weekend a month. They knew the store, the rhythm of the day, and the people who walked in.
I learned a lot from the store teams. They knew which products were easy sales and which were difficult to explain. They knew the fragrances so well they could profile a shopper and tell what they would like. They knew which combinations shoppers went for: a candle and a room spray, but not a diffuser. A splash, a lotion, and a shower gel, but never shampoo added. And if we discontinued anything they loved, or anything their favorite customer loved, they would let me have it. I would hear about it.
Holidays were hectic. I was really part of the store. On Black Friday, sale or no sale, they needed everyone to pitch in.
Probably the most fun I had in that job
I will be honest. Store days were probably the most fun I had in that job.
There is something about putting on an apron and a name tag. In the office, I was a merchant with plans and numbers. On the floor, I was part of the team for the weekend, helping shoppers and learning as I went.
I loved it. And it turns out people noticed.
The photo
This photo is one of my favorites. That is me, surrounded by Bath & Body Works regional directors at their meeting.
They knew me because I loved working in the stores.
My regionals from South Coast Plaza and Park Meadows had told the others that I really worked when I was there, and that their staffs loved it when I came out.
I did not set out to get to know the field. I just kept showing up, because I enjoyed being there.
Toasted Hazelnut
What always felt amazing was seeing a product I thought of, helped build, prototyped, and bought sell over and over again.
We had an amazing fragrance called Toasted Hazelnut. We developed it and pushed it across all our home fragrance products. The year we launched it, it was our number one home fragrance. Seeing it move, and sometimes sell out, was a point of pride.
Looking back, that is what store days gave me. There is nothing like firsthand knowledge, and if you are a founder who can get into a store and watch consumers buy, you will benefit greatly.
