Ed Hardy Intimates: Black Jumper with Lotus Flower and Tiger on the bum.
Gold Foil everywhere! Dereon short sleeve hoodie, Apple Bottom sleeveless top and Dereon Shorts.
Stunning, Apple Bottom Rainbow Dress!
Don't let my previous post fool you. I haven't always hired the right people. I've hired some real lemons in my time.
Some you can tell almost right away, some wait till just after their probationary period and some turn on you when their environment changes. Things like theft and tardiness are obvious firing reasons.
I've had a few girls when confronted with minor correctable problems freak out. It'd be funny if it wasn't so sad. Instead of correcting their mistakes they make the situation worse by denying it or trying to blame the person who they think snitched on them. All they had to do was correct their mistake, instead of obsessing about getting caught. When this happens there's not much I can do but to let them go.
Probably the trait I can't handle most in employee is harmful gossiping.... oh gossiping about boyfriends or how something makes someone looks weird is fine. It's the harmful work gossip I can't handle. When I find it, I do my best to stamp it out. I never discipline staff on the basis of what another staff says. I always observe it first hand myself before something happens. I do usually give one warning. However, I will surely fire someone if they think they're indispensable. I value all my staff but let's face it everyone is replaceable.
There are rare times when I've been able to turn lemons into lemonade. Those staff have been in my experience some of the best staff I've had the pleasure to work with.
The single most frustrating and satisfying part of retail is the human resources aspects of running a store. When you've got a good team and personnel with leadership qualities it's easy.
For the most part I've been fortunate at Tru to have some great staff. The core team we have at Tru has been together for well over 2 years and one of my best girls have been with us from the very beginning. I'd love to keep them all but time marches on and the girls lives are progressing as they finish up university or moving forward in their fashion careers. I'm very proud to say that one of my old assistants has now been promoted to be the Manager of Lacoste (a store over from Tru Drama) Congratulations D! The current assistant has a big moment in the future for herself and will be leaving us soon too. I hope she decides to go to Parsons or FIDM, at those fine institutions they'll elaborate on her already formidable merchandising skills.
So with my existing team getting older and moving on I've placed an ad for new hires. What's been surprising is the quality applicants we've had. I don't recall a time when I had 3 good applicants let alone the 7 great applicants out of the 50 plus girls that applied. I've come to realize that the girls who join us have come to work for us have a similar reasons. You're thinking money perhaps? Nope, we don't pay anymore than anyone else. One of the main reasons is fashion... the deep down honest to goodness desire for fashion in all it's forms.
I have friend in the mall that owns a few stores in Oakrdige mall. His attitude and pretty much all other retailers is to tell their employees NOTHING. He's been burned before since one of his employees opened up a competing store and stole his lines. Ouch! However, I think he's forgotten that a very very very long time ago I worked for him too! Yup I used to work in his Robson store for 4 weeks. I recall he didn't like the way I merchandised. It was all his way... which is fine but with no explanation of why. I wanted to learn but it wasn't going to happen there.
I spent my retail career at shops where I thought I could learn the trade. Where did I learn? I've worked at all sort of places, but the best places are boutiques. You certainly won't learn anything at the Gap or H&M. At chain stores you're not going to learn anything about fashion or retailing other than how to fold and watch for shoplifters. Those sorts of businesses are all about inventory and keeping it in stock.
What I personally offer is respect. That is of course that the staff member respects the other staff, customers, product and store. I respect that all my staff have goals beyond working at the store. If they're fashion goals then I will help them any way I can. It doesn't scare me when a staff member wants to open her own store or dreams of their own line. So if you want a high paying job work at Starbucks. Working with us will get you a start in fashion.
At the height of the Tokidoki craze two years ago, Tru Drama carried more Tokidoki bags, clothes and accessories than anyone in Canada. Problems with production and the rise of imitations caused us to drop the line. We recognized the problems and apparently the Tokidoki people realized it too.
Tokidoki has reorganized itself and promises some exciting things in the future. During the spring buy I was invited to view the new products. One of the things that grabbed my attention were these Tokidoki for Hello Kitty designs. I've put in a small order to see what the response is. Tell me what you think!
plush Hello Kitty after being Tokidoki'ed
Tokidoki for Hello Kitty pencil case... all you need is some stationary! That's old school!
Tokidoki for Hello Kitty Key Chain
Is there nothing this man won't throw his brands on? Christian Audigier is opening up a nightclub with the Pure Management Group on the Vegas strip in July. The PMG are of course the same people behind Pure and LAX in Vegas already. The club located in the Treasure Island Hotel is modestly named Christian Audigier The Nightclub.
Every cap brand spankin' new! Sorry folks we don't sell basic caps so don't even bother asking... so think BLING!
Every cap brand spankin' new!
Are Ed Hardy Caps with the logo "Don Ed Hardy Designs" (to be referred to as DEHD from now on) real? This is one of the most common questions I get on the blog all the time. I must have answered 100s of these questions.
In the beginning because I had never seen one nor have they been offered to sale to us from the Ed Hardy distributors. So I would always answered everyone that I believe that they were fakes.
A while back one my blog readers had contacted Ed Hardy and apparently they said that "Don Ed Hardy Designs" caps were real. So I immediately contacted the Canadian Ed Hardy people and they go on to tell me there's no such thing. So I contacted the US Ed Hardy people to confirm this and they did indeed told me there is such a brand but when I asked them why retailers weren't offered these goods for sale... then I got the big run around... what is the deal with these things?
Not long after I was at a buying trip in Las Vegas (you can see a picture of my assistant and me with Christian Audigier himself!) I didn't see any "Don Ed Hardy Designs" being offered up for ordering at the booth. So if indeed they are real I can only see 2 reasons why us regular Ed Hardy/Christian Audigier retailers don't get to sell them:
1. They're not sold to us Canadian retailers
3. They're "irregulars" meaning that they were made incorrectly and sold to online discounters (like overstock) or sold at a discount to a normal retailers (a fashion retailer but not your "full meal deal" EH or CA retailer). Possibly done to protect the premium price point of the Christian Audigier's flagship brands.
Either way they're not Ed Hardy hats in the traditional sense. They definitely are less detailed. However, it wouldn't surprise me to see DEHD hats faked too. Since I don't get to sell these... I can't tell you whether or not they're fake. So good luck!
