Archived VM TL

[ClearanceMaster]

You'll only be doing formal coachings with your team, the brand tms. You might have interaction with a handful more but your leadership is to your brand tms. If you notice something you would bring it to the attention of the appropriate Tl.

 

[ClearanceMaster]

Sounds like your VML is lucky to have you on the team @ClearanceMaster

She will be. Sometimes she just gets on my nerves though.. lol.

 

[sher]

Lots of posts happened since I last read, so I haven't read everything, but in defense of the softlines TLs (in my store, a brand tm actually has been doing it), the mannequin outfits come from a book. The only time things are done off book are when a guest buys the item off the mannequin and the brand tm who does the mannequins isn't there. I admit I've seen some outfits where TMs clearly weren't thinking about the other pieces the mannequin was wearing before replacing one. Those look bad.

As a side note, I'm still shocked that people from like... Good stores even wanna work for target. Some other sl TMs found out two stores our vml worked before and we were all confused about why she came here.

 

[redeye58]

In the end- the vml will be coaching- working with alot of the team members correct?

Not sure what you mean by coaching as that's disciplinary action.
Might want to familiarize yourself with the 'Target Talk' thread for store terms.
Don't wanna freak out your team off the bat.

 

[RedistheNewBlack]

*growls under breath* And THIS is why I dislike the idea of this position. Could it potentially help make things look nicer and make sales go up? Of course! But it's also bringing with it this attitude of "We're better than all of you."

You CAN NOT say that "most of them don't really have an eye for style" when you don't KNOW most of them. On top of THAT, you can't judge their merchandising skills because before now, the goal was just to keep everything presentable and easy to find, with the mannequins being set up based on limited options. They didn't NEED to merchandise anything because that was not the store's primary focus. I really hope you are able to lose that view before you actually start working at your store, because otherwise, you're going to wind up on the bottom of everybody's list.

I never said nor do I feel like I am better than any other team leader/members. I'm trying to say - if you have a manager or team leader dealing with apparel and accessories wouldn't you want a person skilled with vast knowledge of selling such items to be that leader? 8/10 people I'm training with including myself have degrees in fashion merchandising/ visual merchandising. Target has the potential to really take off with their soft lines but everything really needs to stop being so plan o grammed because it really does just look thrown together and kinda silly. ALL the sweaters on one stand... That makes no sense. A sweater next to a pant with a vest or a jacket behind it on a quad, that's driving sales. See what I'm saying?

 

[tanner6116]

Can stores request sreamers for the clothong beong put on the manikans- ive noticed in some stores they are very wrinkled

 

[sher]

You should have a steamer. We're technically supposed to be steaming mannequin clothing too. If you don't have one, they'll probably requisition one for you.

On the adjacency not always making sense (this isn't a defense, because all this stuff is preventable) I know my store receives books that are for stores larger than ours so sometimes they squish a million styles on one arm (I hate this as both a shopper and sl tm). Sometimes it doesn't make sense because flow lol. Of course not all sl flow team members. My store, though.. The other day I had to get all the not Star Wars off the SW whatchacallit (convertible?), had to move PJs from a rack with jeans and buttonups. But also sometimes things make no sense and I don't have time to care about it.

Whiiiich brings me to the reason I support the existence of this position: the rest of us don't typically have the time to care about it. I fixed those few things, but the rest of the dept was trash. And the idea that someone/some team's main focus will be presenting/arranging the clothes in a nice way that makes sense should also mean that putting the b.s. away should go faster.

 

[LadyCynide]

I never said nor do I feel like I am better than any other team leader/members. I'm trying to say - if you have a manager or team leader dealing with apparel and accessories wouldn't you want a person skilled with vast knowledge of selling such items to be that leader? 8/10 people I'm training with including myself have degrees in fashion merchandising/ visual merchandising. Target has the potential to really take off with their soft lines but everything really needs to stop being so plan o grammed because it really does just look thrown together and kinda silly. ALL the sweaters on one stand... That makes no sense. A sweater next to a pant with a vest or a jacket behind it on a quad, that's driving sales. See what I'm saying?

There are ways to say that without literally saying that SL-TLs have no eye for style.

To me it seems like we're taking the place of the soft lines tl (because let's face it, most of them don't really have an eye for style or merchandising)

There is no way to justify a comment like that.

You don't need a degree to know what sells. You need experience in not just retail but the store itself. For example, in cosmetics, which you are also in charge of as a VM-TL, I know first-hand exactly which products sell the best and which combinations are our powerful products. Someone entering the store with no time spent working in that department will have no clue what sells. You might set the focal with the hot and stylish new products, but then you'd be LOSING sales in my store, as our clientele spends more on the Acure products than they do on Loreal.

Whiiiich brings me to the reason I support the existence of this position: the rest of us don't typically have the time to care about it. I fixed those few things, but the rest of the dept was trash. And the idea that someone/some team's main focus will be presenting/arranging the clothes in a nice way that makes sense should also mean that putting the b.s. away should go faster.

I do agree with Sher, though. Having everything sorted out will be awesome.

 

[squirrely]

The more posts I read from external vml hires, the less I want to be a brand attendant. Some need to be more sensitive to the fact that they're coming into a store where a lowly paid TM has been trying their best to do the adjacency, mannequins, etc with very few hours. If I had 40 hours a week plus a few TM's under me, my store would look great too! Instead, me and another TM were given a combined 16 hours to set 8 POGs and the adjacency in RTW, while constantly being called for backup.

I'm sorry if I sound defensive, but some of these posts are pretty condescending to people truly trying their best.

 

[LadyCynide]

The more posts I read from external vml hires, the less I want to be a brand attendant. Some need to be more sensitive to the fact that they're coming into a store where a lowly paid TM has been trying their best to do the adjacency, mannequins, etc with very few hours. If I had 40 hours a week plus a few TM's under me, my store would look great too! Instead, me and another TM were given a combined 16 hours to set 8 POGs and the adjacency in RTW, while constantly being called for backup.

I'm sorry if I sound defensive, but some of these posts are pretty condescending to people truly trying their best.

THIS. I'm starting to really want to give up my brand position because too many people are coming in thinking that they are going to magically fix things and everything's going to be great under them unlike how it was with us. If we had hours, we could do the exact same stuff.

 

[VML22]

I'm starting as a VML in a little less than two weeks. I'm very excited to contribute my visual merchandising skills and learn the target standards. I can't wait to train and develop a team to maintain/achieve an amazing visual presentation in our store.

I have a lot of respect for those current team members trying their best to make sure target looks good... And I know I'm coming in to implement and enforce an better visual appearance.

It's going to be a great, new, fun and trying challenge for all!!

I have been reading and reading everyone's point of view here and it helps a lot to know how people are going to see me coming in... I have no intentions to push my way in and take over. I'm a team player here guys hahaha

 

[BullseyeBabe]

Oh good grief! I'm just going to wish us all good luck! We'll need it.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Stay calm too! Congrats, @ClearanceMaster.

 

[tanner6116]

How often do you folks get district visits?

 

[signingminion]

How often do you folks get district visits?

Depends on how naughty we've been. And official versus drop by. But weekly.

No. Sorry. That's not what I meant by newbies.

Sorry, logical leap of a tired brain. You meant new to the position then, not the company?

 

[signingminion]

Also...anyone else suspicious of the ratio of vmls out of the new board members? Starting to feel big brother breathing down my neck...

 

[squirrely]

How often do you folks get district visits?

It just depends. As far as softlines, we've had to reset boys, girls, accessories, shoes, and womens in the last month. Each book will have a date for the reset and within that book, there will be additional changes for another date. Ready to Wear is being reset 10/4, but it also has a revision (I guess that's what it would be called) on 10/25.

 

[BlueSide]

Sorry, logical leap of a tired brain. You meant new to the position then, not the company?

Yes! Though we might as well say externals because they basically all are lol.

 

[iprettify]

Okay so I did my final interview and it was 1000x more informative than the other 2. The DM cleared up most of the ins and outs of the job that the STL and ETL?(ASM) didn't seem to know. I ended up turning it down because the offered pay was very little more than I currently make at my current visual supervisory job at a high end retailer and the job just didn't seem to offer enough development or exposure management wise that was worth leaving for, since I'm currently on a fast track to promotion.

I have a couple quick thoughts as an outsider looking in for anyone that cares though. Not sure if this is everywhere but from what I know based on chatting with the recruiter in my area and the district manager all of the currently applicants they are recruiting and trying to interview (which is why filling the jobs in my area are taking awhile) are external visual merchandisers from high end brand. Ethan Allen specifically was mentioned multiple times when it comes to the type of applicant and vibe they wanted for the home department. Here is the issue though, and why I think my area is taking awhile to figure out the role and get it filled by someone good, the job itself just doesn't seem worth people leaving the brands they are trying to pull from with the experience requirements they want, especially since based on the team amount and interaction this role seems far and away the least "lead" and "management" training out of all the Team Leads in the store, yet they are pretty much looking from someone with so much retail and visual experience they can get a visual manager or ASM job somewhere else.

I feel like if they had an actual Visual Manager (especially since the ETL hardlines and softlines I met admitted to having no visual experience and frankly not being good/liking it) in the store with a bit more added softlines and coaching responsibility, while filling the VML job with a good internal softlines or presentation TM, a lot more people with the experience they want would gladly join the target team but as it is, the nice brands they want the candidates from already have a title and equal if not greater pay where they are at, when compared to the VML role.


I applied because Target is doing some really cool things when it comes to styling and pricing, especially with the new home product, but it really seems to be asking a bit much for the development and resume building (running ops or logistics at a target is super impressive to employers, visual merch not so much currently) when let's be honest as it stands isn't known for it's visual merchandising. The store team albeit a little confused on the new role were extremely nice and the interviews and I'm interested to see how this effects the visuals in the store but as it stands, it just isn't the place for me to be.

Again this is all from someone that doesn't have experience at Target or any of big box retailer so all of what I said may not work in actual practice or for other logistical reasons I'm not aware of.

 

[tanner6116]

May i ask what retailer you are with?

 

[tanner6116]

Also- does anyone out there know-- i heard officialy the vml job begins nationally on oct 11th- officiallly

 

[qmosqueen]

vml has been upto no good again just in time for Hallowthanksmas ...

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Also...anyone else suspicious of the ratio of vmls out of the new board members? Starting to feel big brother breathing down my neck...

They seem to be coming out from everywhere. New vml's, please do not start new thread.

 

[Sweets]

To me it seems like we're taking the place of the soft lines tl (because let's face it, most of them don't really have an eye for style or merchandising)

I never said nor do I feel like I am better than any other team leader/members. I'm trying to say - if you have a manager or team leader dealing with apparel and accessories wouldn't you want a person skilled with vast knowledge of selling such items to be that leader? 8/10 people I'm training with including myself have degrees in fashion merchandising/ visual merchandising. Target has the potential to really take off with their soft lines but everything really needs to stop being so plan o grammed because it really does just look thrown together and kinda silly. ALL the sweaters on one stand... That makes no sense. A sweater next to a pant with a vest or a jacket behind it on a quad, that's driving sales. See what I'm saying?

Yeah you might want to be careful how you phrase things. That was a bit harsh. Yes it's nice to have a sense of style working in clothing however when you work the closing shift, you have a cart full of re-shop, the tables are destroyed and the phone won't stop ringing/ guest keep coming to the fitting room you are just praying to get everything back in order before your shift is up.

On the adjacency not always making sense (this isn't a defense, because all this stuff is preventable) I know my store receives books that are for stores larger than ours so sometimes they squish a million styles on one arm (I hate this as both a shopper and sl tm). Sometimes it doesn't make sense because flow lol.

Some times not all the new items won't arrive on the truck and you have to do the best you can with very little space. trust me I know how you feel, I hate when a bunch of items are on one arm, and it makes it not as shoppable. I am hoping the VML will help with that issue.

 

[BullseyeBabe]

Your education, talent expertise and experience won't really make a difference at my store unless you can change the fundamental way things are now. Bear with me, please.

1) Can you make sure we have the equipment and fixtures we need to do our jobs? Uniform fixtures would be a big improvement to the look of our SF. We often have to use whatever we can find and the fixtures don't always match. Equipment? Ha! Please check the other threads.

2) Can you get decent hangers for our clothes?

In my opinion having stuff all over the floor is the biggest eyesore in the store. Just walk by a rack and things fall off. I see guests trying to look at clothing and every time they touch anything clothing rains down. At first, they may try to pick things back up but they soon learn it's hard to get things to stay on the hanger long enough to walk away.

3) Can you make flow stop overstocking? So much is stacked on the tables it's impossible to make them look good. We have racks crammed so full they are impossible to shop. It's not just in softlines though. Flow does not have time to put everything where they should because they have to hurry and they are told, "No backstock!" They have really jobs and are under so much pressure.

4) Can you get us hours so we can do our jobs? I don't think that requires an explanation.

I wish you all nothing but the best and I understand the value of presentation. It's just hard to understand why we are being pushed to our limits every day. Most of us really care about our departments and it hurts us to see them in a constant state of disarray. Please, come in strong! Ask for what you need! Make this happen! Not having clear explanations of what to do or how to do it comes with the job. You will see what needs to be done. I'll work my tail off to help you make the changes we need to excel in tomorrow's market!