I wrote my first post about Steve and Barry’s last week. It was a 2343 word long grievance summary. It discussed all the things I thought were wrong with the company (its lack employee recognition, its long hours, and its terrible location), but that’s not how I wanted to write about the company. I set it live for a grand total of 24 hours (on and off) and the readership spiked. Some of the readers were from the S&B (if it’s corporate or store, I do not know). So, I guess this is take two.
This was the name of the company when I joined in the fall of 2006. It was a long name with a huge blue and yellow logo. The first day was nightmarish. The first month was more of the same. I got wrecked at the Holiday Party and made a fool of myself. I managed to get myself sent to Columbus, OH where I learned the hard work of manually loading trucks. I began work with our India office and was sent to train them. I wrote manuals and did communications work. I had more responsibility than any 22 year old should have. By my 23rd birthday, I came to the realization that I might not advance anymore and that the field I was in was not for me. By the time I left, the logo was sleek and stylish – they no longer specialized in t-shirts and had expanded into the world of true fashion.
For the experiences, I am actually grateful. My resume looks much nicer now than it did before I started. I wrote this note to my co-workers before I left (I edited it slightly – there were some embarrassing typos).
Hey guys,
I just wanted to let everyone know that I am leaving Steve and Barry’s on Friday, August 17, 2007. I’m starting work with a nonprofit organization. Sadly, this new place is business casual so no shorts or flip flops. Meaning, I’m going to have to go on a shopping spree before I’m no longer a S&B employee. But all joking aside, this has been the most unique work environments I have ever joined. The energy and talent here are tremendous, and with the right guidance, this company can change the world of retail…
…it has been a great pleasure working with all of you. I should make it to a couple of more happy hours – can’t let them forget my favorite beer – so it won‘t be good bye. It will be “See you at Lennon’s.”
JJRC
I like the foreshadowing present. I wrote that line about proper management to be subtle in my display of discontent with our corporate hierarchy. It seems like it has validated itself. The decline of Steve and Barry’s has been something I believed would happen from the when I saw the rapid store expansions, the continuous miscommunications, and the adversarial nature of the New York Office’s (NYO) relationship with stores and the India Office. There was no cohesion across the entire company.
As a new hire and recent graduate, I didn’t know what to expect from working. The first lesson was to be tough. I was told be harsher with our department’s partners, with the stores and with our India counterparts. We were corporate and we knew better. This was the message pounded into my brain, and by the end, I began to agree with that thought. On my last day, I yelled at a Regional Manager for disrespecting one of our new co-workers. Though I believe that it was justly deserved, that man could have easily been twice my age. He was the Regional Manager in California, and he got punked by a 23 year old “professional.”
I read the blogs, and I hear things about the idiots at the NYO. Those “Ivy League babies” at the NYO. I read about the “rich who have mommy and daddy pay for their schooling.” It is an unfair portrait painted of the corporate staff. Yes, the recruiting department (under the guidance of Steve Shore) recruited aggressively from Ivy League schools. Shore himself attended Tulane which made me think his obsession with the Ivy League was odd. Many people at the company were not elitist – we were trying to do our jobs right. We had superiors who had superiors who had superiors who answered to Steve, Barry, Gary and a slew of older men and women. I believe most of us followed orders and achieved successes in our posts as it was designed. We didn’t break out of our molds. We fit into them nicely – because we had to succeed in this “corporate” world.
It has gotten the company nowhere. A few men and women set out to guide a company to success, and they have failed. The corporate staff made of alums from the best universities has failed. Store managers and directors and other members of the field staff have failed – at no fault of their own. They were misdirected – they were mislead – they were deceived.
The fault does not fall on the NYO or the stores. It does not fall on the lack of money and the economy. It falls on the lack of experience and the relentless demand to conform to the “new” model. It was a system of patching up a sinking boat. Why reinvent the wheel? Why devise a completely new system when retail stores that have been successful in the past and have been profitable. Even smaller chains like Pamida in the mid-west have been successful. There are the Conway stores in Herald Square that have been success for as long as I can remember. The clothing is even comparable to S&B in price – and at times cheaper. They established a loyal base and have maintained their standing as a retailer that will deliver to their customers at their 3 or 4 locations around Manhattan. I don’t know if Steve and Barry’s ever had that to a great extent.
The lack of experience is the downfall of this company, and the lack of communication is the creation of the backlashes I see on the blogs. The discontent at the store level is not surprising. With the NYO and India forcing them to conform – I would also be bitter and angry – especially if I heard nothing from corporate staff regarding the bankruptcy proceeding for more than two weeks. It’s not the staff’s fault – because they know as little as the stores. It’s the lack of communication between the directors and everyone else.
Steve and Barry’s was not profitable in 2007 when the economy was better – now in 2008 they are forced to downsize more than they did in December of 2007 – two weeks before Christmas. There was no holiday party this past year – nor did staff receive a 5 lb. bar of chocolate from Hershey’s.
I wish all my former co-workers still at S&B the best. I met some of the best people I know at the NYO, in India, and on the field level – I had good relationships with some of the stores – poorer relationships with others. I wish all the store managers the best – and I am sorry if you read this, and it was me that caused you grief on any occasion. I didn’t know what I was doing – I lacked experienced, and I apparently I lacked the idea of “the human other.”
JJRC
