Rating: 2 1/2 stars

Caitlin Kelly lost her job as a journalist in 2007 and wearied of chasing the freelance paycheck, she decided to take a job in retail. Based on her love of traveling and outdoor sports, Ms. Kelly chose to apply at the newly minted “The North Face” at the local mall in an upscale neighborhood.

With no prior retail experience and approaching middle age, Ms. Kelly was hired based on her personality and travel experience. After an extensive (paid) training period, Ms. Kelly and an eclectic mix of co-workers were treated to a nice dinner by their managers, before being set free in the trenches of retail.

Working two days a week enabled Ms. Kelly to continue her writing and was most likely key in prolonging the excitement and enthusiasm for her new endeavor. Eventually, the long hours on her feet, the extremely low pay, unreasonable expectations and difficult work environment took their toll.

Despite her statement that the job was necessary for additional income, one would have to assume Ms. Kelly worked her retail job more with the thought of writing a book, than out of actual need as stated. Only working two days a week (which eventually reduced to one day) at minimum wage, less commuting and parking costs and finally taxes wouldn’t have left her with enough money to warrant leaving the house; much less making much, if any difference in her financial bottom line.

For those who have ever worked in retail will see that Ms. Kelly is right on target regarding the issues. However, the repetitive enumeration of the issues in the work place: the stockroom was dark and cluttered, the clothes hung too high, not enough equipment, morale was low, and management didn’t care etc. became quite monotonous after awhile.

As with books like Nickeled and Dimed, Caitlin Kelly did a good job of providing a first-hand look at retail and all of its glaring problems, short-comings and redundancies; however, no new information was revealed nor potential solutions to the problem offered.

Retail will continue to be a revolving door for the men and women who put in a long, physically demanding—often thankless hours—dealing with irrational, self-entitled and just simply awful people. While employers continue to grow rich and turn a blind eye to their employees’ financial struggles, plummeting morale and dead-end career paths.
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Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover; 1 edition (April 14, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-1591843801