Uniqlo and mannequin dressing that will not be opened in the summer
When giant vendors began to close in mass in Russia, employees of Japanese Uniqlo chain stores did not assume that this fate awaits their chains, too, unlike employees of brand stores in Europe and the USA. However, the brand announced on March 21 that it was suspending its operations in the country.
“Our leadership said that there are some deals that we are definitely not going to close. “As a result, we lasted the longest, but the closing still hasn’t passed us,” said Kirill, a sales assistant at one of the stores in a large mall.
According to him, at that moment he was afraid for the future, and for the future of his colleagues – whether they would pay salaries and how long the “temporary closure” would last. Meanwhile, management asked them to remain calm and follow instructions.
On their last day of work, employees packed and cleaned their belongings, and went to help their colleagues at other malls the following week. Then the fate of the sellers began to be determined.
“The director stated that we will get full pay. We took the average earnings of employees, it turned out to be 45-50 thousand rubles. on your hands. Trainings have now started in closed stores instead of the workplace. They started telling us everything about the company, from its creation date to marketing. With the 5/2 program, I had to attend eight hour training sessions from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. The duration of each employee’s participation in their training depends on the work schedule. Also in the store, we continued to do the usual things so as not to lose shape: fold things, collect mannequins. It’s funny that Ksenia Sobchak spreads information on social networks about how employees collect models and announces the opening of stores. But that was just part of the training. Employees just got new images for the mannequins,” explained sales consultant Kirill.
These regulations were in effect until April. Then wages changed – employees began to receive 25-30 thousand rubles. Starting from June, the schedule of participation in the trainings has also changed – now Uniqlo employees go to them once a week for 8 hours. And in the trainings, according to Kirill, he can not do without excesses.
According to him, some landlords no longer allow their employees to enter their stores – Kirill’s colleagues from other outlets of the chain in Moscow faced such a problem. They are prohibited from being in the area without explanation. The management of the shopping center and the management of the stores do not clarify this issue.
For this reason, Kirill’s team in the neighboring shopping center, together with the Uniqlo team that Kirill works with, also attends trainings in their stores.
“Only one person left the team after the salary was reduced. Everyone else was understanding – and we really appreciate the management taking care of us. But they don’t tell us anything about the future.
At the moment, there is one hundred percent information from the management that we will not open only in the summer. However, employees will not be laid off. It is also known that the company will not change the concept and name.
Both the head of the company and its employees are against it,” says Kirill.
“The flow of people has gone crazy”
The cessation of the activities of many stores also deeply affected the brands that did not leave the Russian market. According to Tatyana, an employee of one of the popular clothing stores in the mass market segment, her management evaluated the situation in the market from a positive side.
“We already had good sales, and now that most of the popular stores have closed, the flow of people has gone crazy. We couldn’t keep up with our customers. On top of that, we were constantly experiencing staff shortages. But since many of them started leaving the closed stores, we have employees, of course, which also pleases the authorities,” says the sales assistant.
Several employees from closed H&M, Sinsay and Zara came to work at Elizabeth’s store. All of them resigned because they were not satisfied with working “for a salary”. She is also one of the employees working and is also listed on H&M she. Another returned to the Sinsay store – as soon as it was learned that it had reopened under a different name.
Elizabeth states that after the start of special operations and the implementation of sanctions, supply problems started. Immediately, employees received an order to increase prices, she said.
“Often revaluation goes down, but this time there was an increase – almost double. T-shirts costing 600 rubles began to be sold for 900. Jeans went from 1500 to 3000. So do many stores. Fortunately, these prices did not last more than two weeks as buyers started complaining,” explains Elizaveta.
According to him, now the prices in his stores have stabilized and are the same as before the events of the end of February. At the same time, the mall itself was literally empty. Fortunately for Elizabeth, this did not affect income in any way.
“Everything will become clear in August”
Anastasia, an employee of the company that owns the now-renamed House, Sinsay, Reserved, Cropp and Mohito stores, says no one fired the salespeople from the stores during the suspension of operations, but most of the team left on their own—salaries not fully paid.
“When the shops were closed all the vendors would be transferred to 2/3 of the salary according to the law. In our stores in Moscow, 38,200 is fixed for 164 hours, excluding VAT. That is, the sellers were supposed to receive about 25 thousand rubles each. This did not suit many people and they quit,” Anastasia explains.
Mass layoffs took place at the company’s headquarters. It was previously owned by a Polish retailer, but now a Chinese company has bought it. In this regard, the names of the brands have changed and discounts have been experienced.
“The company completely removed the online store, so many people working with online orders had to be laid off. He was offered three months of work or three paychecks to quit. There is no one left to refine from my acquaintances.
More information about the fate of the stores will only be known at the end of August, as officials said. How exactly we will operate under China’s leadership is still unclear. We will see how we cope with the new conditions.
We suspect a second wave of mass layoffs await us in August. But the good news is that almost all stores have reopened, employees have returned to work and deliveries have resumed,” says Anastasia.
It is also unknown whether the brand concept will change, according to the employee, but no one fired the designers who created the products. Its enhancements are also ready for the next few seasons, but no one has announced that they will be purchased. Anastasia assumes that the concept as a whole will remain unchanged.