Despite the Recession, Luxury Retailers and Department Stores Continue to add Jobs

The retail industry ranks #24 out of 50 in regard to the largest gap in supply and demand across all industries in the United States. This statistic is surprising as the rise of Internet shopping would lead many to believe that the retail industry would be suffering, but many companies are bucking economic trends, experiencing a boom in sales and hiring staff.

With retailers facing competition from online sources, many companies have begun to harness the power that the internet provides, creating viral campaigns to create buzz and stir interest among consumers. But while some retailers are seeing an increase in sales, and thus, an increase in their need for workers, some simply are treading water and are unable to recover.

With music, movies and e-books easily accessible on the internet, retailers such as F.Y.E. (For Your Entertainment), Borders and Blockbuster are seeing rapid declines in sales, leading to bankruptcy, layoffs and the closing of some locations. These types of retailers face fierce competition from online retailers and despite attempts to revamp their images, it is unlikely that they will recover or add any new jobs in 2012.

Although the unemployment rate is still high and job growth remains stagnant in the United States, luxury retailers are seeing a spike in sales as the ‘high-end customer’ is spending again. From Burberry to Saks Fifth Avenue, luxury retailers are hiring and the growth of these types of retailers is expected to continue. Department store retailers such as Macy’s Kohls, and J.C. Penney are heavily recruiting and with aggressive social media campaigns and advertisements, these retailers are not only hiring for in-store sales associates, but in administrative, marketing and online positions as well.

With an increasing shift from quantity to quality over the last few years, industry employment in the retail sector is growing in higher-skilled positions as retailers are looking to become more efficient. Roles in merchandising, technical, logistical and managerial positions are changing with advances in technology and retailers who are able to adapt to these changes will most likely stay in business and continue to create jobs.

Set and Service Resources seeks to serve its employees and their work needs. See what some of our associates are saying:

"SASR is a very good outfit to work with. SASR pays W-2 and always on time. Wages are very good and the staff are pleasant to communicate with. You never know what job might pop up next. Everybody I worked with wanted to hire me - SASR can assist with that aspect also."

"You have no idea how much I enjoy working with you guys and all the super people I get to meet along the way! Set and Service ROCKS!!"

"Wonderful company to work for!!"

"Thank you Set and Service Resources. I sincerely appreciate the time SASR has spent with me as part of team membership. Their advice is very helpful and gave me a new perspective on available opportunities. I've been with the company for years and plan to have a long future with them. Again, thank you so much for your help. I greatly appreciate being a part of SASR."

"Have worked for the company for a few years. They pay well and on time. Good part time job."

"This is one of the best companies I have worked for. The website is easy to navigate, the staff are helpful and prompt, the pay is fair (more than fair, actually) and they pay right on time. Great company for someone wanting part time, flexible, work with a variety of options for types and locations of work."

"If you're looking for supplemental income from a reliable source, check out Set and Service Resources. These are well paying jobs, mostly short-term and easy to work around your schedule! Fun work and fast money!"

"Set and Service Resources is the right place to work with . Great people who run the service , honest and great workers to satisfy the client."

"Great company to work for. Team leads I have worked with have been outstanding. I'd recommend this company to everyone!"

"I absolutely love all of the opportunities that have come through this company! This is the first of its kind that I registered with and I am happy to be a part of it! Keep the work coming!"

"The Concept of this company and the flexible schedule is great! I see why you continue to grow!"

"Finding a good company to work for is hard, but SASR is one of the BEST!!"

"I love these people! Our family has been working for them for a while and we think they are wonderful, more like family to us."

Set and Service Resources is giving away an IPAD or a $500 American Express Gift certificate!!!! Enter before Valentine's Day.

To enter for a chance to win, simply visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/sasrlink and click the "Like" button.  Everyone who “Likes” Set and Service before February 14 will be included in the random selection.  We will post on the winner's Facebook wall and they will have 24 hours to respond.  If the winner doesn’t respond within the 24 hours, another winner will be chosen from the pool of entries. 

Thanks for entering and thanks for “Liking” Set and Service Resources!!!!

Best Tips for Performing a Reset:

These ideas were added from some of the best retail merchandisers in the field. Join the Discussion at http://on.fb.me/fugZbK

- Use a magnetic clip to hold a POG on the shelf. It can easily be moved and won't tear the POG like tape sometimes can.

- When there is a facing with no product available, use a similiar sized product and place backwards in the space. That way the spacing is pretty close to what it should be and there won't be too little or too much space at the end of the shelf. At the end of the set, the missing product spaces can easily seen by the backwards facing products. And it is easy to place the labels for the missing new product.

- When you do remove product from its old home, always keep the shelf label with the product. It helps to find it later when you are looking for that one item.

- On shelving that has bent or misaligned shelf brackets causing the shelf to hang lower than it should, use a penny on the back wall where the bracket goes into the upright bar on the shelving unit. There is enough weight to hold the penny in place and the shelf lines up nicely with its neighboring shelf.

- In reset work, it is neither best to be the hare or the turtle. Yes, you need to work fast, but not so fast that you make costly time mistakes that take a lot of time to go back and fix. The best pace is a steady and methodical pace that helps you stay accurate in the work that you do.

- If working with carded product and the peghole tears, try using the stores staple gun to salvage the peghole. The staple will hold up to the weight of the product much better than placing tape over the hole.

- When doing a lot of pegboard resets such as cosmetics, some merchandisers purchase a piece of pegboard to use just for these types of sets. When removing a peg during a reset, they place the pegs with product on the pegboard to keep things orderly and easy to return to the new plannogram/modular location.

- Also, when setting shelves bring a level to make sure the A frames are the same heighth. This works great on resets that have wavy shelf lines. You will have to take the front kick panel off and adjust the feet up or down. It will amaze you after doing this. It is harder than setting shelves during a new store set, but will make a reset look better.