Retail's End?

     I came across an article on LinkedIn this morning that posed the question are we nearing the death of desktop based retail? I thought to myself how are we nearing the end of desktop based retail? In my world we are just at the cusp of the consumer online experience. Perhaps I am bias. After having spent 10 years in a retail store with the monumental expectation of selling 1,000 dollars or more a day I can confidently say brick and mortar stores are becoming obsolete.

     Just last night I was having a conversation with a manager from another store. I asked how it was going and she replied not good, I am extremely stressed tonight. We had three customers walk in. I asked her, for the night? No. For the entire day.

     Forbes posted an article last year confirming my notion that people are not buying things when they walk into establishments. I have to admit I was worried I would not have a job if companies caught on, but while Forbes did suggest that people were not buying as much from the physical locations they confirmed that the brick and mortar stores still had a purpose. Hence I would still have a job.

      People who go into retail stores are looking for the experience of shopping. They want to touch and feel things even if they go home and then purchase them online. Looking back, I can understand that. I am guilty of it myself. How many times have I gone out to best buy to look at phones or computers, to interact with the product, only to go home and compare prices online and then have it shipped to me? Well I still only do this for major purchases. It seems people chose to do this for a lot of the smaller things today.

     So back to the article that first got my attention. Clicking on the link it seems they are talking about the death of the desktop based retail in India, because studies show people are moving to mobile only ordering systems. I, personally, can't imagine ordering everything on my phone, even though I have a fablat. I feel that the screen is still to tiny for me to make a proper assessment of images on the screen. The author did note that he believes this trendis specific only to India. Thank goodness for that. I need my big screen websites!

     With the downfall of physical stores I know that I will need to rely on web-based ordering in the near future. The idea that all ordering will be done through apps on a mobile only base is frightening. Everything is moving to apps. (I know I sound ancient I'm not even 30). I just find apps to be a real pain in the... you know. I hate searching for them on my phone. I must flip through the pages at least 20 times before spotting the app I'm searching for. I tried to combine them into categories, but that doesn't help much. 

     I know that it would take a lot of the stress off of retail associates to move to Forbes vision of stores where no retail item is expected to be sold. However, I am conflicted as one of the last members of a generation that remembers a time before phones and apps were a part of everyday life. I like buying at the brick and mortar establishments. I idealize the concept of human interaction. I love walking into say, autozone and knowing that the workers there have a knowledge and expertise I cannot get from a computer screen (minus youtube videos), This goes for every retail resource. Those workers work hard to deliver quality service and information to the consumer. 

     Then the thought of app only ordering. How would I ever shop again? It's an ever changing world, but does it have to evolve so quickly? Why do we keep moving away from interactions with others? We are a social creature right? Depression has become more prevalent in recent years and I can't help but wonder if it's because we are defying our nature with our reliance of hiding behind a computer screen. But that's just one persons opinion. The world, despite my objections, will keep on turning. I will wait for the day to come when it finally stops.

Donald Trump Vs Starbucks?

      Donald Trump, one of the GOP candidates for the Republican nomination, has weighed in on the Starbucks red cup crisis and it really grinds my gears. You would think that a GOP candidate would have better things to do with his time then comment on something as silly as a red cup. “If I get elected we'll all be saying Merry Christmas again, I can tell you that much.” “No more Christmas at Starbucks.” At least he's an honest candidate, albeit a bigoted and short sighted one.

     What was the original complaint? A video that went viral the day before. The complaint, “Starbucks removed Christmas from their cups because they hate Jesus.” ... Thinking about the designs of Starbucks' past I remember them being cluttered with snowflakes, ornaments, maybe trees, and that's a big maybe. General holiday/winter themes decorated the cups like garland. Let me make that clear. They erased snowflakes not a giant picture of the Messiah off their cups.

     So why has this become such a big deal? If you ask my father it's because Christmas is American. He's partially correct. Many of the traditions we associate with the Holiday started in America, but it wasn't always a prominent American holiday. In fact, when the Puritans came to this country, they banned Christmas. “The concept of holy days implies some days are not holy.”  It did not become a national holiday until 1870 long after the days of our fore fathers.

     Where to begin with the list of people who made Christmas the grand celebration it is today? Let's start with Washington Irving. In response to political and socio-economic turmoil that plagued the US in the early 19^th century, he wrote a work of fiction depicting Christmas as the joyous, warm hearted holiday we know today. Back in Europe there was the old carnival that took place each year where the wealthy would switch roles with the poor for a day back in Europe. They would have to serve their servants, lick their boots, it was a day of heathenism. This day was designed to keep the masses from revolting.
     Instead of keeping that tradition in America, Irving created the myth of a holiday that brought people together across all boundaries not by switching ranks, but by celebrating “ancient traditions.” These traditions brought together the rich and the poor. Christmas was a magical time where good will existed towards your fellow man. Peace, humility, and kindness prevailed. Christmas existed to quell the wave of mass discontent of poor working conditions and large social and fiscal gaps in America. Many believe that Irving actually created Christmas as we know it today with his piece.

     The second part of Christmas, the myth of Santa Clause. Well, I should say Sinterklass. We all know he is a depiction of St. Nick, the artistry behind his works looks a lot like the green man surrounded in wreaths and garlands though. Doesn't it? People would always take myths or iconic images and transform them to serve a purpose. In this case the familiar iconography helped people to feel comfortable putting a face that they recognized to the man who came into their homes once a year. Scientists believe that you remember every face you see, even those you only glance at in passing, so all those random faces you see in your dream you have glanced at them once before.
      Santa Claus himself was not brought to us by any of our fore fathers. He was given to us by the Dutch. The Dutch in America celebrated St. Nicholas' day each year. They would wait for gifts in stockings or shoes. America ran with the idea of St. Nicholas. Clement Clark Moore (1823) The Night Before Christmas, Santa Claus drawn by Thomas Nash (1862), and Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus by Francis Church to name a few. Christians would soon adopt these traditions to Christmas day on December 25^th, or as it was before that, the solstice.

     Everything we know about Christmas traditions today started in the 19^th century. They are new traditions and none, (minus moving all the other traditions to December 25^th) had anything to do with Jesus. They were just a way to calm the social unrest in early America. Alright, then let's bring it home.

      Starbucks released a statement about it's cups. Starbucks, “wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all our stories.” “Embracing the simplicity and the quietness of it.” Knowing the history of our current traditions I couldn't agree more with their vision. I find peace in the plain red cups uncluttered with winter paraphernalia. I believe there is a quiet sanctuary as I stare at my pure red cup that encompasses the the desire to bring people together from all walks of life. It, like Christmas, breaks the barriers of religion, class, and economic disparities if only for an hour. It truly embraces the reasons behind the tradition. So I completely support their decision to have pure red cups.

     Also as a last side note. Howard Schulz is Jewish… perhaps instead of throwing him to the lions for removing snow flakes, which clearly means he hates Jesus, you should thank him for the social correctness of including Christmas Blend and celebrating traditions that are not his own with all of us. Just a thought.

The New American Dream

     Like many millennials who have recently (or not so recently) graduated from a university with a bachelors and are seeking a first “real” job formatting resumes and cover letters have become an area of personal contempt. I am becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of response from corporations. No matter how proficient my cover letters appear or how I revitalize my CV I never seem able to get a first interview.

     So I have to ask, not only what I may be doing wrong, but how did scanning a one page paper become adequate to determine someone's value to a corporation over the next 20 years of their life? Also, are cover letters necessary and how do I prove my value through these limited means?

     So I went where you would imagine any millennial would go to seek answers to life's questions: The internet. It offered me a variety of options and I in turn attempted all of them. Each option yielded unsuccessful results.

     I re-examined my resume first. Many advise keeping your resume short, sweet and to the point. My resume when I first left college was approximately two pages long. I had gone with an antiquated model of resume building placing a headline, mission statement, education, experience, skills, and references in that order. I have come to realize how unprofessional my first resume looked. I was tried to to appear more experienced by over expanding about my few part time jobs. Like Shakespeare I have come to realize brevity is the soul of resume writing. I try to use more proficient words to help cut down on the length I am writing.

     Also, I no longer include every job I have ever had. In the last two years I have been with two companies, both in retail. The only other jobs I had were temp jobs through college. Unless it contains a specific, qualifying experience that would be applicable for the job I am applying for it seems unnecessary to list them all. List of resume updates accomplished. My next task cover letter writing.

     I have been given many opinions on the best ways to write a cover letter. Write it in your own voice was the first recommendation I was given. Well, my own voice speaks at an eighth grade level. This is because an eighth grade level of verbal and written communication is the standard that you can assume the majority of the public can comprehend. Teachers also deliver notes home with this concept in mind. Cover letters however, should be more ostentatious in nature, or so I am told. My fiance (who found a good “real” job in only four months of searching) would sit and laugh while writing his cover letters. He would work with the built in thesaurus and after a while stopped writing cover letters altogether. How did this man get ahead of me?

     So my question becomes, what now? I am still struggling just as many millennials are. Its not a lack of desire for a well paying job that leads me to work retail. It is not laziness, peter pan syndrome, or a even a lack of opportunities, but something still isn't connecting. Not just for me, but for many in my generation. Can anyone tell me where we are going wrong? What part of the application process are we getting incorrect?

Is it the economy? Although economists say that unemployment is at it's lowest there are other studies that say America has the highest rate of low paying jobs across the globe. As Bernie Sanders pointed out the American public is paying for the healthcare of the Walton family. Ultimately, I believe it is a combination of factors that created this perfect storm; A lack of real world preparation, a recovering economy that forces older workers to work longer, and a bias against our generation as lazy and unmotivated workers. I have read many articles complaining about recent graduates and would like to set the record straight.

     Yes, I would like to have a job out of college that pay 40,000 dollars a year. I would like to leave my parents home, start a family, and live the American dream before my late 40's. I do wish to move into a more prestigious position not because I have a delusion of grandeur from being raised in the “everyone's a winner” America, but because it's what I need to earn a living wage. Many prestigious jobs are offered 40,000 dollars a year compensation, which is the minimum needed to live near my family. The family I will need to assist me when I have children and will have to continue being a working mom. There are some passionate youths out there being missed by recruiters and algorithms alike. I will keep hoping and improving. Maybe by my thirty-th I will have a “real” job.