Starting this September, all Macy’s employees will be required to wear black clothes to work. The dress code, which is designed to help customers identify apparently-elusive sales associates, is already in effect in east coast stores, but will be expanded to the 113 stores composing the midwest division. While consumer behavior specialists rave about the change, union officials have filed a grievance against Macy’s for requiring workers to purchase new clothes. Do employee uniforms improve your shopping experience? Tell us after the jump.
Macy’s workers grieve in black [Business Courier]
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Shit, now I can’t go to Macy’s without being accosted by customers.
Thanks a lot, Macy’s.
@Melov: After your oh-so-sensitive-and-warranted reply to missdona, I’m reluctant to even respond to you, but for what it’s worth: I’m not sure why you think I’m contradicting myself. To me, being required to wear a uniform shirt is much more restrictive than being required to wear clothes of one’s own choosing, even if said clothes must be a particular color.
I dont see the problem. I also dont see why Macy should have to provide the clothing… how is it any different from having to wear a shirt and tie to work for someone who ordinarily doesnt wear a shirt and tie? You either get a job that fits your clothing/dress style, or you buy clothing to accommodate the dress standards.
If they dont like it, Im sure WalMart is hiring… and theyll give you a shirt to wear!
How bout blue vests?
That would be funny.
What’s all this about Wal Mart employees wearing aprons? For some reason, they seemed to have stopped doing this at my local store, which is bitchin annoying. The only identification anyone wears is a nametag, which is only visible from the front and can be worn anywhere on the body which makes it even MORE difficult to identify employees. Apparently, they can just wear whatever clothes they want. One guy was wearing a Confederate flag hat.
I loved the “Do you work here?” questions. Once – Wearing nametag, obnoxious headset that made me look like mid-90′s Madonna in concert and having just hung up the phone…..so, in an effort to be funny said, “No.” I pointed to the person standing beside me and said, “He does.”
My humor was not appreciated. Ask me why I’m no longer in retail.
I think at Macy’s, they would have a harder time finding a CUSTOMER, let alone a salesman.
Greetings from Chicago.
On one hand a store can be required to have a uniform, but I don’t know about whether you should have to buy it.
On the other hand, I’ve been in stores like Target or the local grocery store chain where there’s a distinct uniform and people still come up to me and ask me if I work there. And, no, I’ve never been wearing anything even remotely like the store uniform.
@Pasty: It still is Federated (It was just a name change) and Bloomingdale’s is still with Macy’s. These 2 brands will never become seperate.
And yes, Macy’s is doing the same thing. They are offering 2 extra associate discount days within 2 months.
@hyperlexis: Very funny!!!
not
You can only itemize your work clothes or uniform if you cannot be reasonably expected to wear the uniform in public when you’re not working. For example, if your job requires a plain black T-shirt and you have to go out and buy one with your own money, you wouldn’t be able to claim that on your taxes because it’s just a black shirt and you can wear that anywhere.
However, if you are required to buy a black T-shirt that has the company name blasted across the front, then you can claim that on your taxes because you wouldn’t be expected to wear that in public while off the clock. It isn’t considered part of your wardrobe.
@missdona: If that’s the worst thing that ever happens to you, count yourself fortunate. It’s not exactly the affront of the century that a retailer has decided on a monochrome dress code that happens to be your preferred colour scheme, too. It’s black, for heaven’s sake. NYC females are hardly the only people who wear black clothing. Frankly, now that you have heard about the store’s dress code, if you don’t want to be mistaken for a Macy’s employee (the horror!), don’t dress like one when/if you go there and I doubt the problem will arise.
IIRC, when Macy’s implemented the all-black dress code in the Macy’s East, North, and South divisions, they gave hefty discounts on black clothes to the employees… so I’m sure that they’re also doing this in the Midwest division.
Also, the Macy’s Northwest division has a modified version of the dress code: only one dress item out of your short or pants has to be black… they do this to comply with labor laws in Northwestern states. And Macy’s West and Macy’s Florida don’t have an all-black dress code (yet).
@Teapotfox: I can’t imagine a more perfect response. I dunno, it just seemed really well written without being too scornful.
I don’t think an all-black code is terrible per se, but it can be annoying for the employees who then have massive black wardrobes. Maybe Macy’s should add proper lighting and train their employees to be visible and helpful while they’re at it.
I worked for a retail company that only allowed certain colors in the dress code…UNLESS they were from that company’s store. And buying from the store was certainly encouraged, although not as bad as some places that actually required employees to wear the store’s clothing. (That, in my book, qualifies as a “uniform” and should be paid for by the store, legally. I believe there was a huge lawsuit in California a while back about this.)
@karmaghost: Hey, thanks… what a nice compliment out of nowhere!
Black is so completely appropriate considering EVERYONE but management is mourning the loss of Marshall Field’s. But since only fools continue to shop at Macy’s, the issue is rather moot.
Only thing I see wrong is that black is kind of impractical. Black fades quickly in the wash and is unforgiving when it comes to showing dust, pet hair, etc… It would get pretty expensive to maintain a great black pair of pants and top if you work every day and need to wash these items all the time. I have to wear black pants to work and wash them twice a week. Now they’re charcoal.
I worked at Macy’s this year during the Xmas rush. They give employees a discount and then new employees get an additional discount when purchasing black items to wear at work, so the hardship is not so bad. As far as employees assisting customers, some departments (men’s suits,men’s and ladies shoes for example) do get commission in addition to pay, so those areas are always well staffed and the employees attentive. Macy’s does NOT train the staff well in customer service and brand knowledge. You are thrown out on the floor and expected to be able to help customers no matter what department you may be in. I went in on my first day to a huge sale, where the department I was in was completely new to me and was expected to be able to help customers. yeah I’d avoid customers on occasion, because I felt stupid not being able to give what I considered good customer service. Macy’s needs to revamp it’s scheduling also. There were days that there were more associates than customers and then days where we had no associates. Very bad scheduling. Luckily I found a “regular” job right after Christmas at double the pay,so my Macy’s associate days are over !!!