Top 3 Things We Learned from the Holiday Pop-up Season

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What a wonderful Holiday season! It helped drive retail sales for many companies. According to Mastercard, total US retail sales rose 5.1% between November 1 and December 24 from the prior year. As you were out shopping, you probably noticed at least one pop-up shop. They have become more and more popular as they give a fresh twist to the former all brick and mortar retail environment. In addition to an influx in commerce, retail hiring rose this past Holiday season as well. According to the Labor Department, 312,000 jobs were added in December 2018. That number includes many seasonal retail jobs.

Since the holidays have come to a close, we want to take a few moments to step back… give out some high fives, and reflect on what we learned by staffing a record number of pop-ups across the country. 

The top three trends we saw for a successful pop-up this season:

Plan out staffing needs. We cannot stress enough how important it is to hire, at least, 25% more staff than you think you are going to need. Life can be busy around the holidays and this applies to the staff you hire. Plan for additional staff to cover increased business or any ‘holiday attrition’. To keep your team engaged and committed to your pop-up, plan to pay and train them well.  Development of a well-trained and informed team will make the short-term sales associates feel like they are part of your brand.

Create a lasting relationship with your customers. Channel all of your resources to find ways to continue the retail momentum you’ve built by leveraging in-person interactions, digital or social media, and to extend the brand experience beyond the event. You’ve gotten them excited about your brand and now you need to stay top of mind for their future retail purchases. One example is to interact with customers on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook so you can stay connected after the pop-up shop closes.

Have an end game. Plan out how the pop-up shop will close and make your staff aware of your plans. Will you need them to work after the shop closes to wrap everything up? Are they good candidates for working any permanent retail locations you have? Consider offering a bonus for working through the entire pop-up or consider those candidates for future full-time positions with your company.   Either way, your end game, is as important as your roll-out plan.  Execute both and your pop-up will likely be a success.

To sum it up, it is critical to develop a thorough and practical staffing plan, create a lasting relationship with your clients, and have a long-term game plan. Mapping out those three key areas will have you on the right path to a highly successful pop-up event. As always, if you need support, our team at Emerging Blue would gladly connect you with the best pop-up event staff.

About Emerging Blue:

Emerging Blue is a creative recruitment agency that represents full-time and freelance talent in Fashion, Home and Beauty. We fill jobs from San Francisco to New York, and everywhere in-between. We represent top candidates, the hottest brands and innovative companies of all shapes and sizes. If you need recruitment and hiring support, we would love to support you. We fill jobs from Visual Merchandisers and Keyholders to Luxury Retail Store Managers and Sales Associates. Our talent is your strength.

Top Five Resume Tips from a Recruiter

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“Your resume should tell your amazing story!”

Simply put, we love to find and place creative talent!  However, as recruiters we have come to realize that applicants do not have a clear understanding of the recruitment, application and hiring processes. In turn, we see applicants send in old resumes with missing jobs and roles, put incorrect contact information on their resume and cover letter, and do not maximize their resume format in the best ways. Our team of Talent Matchmakers here at Emerging Blue pride ourselves in helping job seekers find jobs, so we have put together a list of the top five resume tips that will help any job search.  

Submit an updated resume

We cannot stress enough the importance of an updated and current resume. Even if you are currently employed and do not have plans to transition to a new job, it is extremely beneficial to always keep an updated resume saved on your computer or your iCloud. In addition to always having an updated resume, your resume needs to tell your amazing story! You have achieved big things, so be sure your resume reflects your true accomplishments, and does not simply list your duties and tasks of each job you held. Additionally, your LinkedIn profile should match your resume (making sure job titles and dates align) or it could confuse the recruiter, HR manager or company. 

The “Summary” is an overview of your greatest skills

Now that you have an updated resume on hand, it is imperative that your “Objective” or “Professional Summary” on your resume matches the position you are applying for.  This means you may need to tweak the “Objective” or “Professional Summary” for each application you submit.  Recruiters have time constraints when reviewing resumes, so help recruiters out and showcase your skills and achievements in an easy to read format, and whenever you can toss in numbers – do it! For example, a well-written “Professional Summary” would read, “Cosmetics Marketing Manager with 15+ years’ experience leading beauty brands to success, while saving clients $500k a year in costs.”

Understanding Applicant Tracking Systems

There is a lot of talk out there about Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). Simply put, ATS’s house resumes and candidate information for companies. When applying to a company, some companies have it set up where once you submit your application you are automatically input into their ATS while others have it set up where they manually enter the information into the ATS. A key point to remember is that some systems are automated to catch key words.  Particularly if you are using an image-based resume – such as a PDF – sometimes ATS’s cannot extract the information from the image-based file to catch the key words. Therefore, set yourself up for success and submit your resume as a Word Document.

Email Address Etiquette

Next up is the importance of a professional email address. You are probably thinking, ‘what is wrong is my email address’ or ‘does my email address really impact the recruiter or hiring manager’s perception of me?’ The short answer is YES. Email addresses matter. They actually matter a lot! The first thing to make certain is that your email address is correct. Many times, we’ve reached out to applicants and candidates to hear ‘oh, that’s my old email address’ or ‘I should have updated that, I don’t have the password for that email account anymore’ or sometimes no reply at all because the email and phone number were incorrect. It is important if you are job searching to make sure you have the correct email address and phone number listed so that recruiters and hiring managers can get into contact with you. It also shows that you’re detailed, organized and highly conscientious. If you cannot update your resume to reflect your current email address, do you think a company will want to hire you as a manager?

Another aspect to consider with email address etiquette is the format of the email address. As a job seeker and applicant, it is critical to have a professional email address. Our best advice is for applicants and job seekers to create a specific email account strictly for job purposes. When creating a professional email address, it can simply be your first and last name combined together. For example, JohnSmith@emergingblue.com or JaneSmith@emergingblue.com (those are not real email address). Lastly, it is best to not use email addresses like sexy420@...com  or biga$$@...com. While we are all human and want to show our fun and unique personalities online, it is best to remain professional while job searching, so leave behind the sexy420 and the biga$$ email addresses, and create a professional looking email address.

Spellcheck, spellcheck, and spellcheck again

The last key point we want to go over is spelling and grammar. You never want to ruin your chances of landing a job right at the resume review stage, so watch out for misspelled or incorrectly used words on your resume. Many times we have seen the title “manager” spelled “manger” as well as the incorrect use of their, there, and they’re. Always use spellcheck and read your resume aloud to catch any spelling or grammatical errors. Reading a resume aloud also helps to create a conversational tone to your resume.

About Emerging Blue:

Emerging Blue is a creative recruitment agency that represents full-time and freelance talent in Fashion, Home and Beauty. We fill jobs from San Francisco to New York, and everywhere in-between. We represent top candidates, the hottest brands and innovative companies of all shapes and sizes. If you need recruitment and hiring support, we would love to support you. We have filled jobs from Technical Designers and Brand Managers to Luxury Retail Store Managers and Sales Associates. Our talent is your strength.

#GivingTuesday - 7 Brands that are Giving Back… and Hiring!

Working for a brand with heart and soul is key for many candidates looking for a new job.  People want to know that the culture behind a brand is about giving back. 

You can work hard, have fun and know that the brand you work for is making a positive impact on the environment, those in need and the world at large.

These top 7 brands are giving back in more ways than one… and they are hiring.

Madewell

Madewell has partnered with Charity Water, The Human Rights Campaign and Girls NY. All sales, until 11/29 of specific products, will go to those charities.

Toms

In addition to their ongoing one-for-one program, providing footwear around the world, Toms gave their employees the morning off on Giving Tuesday to give back in their communities.

Bombas

Bombas has donated nearly 12 million socks with their one-for-one program.

Patagonia

Patagonia is passionate about the environment we live in. Since 1985, they have donated a portion of their yearly sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment.

Manduka

Manduka has been a long term supporter in fight to cure women’s breast cancer. In addition to donating 100% of their sales on Giving Tuesday to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, they have also pledged a portion of their sales to organizations doing good thing around the world. Proving that what starts on the yoga mat can make global impact.

Warby Parker

Warby Parker is bringing the world into crisp focus for millions in need through it’s one-for-one program.

Everlane

Everlane is dedicated to cleaning up our beaches by pledging to remove 7,609 lbs of plastic. They have partnered with Surfrider in it’s on-going efforts for a cleaner ocean.

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Top Five Staffing Tips for Pop-up Shops

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Pop-Up Staffing Emerging Blue

As the retail landscape changes and evolves, pop-up shops are quickly becoming a great way for a brand to get consumers to touch, feel, and try on their products… without having to make the commitment to a permanent retail space.   Many landlords, commercial real estate firms and companies, like Storefront (storefront.com), can help find the perfect location.

Whether you are looking to showcase a new line, engage with your customers or generate brand awareness, hiring the right people to work your pop-up shop can be as important as your product and your location.  Maximizing the customer interaction with your brand and hiring the right temporary employees is often the key to success.  

At Emerging Blue, our pop-up clients have benefited from our “Top Five” list of things to keep in mind when staffing the perfect pop-up shop.

  1.  Hire like your Brand depends on it – Your employees and staff are your brand. As pop-up shops are becoming more and more popular, it’s important to hire employees that can take customers through the full brand experience.  From greeting them to establishing a connection to the product, it is key to hire Brand Ambassadors that are friendly, eager, enthusiastic and approachable.

  2.  Over hire – Life happens, and employees sometimes do not show up. For a successful pop-up, make sure you are covered for the unexpected. We always recommend that our clients hire and train at least 20% more people than they think they will need.

  3.  Train, Train, Train – We suggest providing your Managers, Sales Associates and Brand Ambassadors with training materials and an in-person training session that covers your brand story, products and store technology.  A staff that understands these, will make sure everything runs smoothly once the shop opens.  

  4.  Plan Ahead – We cannot stress this enough. Allow enough time to source, hire and train great employees.  Plan for your projected volume, hours, product training and internal systems.  Devising a plan to have the proper sized staff to maximize sales will set you and your team up for success.

  5. Agency Partners – Find a staffing agency partner that can help you with the points above.  It is beneficial to use an agency to manage your hiring needs, if you do not have enough bandwidth to do so.  Agencies will source, hire and take care of new hire and payroll needs for your pop-up shop employees. This allows you to focus on the execution of your event and not focus on details like payroll, workers compensation, taxes, and other additional HR expenses for your pop-up shop staff.

In summary, with the growth of pop-up shops, it is key to understand what makes a pop-up shop effective, as well as how to attract the right talent to work the event. A few takeaways to remember, make sure you hire staff that represents your brand well. Additionally, staff must be friendly, energetic, approachable, and a fit for the brand; this will also help to drive traffic and overall sales. For the staff to be successful, make sure they are well trained and fully understand their job duties. Most importantly, hiring enough staff will make a positive impact on the event, so make sure to over hire and have a plan for when people call out and for any unexpected emergencies that may occur. Lastly, finding reliable and top talent can be a challenge, so to save time and money, reach out to a staffing agency, like Emerging Blue, to support your hiring efforts so that you can focus all your attention to bringing your vision to reality.

* To engage Emerging Blue to help with pop-up staffing, contact us at 415-543-6636 or www.emergingblue.com

2018 La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival

Congratulations to our friend, Fred Sweet, regarding the recent article written about the 2018 La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival in Forbes by Stephan Rabimov.

"Two hours away from Hollywood, set atop rugged ocean bluffs, La Jolla is a resort synonymous with maritime luxury and… fashion film! In fact, it is known as the Cannes of fashion cinema. Its International Fashion Film Awards is easily the most important event for stylists, filmmakers and designers in the field. It provides an annual glimpse of what’s trending worldwide. This invitation-only, privately funded affair is topped off by a red-carpet benefit that is quickly giving the Met Gala a run for its likes and money. This is the next high-profile setting where new and established designers can promote their style and leave their mark on the industry for years to come. Major film studio reps and independent producers from around the globe quietly flock here in search of stylists and creative directors for their future projects. The networking of this one weekend can rival a full fashion week for most up-and-commers. Moreover, some of the best fashion film ever produced is likely to be screened here first! Where else can you just casually mingle with someone like the great Bruno Aveillan himself?! Europa II was the Best Picture winner at the most recent edition that took place July 19-21 in San Diego, CA. The global community is already gearing up for the 10th La Jolla in July of 2019. Film submissions are open." www.LJFFF.com

 

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