What it was like working for Aeropostale and Hollister

If you weren’t reppin’ the Hollister seagull, are you even cool?


Something to me has always been appealing about working in retail. Maybe it was winning the senior selective for “Best Dressed” in high school, but over the past three years since graduating in 2013, I’ve worked for two popular teen brands.

In my small town, everybody tends to apply everywhere because there are no jobs. In late summer of 2013, I applied at Hollister for a second job on a whim one day when I was in there shopping. A week later, I was interviewed in the mall’s food court and was ask numerous questions about why I liked Hollister, to which I replied that the brand always had the freshest style for people around my age. For me, I never thought I could work at Hollister because I’m not California beautiful, but still, the interviewer hired me on the spot.

Working at Hollister wasn’t the best or worst job I’ve had. I mean, the employee discount wasn’t bad and I enjoyed telling people “I work at Hollister.” I also got to meet some interesting coworkers, customers, and future boys who I’d share midnight rides around town with. On the other hand, Hollister drove me insane with their policies. We had to follow the style code which had hairstyles my thin hair just couldn’t do, we were under Abercrombie’s brand (meaning it was better to burn clothes than give them away) and the job was awfully boring when it wasn’t busy. Plus, I always poked myself with the security pins.

About three months into being a Betty, our store shut down. It was almost a sigh of relief for me because I could finally paint my nails or get gel nails put on – we weren’t allowed to have any nails that were not natural. I also got to say goodbye to 6am call-in shifts and wearing a brand with a bird on every piece of clothing, which I grew out of even before working there. I told myself I would never work at retail again, and then I quit my other job which was my main source of income as a student.

This past October, I started at Aeropostale as a sales associate like at Hollister. To be honest, even from the very beginning, Aeropostale’s vibe was more me, the bright room, the not-so-strong store scent, and the upbeat music. I really saw myself working there until I graduated college, until I had another better opportunity which made me move on.

When I found recently that Aeropostale had been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and would be closing 113 American stores I felt as if I had gotten out before it got worse. Even though I really loved the setting and what Aeropostale stood for, as a young adult I kind of saw their demise coming. Sure, my store itself is busy, one of the bestseller in its district, and is staying open despite store shutdowns. However, the entire store had the vibe of an outlet store, discounts all day everyday. Even if we had items priced $100, they’d really cost $40 after all of the markdowns. Let’s not even talk about the polos either, we had enough polos on sale to fill up an entire store itself.

Fact is, fashion is changing and companies can’t keep up anymore. Individuality is a growing trend and even though there will always be the “style,” it feels as if the style of mall stores aren’t the “style” of today. Yes, stores like Aeropostale offer decent deals on comfortable sweats and hoodies – however, these stores also brand too much, plastering their name all over their products. As somebody who still holds on to Aeropostale and Hollister as a former employee and member of the youth who grew up constantly wearing this stuff, it worries me from a personal and professional perspective.

Growing up and even now, going to the mall was the thing to do because there isn’t anything else to do in my town. Without profitable stores, our mall will shut down and I’m not sure our entire town economy won’t follow suit. As a student and young adult eager to make my way into a career field, seeing Aeropostale delisted, and probably other stores to follow, worries me for my future job. Even with a degree and working above the sales associate position possibly one day, it’s hard to think that even if you aren’t actually running the store as a manager, if the brand dies and stores shut, all other company jobs goes with it, including jobs of my interest in communication, PR, and marketing.

Working at Aeropostale and Hollister was fun and I hope to potentially do work in retail branding one day – however, I know that’s a risk to take in the ever-changing world of style we dress in. Working for a delisted company truly shows how easily a popular company can slowly become as dead as a startup that never succeed at all.