First Day on the Job

So, don’t judge me, but I’ve never had a job before…besides some babysitting. So I decided I wanted to find a retail internship or job at one of my favorite stores to 1) learn more about the industry and pick up some skills 2) see what it is I want to do in the industry and 3) get the discount!! So…when I found out Anthropologie was looking to hire visual interns this summer…I jumped at the chance! I was so thrilled to hear I got it and showed up to work the first day optimistic and excited about this new adventure in a carefully planned outfit. The manager of the store introduced me to the visual team- made up of two girls who are twenty-four and best friends. I learned they were looking for more interns in addition to me since there was so much holiday work to be done. There are two interns that joined a couple weeks ago. One is my age and the other is twenty five and went to school for interior design. Our little workshop is in the back of the store-off the floor. There’s a kind of art room where we store all the power tools, crafts and supplies we need to build the sets. In September I did a bunch of smaller projects- painting and making accent pieces for the vignettes around the store on the floor. Towards the end of September and all this month I’ve been working on the winter holiday front window. The theme is a snow-scape that kind of winds along the window. The snow is made out hundreds and hundreds of handmade tissue paper snowflakes in different shades of white. My work routine lately has consisted of persistently working with my bosses to finish the holiday window display by Friday, while listening to their endless playlists of indie music. We also made chandeliers out of strips of plastic garbage bags and chicken wire. My bosses explained that they try to reuse old materials since they are on a budget. Every vignette and concept comes from corporate and they post it on the computer where employees in each store reference pictures of creations (like snowflakes) and a prototype displays for the employees to go off of, copying and interpreting the designs. The visual team is in charge of creating all six of the displays around the store and the front window as well as keeping up the overall appearance of the store- clothing, accessories and home. I really like working with the girls on the visual team because they’re very creative, insightful, and interesting. Here are some examples of Anthropologie's creative displays:

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