Week 2

Starting off my second week at Anthro already seemed like a normal routine for me. On Wednesday I began the morning by watering plants the display team has scattered throughout the store; once the flowers no longer are fresh or up to standards we buy new ones. After the plants were watered, Valerie asked me to source for materials we would be using in our next window display that were inexpensive enough to make our monthly budget. I spent some time on the computer browsing websites as well as looking for local NYC companies that could help us. Sourcing is very important for Anthropologie, not only to find the cheapest supplies at high quality but also to find unique products that are not all around the city. After I made a list of possible supplies, Valerie had me and another intern, Cara rearrange a bedding displays finding an interesting solution to hang comforters from racks screwed into the wall. When this was finished, all the interns as well as my two supervisors went upstairs to critique a window we had created. As we stood outside and looked in, we stated the strengths and the weaknesses about the display which ultimately resulted in taking apart a piece of it to improve the outside view. The next big window display we will be constructed consists of thousands of plastic balls painted gray hanging from two different color strings, so for the rest of the day we began painting and drying the plastic balls while experimenting with different string colors and lengths.

Window display critiqued

 Gray ball process

On Thursday, I took a break from the display and did merchandising. Michelle and I began the morning by going to the stock room to view and size the new merchandise that had come in for the day. Once we had one of each new piece of clothing hung on a rolling rack, we separated them depending on which concept they would fit best in, which most of the new pieces would be going in our front room. We spent a good amount of time rearranging the whole front room called "Age of Aquarius" which has a very 1970's bohemian feel to it but eventually we found places for all the new apparel. Because so much new clothing came into one room we decided it was time to change the old mannequin. There are 22 mannequins in the Chelsea Anthro and Michelle tries to change at least 2 every day to keep the merchandise fresh and the customer's interest in the clothing high. For the next hour, I was back in the fitting rooms, steaming the new outfit we picked out for the mannequin and running upstairs to find jewelry and accessories to go with. Once that was finished, we took a break for lunch and returned in an hour. While we were at lunch a customer decided to buy an entire outfit in the window so that meant we had to find a new outfit that still corresponded with the display that was up. Michelle and I dressed two more mannequins then spent the rest of the afternoon, organizing clothing that needed to be back-stocked.

On Friday, we spent the majority of the time working on painting, cleaning and drilling more of the gray balls because our window needs to be nearly complete by next week.

Week 1

My first day at Anthropologie in Chelsea Market began with getting a basic run through of the store and a general knowledge of the different concepts happening in each section in the store, also referred to as "The Loop". I work from 8-4; on Wednesdays and Fridays I do visual displays with Valerie and Elisa and on Thursdays I do visual merchandising with Michelle. On Wednesday my first task was going to home depot to get an assortment of paints we would be using in our next display then after that me and a couple other interns helped sales associates complete inventory before the store opened. For the next couple hours after lunch I spent my time prepping an empty display window by plastering and sanding the walls then repainting the spots to match. We will be starting to construct our newest concept next week.
On Thursday (visual merch. day) I began the morning by walking around the store and helping my manager Michelle rearrange clothing and bring out new merchandise, also fixing clothing on racks and tables to be up to Anthro standards. Anthro has a concept for each section of its store, which along with the style of clothing comes with color stories and personalities of the type of girl who would shop this section. After everything was in order, Michelle decided to let  me style my first mannequin whose outfit no longer went with a changing display. For me this was the funnest part of the day because I got to go around the store and pick out 4 or 5 complete outfits as options including clothing, jewelry, shoes, scarfs, etc. I learned how to steam clothing and put my first mannequin out on the floor. The last part of the day, Michelle and I spent our time in the back room back-stocking clothing that needed to be taken off the floor.
On Friday, I began my morning going on a run to Home Depot and Pearl Crafts to pick up a few items for our window display experiments. Anthro's main focus is on dots and color blocking in the windows right now so we have testing many different ways to make those elements as fun and innovative as possible. During the last part of my day, I helped Michelle style another mannequin and find creative ways to bring out stock from the back room that we had in excess. Overall it was a good first week :)

My styled mannequins and display arrangement