I had a pretty positive experience, and learned alot about customer service, and how customers loved to take advantage of the return policy. The real awful customers knew who to call at head office to get their way when managers refused to give in, thus making the store staff seem stupid, and worthless, and get yelled at from the DM.
At the head office level things were sometimes worse. I left in 2002 due to a maternity leave. There were 5 of us off at the time they filed for bankruptcy the first time. We were sent a letter in the mail on Feb. 2002 and told not to return. I had worked for them for 9 years. Because they filed for bankruptcy they were excluded from paying us our full severence. We were allotted 13 cents per $ owed. And this took almost a year to get.
They had to pay their suppliers first, then their overdue rent, then their CEO and top people. If there was anything left it came to the employees, thus the measly 13 cents. Can’t inagine how they managed to regroup and do it all over again. ]]>
I am with Lisa and Casey on this one. I had a gret working experience with Cotton Ginny. I had an amazing group of employees , made some good friends and had a DM that fought tooth and nail for her stores. It was a pretty shitty day walking in to see the other managers in the mall reading the lease termination notice in my store window that morning. But the next day we went in, got personal effects, packed up the store and moved on. We had no problem with our final pay, though our ROE were a little slow getting to us. Yes, we had some really great customers, and some really bitter, pessimistic assholes too. All of us were either found new jobs quickly or went back to school. I love the clothes and the direction the company was going with the organic and sustainable fibres. Our problem was the lack of support from head office, including no information regarding store closures etc. I really felt bad for our DM, she was stuck in the middle; listening to us bitch and moan but getting nothing further up the line. If someone does buy the company, please for the love of god change the name!! ]]>
Moe
Five Favorite Things Blogger ]]>
I worked at the other store for 8 months – we had little to no contact with HO, other stores, or our District Manager. We were totally on our own. When we found out the company was going bankrupt, they gave us a date to have everything packed up by, and told us to ship everything to HO. That was it. Nothing else. The girls I worked with – including my store manager who had been with the company for 21 YEARS! – we all had to fight for months to get the money they owed us. It was a horrible experience going through the bankruptcy, but I can honestly say that the people I worked with at CG were among the best people I’ve ever met.
With the economic hard times we’re all going through, it wasn’t a surprise that CG went, but it honestly wasn’t entirely HO’s fault. No one wanted to buy anything at full price, they didn’t want to try anything new, and quite frankly, some of the rudest people I have ever met were customers of CG. Not of all of them were horrible – not at all! – but there were a lot of bitter people who shopped at CG, and they made life very difficult for the people who worked in the stores. It wasn’t fair, we didn’t control what was happening to the company, but we were still constantly harassed. I had to have security escort one woman out of the mall because I felt my safety was in danger. I was only 17, working there part-time to save up tuition money. It was almost a relief to close the doors, if only to not have to deal with the constant belligerence. I’m not blaming the companies problems on the customers, and I’m not saying that every one of my customers were horrible – I’m just merely stating some of the experiences I had working there.
The company destroyed itself, pissed off a lot of customers who no longer wanted to shop there, causing HO to make even more drastic decisions, which pissed even more people off, and created this viscous cycle.
CG I’m sure will be missed by many, but frankly, I’m glad I don’t work there anymore. It has been 7 months since the store I transferred to closed, and I can honestly say the only aspects of the job I miss are the people I worked with in my store. We still get together once a month for dinner to catch up
And yes, we bash CG as much as the pissed off customers. They had a lot of great people working for them, and didn’t treat them with any respect, courtesy, or common decency. ]]>I have also been a loyal customer for years and was worried when the stores started to disappear in Victoria. We had several stores to choose from and now….NONE! There had been one lone store for a while, but now that too is gone. I feel for anyone who has gift cards etc, as I am sure they had to know when they were selling them, that their days were numbered.
It is a sad day for Canadian companies and for anyone who gave their business to Cotton Ginny. It seems that when this other company, ECO-GANIC inc.came into the picture, it changed a lot of the products and slowly the Cotton Ginny that we loved was gone.
Sad and mad in Victoria,
Hazel.
I worked for Cotton Ginny for the last 7 years (right up until April 2011) and I had the best working experience ever! I have learnt a lot about the organic/sustainabilty movement, worked with great people and do not regret my years of service for one moment!! I am truly sad to see CG go! And I know there are many people who feel the same way I do!!!! ]]>
Thanks for posting the update,
Moe
Five Favorite Things Blogger