I couldn’t find an official press release, but the rumor is that Michael’s Craft Store will soon be implementing a uniform for it’s employees. Now, with Michael’s being a hub of creativity (yeah, right!), wouldn’t you expect something kind of jazzy? Well, not to be, my friends. The uniform will consist of a black shirt and khaki pants. Creative expression aside, let me speak up here for the wide of hip like myself. You couldn’t PUT me a more unflattering pair of pants than khakis. I mean, not even if you got the dorky guy with the weird haircut from Design Star to make me sumthin’. Just….ewwwww! So, to my sistas who work in the trenches of retail craftdom that is Mike’s, God Bless ya. Now, some message boarders are finding this a welcome concept, as they are tired of seeing all manner of skin, tattoos, and general unprofessional-ness by Mike’s employees. Read all about those and other issues HERE and HERE. Well, I have to say, I’ve never paid attention to what my Mike’s gals are wearing. Guess I’m more worried about what percentage my coupon is, or how much cash I have in my wallet to cover the rad clearance item I just found. I hope they don’t do away with the red aprons, though. Now, THOSE are jazzy!
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“Guess I’m more worried about what percentage my coupon is, or how much cash I have in my wallet to cover the rad clearance item I just found”
This made me laugh out loud! Soooooooo true for me too!
Can you say starbucks attire? At least the apron is different, I’d hate to confuse myself thinking I’m getting 40% off my cuttlebug embossing latte….
I wonder if they “Michaels” saw the recent Oprah show that said that black and Khaki were the new rage in colors this season. That, and black and white, as well. Are they trying to be trendy? Or maybe they want the focus to be on all their craft supplies and not on their employees.
Sorry to tell you, the red aprons will be replaced with black ones that are tied around the waist. Dress code starts officially Sept. 1
Michael’s employee here to verify that all you have heard is true:( . The apron you love is going as well, being replaced with black. Custom frame dept. gets the worst change of all, they have to wear black pants, LONG sleeve white shirts, black shoes. To top it all off, they want us to tuck in our shirts! Talk about unflattering!
As a Michael’s employee, I was less than thrilled when informed of the new dress code policy. My problem with it, is not only the crushing of creativity in dressing, considering I used michael’s products to jazz up my shirts and pants, but the fact that there is to be no clothing allowance given, and if they want you to be so specific (as they really do) thn I believe they should provide the shirt at least. Th official dress code is black collared shirts, no color, no logos, khaki pants, a black belt, and solid black shoes. ugh. so boring, so ridiculous. The reasoning behind this nationwide change is supposedly that our customers could not tell the employees from other shoppers, absolutely asinine. Do the big red aprons not give you a clue? Idiocy. Also, for those of you who will miss the red aprons, I am sorry to report that we will now have half apron, black of course. In my store, 100% of the employees are angry over the change, and several have quit. Also, I am married so the financia issue of new clothing is not a problem for me, but in each michael’s store there are only about 4 or 5 full time employees,all of the rest only get 2-4 days a week, how can they afford this expensive display of totalitarianism? No one in my store ever wore anything offensive, very few exposed tattoos and our cutomers always knoew who we were.
ugh…i agree with everyone. and as someone who’s worked with michaels for years….i don’t wanna change. I’m used to the way i’ve been doing things for so long. I hate that they are replacing the red aprons with the black ones too…it doesn’t make any sence! I guess no one is really thinking about us employees…just about their own needs. But as i’m sure pretty much all of us employees will do….grumble, and then do it. Because there’s really nothing we can do. It’s just the many changes of business. As much as all of us want to tell corperate that enough is enough. As much as we want to tell them, how can you make these changes when some of you really have no clue what being behind a register feels like, or stocking and recovering for eight hours just to find that the very next morning, all of your efforts in making the store look good has been ruined because some people don’t know how to just put something back where they got it. No. Most of them have no idea what it means to deal with an obnoxous costumer, knowing that you the employee are right, but you have to suck it up and tell the wrong customer…”sorry, it was my fault. But it is what it is. If it wasn’t for some of the amazing co workers that i work with, i have no clue what i would do.
i happen to be an employee at a michaels and i find it rediculous to do away with our non dress code. it depletes the purpose that it is a CRAFT store. CREATIVITY AND FREEDOM are supposed to be its message.
they are doing away with those jazzy red aprons, we now get half aprons like the ones waiters wear.
the dress code is also extremely flawed. Frame specialists must wear collared dress up white shirts and normal aprons but they didn’t take into account that long sleeves = glass and other garbage falling down their sleeves cutting them. Its a safety hazard stated in their manual.
i just find it ridiculous how clueless higher ups can be.
Now I’ve had to spend over 100 dollars on khakis, all black or white shoes, and black t-shirts. It’s ridiculous that i have to work to be able to afford to work there.
I feel that i am about to quit. I don’t get paid enough. I come from a town thirty minutes away to work four hours and go home. Only recently since school has started have they given me an overwhelming amount of hours and i’d be happy to request less hours if projects and class dues and all those other useless things didn’t run me about 300 dollars in the first week.
i’m rambling..
They also didn’t stop to consider that framing is always easilt the hottest part of the store, and doing manual labor in long sleeves and pants in a part of the store that is 15 degrees hotter is a little like working in hell. I am not pleased.
I started working for Michaels in 2009, and I really love my job. I don’t, however, love the khaki pants (AT ALL). Since I wear black most of the time as it is, the black shirts were no problem. But come on, around Christmas and Halloween, when all their decor is imbued with glitter galore, it messes up my clothes, and doesn’t wash out that well (at least not without getting it all over my day to day clothes). It gets in the eyes, under the nails, in the soles of my shoes (my carpet looks like I hold a Rave on a weekly basis). I agree that, if Michaels wants us to wear a uniform, then they should at least provide it. Replacing clothing on a PT budget is impossible for most of us to swing in this economy…perhaps the CEOs didn’t think about that fact; our pockets aren’t as deep as theirs. I think that this would be a good situation for Undercover Boss…let’s get our CEO in the framing department, with a heavy long sleeved shirt, black slacks, and black shoes and see how long they last on an 8 hour shift in the summer time. Policies like this are too easily made from behind a big cherry wood conference table, in an air conditioned room with no glitter. Another thing that irks me is the recent push to get customers to sign up for our email. Some of them get REALLY irritated when we ask, and if we don’t get enough emails our GM’s hear it from corporate, and then all that snowballs down to us. It’s kind of ridiculous, being made to feel as if we’re not good employees simply because a customer doesn’t want to give out their email address. Some of the things our GM has said to us for not reaching the daily email goal HE boasted we could meet really make us feel less than human.
Michaels employee here, i was just recently informed by my new district manager that i must cover my tattoos. this uniform policy has been in place for about 2 years and never once was i told to cover them. the dress code says i must cover “offensive” tattoos, which mine are not. in fact the one on my arm is a dedication to crafting! its a skull and the crossbones are a needle and scissors, and its says DIY under it. WTF! i guess the DM hates tattoos. apparently my performance and dedication and the fact that i can count how many times Ive been late on one hand in THREE YEARS of service. my 10 years of customer service experience means nothing. i am simply a drone, a minion, a robot. if i had another option i would leave this company so fast. and they would miss me. im a damn good employee and i deserve so much more. we all do. if we all just stopped what we were doing and walked out they would fall apart. they don’t respect us for the work we do for them. im not asking for an ass kissing, just a little thanks and appreciation and respect. none of that would cost the company a dime.
how do you cover your tattoos? I just got hired (wearing a long sleeve dress shirt… so they have no idea I have any tattoos..) can I wear a long sleeve black shirt?
I work at michaels and i believe that the whole companys a mess especially the fact that the store isnt run by departments? like wtf is wrong with you guys its way smarter to have people work for a ONE department and know it by heart then to think that an associate is gonna know every single little thing about the store and yes we have radios alright but those things are annoying especially while speaking to a customer
I would like to suggest you that replace that khaki pants by blue pants.
The combination of black shirt and blue pant will look very good on your employees.
I work at a Michael’s in Canada. We also have to wear the ‘uniform’, but on Friday’s we are allowed to wear what we want (within reason, of course). I have found that being allowed to wear jeans to work, even if it is only one day out of the work week, makes everybody so much more pleasant. I am also fortunate to work with some really amazing and talented people, and our manager is awesome. We are encouraged to come to her when we need help, and I find that she is always available. She has told us that if we are not happy or we are just getting bored with our jobs, we can speak with her and she will work with us to find a solution (ie. perhaps a new position).
There seems to be such a huge difference between the American and the Canadian stores. I read these replies and I wonder if we even work for the same company. You ladies seem so unhappy.
I have worked for Michael’s in Ontario Canada since 2002 and am still there. I didn’t like it so much when they put in the “black and tan” dress code. I have to wear the dress code too but I’m so happy that they are finally doing away wth the “safari” look. I challenge corperate to find a tan dress shirt (besides polos which I also can’t find in tan) out there that doesn’t make you look like you’re going on one. I’m just not comfortable in kahki pants, I think black pants look better. Also not every one can afford nicer looking shirts and pants. We are allowe to wear tan shirts with black pants. I was dissapointed when I wasn’t allowed to wear jeans any more, but things change. The only thing is people still ask me at least 2-4 times a shift if I work in the store with my uniform, apron and name tag on. At least with the red approns we used to wear were more visible and colour full. As least with the new shits will at least make us look like we work there and give us some more colour besides just black and tan.
In my store there are a few managers that recognise a good job and they show appreciation for it. But I would love to see some of the corperate people (if they haven’t before) spend at least 4 hours on the floor by them selves during busy times, which often happens to me when the hours are low. Maybe they would have better appreciation for us part time associates.
As long as your manager / GM doesn’t totally hate tattoos, you can show some as long as they are not offencive for example containing offencive words or naked people.
Ops I meant new shirts, typo lol.
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