Summer Internship 2012 Loredana Intile Employer : Vanessa Poladian
Monday June 18, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. - 6:00p.m. "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different."- Coco Chanel
My first day at Chanel was all about getting to know the company and the boutique. When I first arrived I was introduced to the staff and was given a tour of the store, stockrooms and back offices. Here I learned how the boutique was divided into accessories, shoes, makeup, fall collection and sales. I also learned how the stockroom was organized and small details such as how purchases where wrapped. Learning about this will become helpful because part of my duties as an intern involves inventory and handling shipment. After my tour of the boutique I was given a reading assignment that all employees must read over upon being hired. Chanel has an exclusive website for companies that explain, in detail, the history of Coco Chanel, the company and the famous creations that Chanel is known for. The camellia flower, the No.5 perfume, the classic 2.55 handbag and the little black dress were just a few bits of information that I learned from the reading. I thought that having employees read about the history of the brand and the history behind Chanel’s iconic products is a great idea because it is important to know
what you are selling to clients. I can take the information that I learned in this reading and use it throughout my internship. The last task that I did today was learning about transfers. Transfers are items that are requested from other boutiques for clients. Transfers require paperwork to be filled as well as approval by a manager. I completed my own transfer tag and brought the garment to the fashion advisor that handles this task.
Tuesday June 19, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m.
Today I had the chance to help set up a trunk show for Chanel. Yesterday I had met the Visual Merchandiser, Colette, who has worked for Chanel for a long time. When I arrived to the boutique this morning my supervisor told me that Colette had wanted me to help her set up the space. This trunk show was for Chanel’s fine jewelry collection, held inside the Four Seasons Hotel. It was an exclusive party held for Chanel’s top clients. I helped Colette rearrange the furniture in the hotel room and then unloaded several crates of items that we needed to setup. The setup of the room was meticulous; Chanel’s merchandising department had sent photos and diagrams of how the visuals should be set up. I assisted Colette with unpacking each item carefully and then referred to the layout sheets as to where each
item would go. We also had help from one of Chanel’s corporate employees, John, who provided advice about the layout of the room. I also gave some advice as to how the furniture should be rearranged. Being able to do this was a great chance for me to experience other jobs in the fashion industry.
Wednesday June 20, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m.
My first task today was learning how to use the phones in the offices. All employees at Chanel carry a cellphone with them that has their own number. I received my own phone today and learned how to transfer calls to other employees. Next, I learned how to look up items based on their style code. Every season Chanel has unique style codes that match up with the new merchandise. This is helpful when other boutiques call and ask if a certain item is available. I experienced the latter today as well. The Chanel boutique in Dallas faxed over a style code, color code, and size of a dress that one of their clients were looking for. I was able to look into the system and see that it was available here. I then found the dress in the stock room and attached the necessary transfer information before handing it over to Hector, the inventory supervisor. The biggest part of my day was doing repairs. I worked with Elgie, who is in charge of Customer Service. Part of his job is to handle incoming and outgoing repairs from customers. Customers can come to the boutique and ask to have their Chanel item be fixed. Today there was a shipment brought in that contained handbags, which were finished with repairs. The handbag repairs take generally 10-14 weeks. Once we got the shipment in, Elgie and I unwrapped each handbag and inspected it to make sure the repair was successful. After that I put each handbag in a dust bag and then place them into a Chanel bag while Elgie wrote a letter to each owner to tell them that their item was ready. I then stapled a copy of their receipt to the bag and hand wrote the addresses of customer. I placed each letter into the envelopes, sealed them shut and stamped then. Lastly, I brought the bags over to a separate room and placed them on shelves alphabetically so that they would be ready for pick up.
Monday June 25, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m.
This week Chanel’s buyers as well as the boutique’s regional managers are in town for meetings. I spent most of the day working with the Hector who is in charge of inventory and handling transfers. New shipment came in from Chanel’s fall collection. We had to process the new merchandise and I had to censor each item and also attach the extra fabric or buttons that came in with them. Afterward they all get placed on a hanging rod in Hector’s office and the employees can take them when there is space available. Next I completed multiple transfers and charge/sends that the boutique received. Every time there is a request I go into Chanel’s inventory system online and look up the style code, color code and size to see if it is in stock. I then check the stockrooms to find the items and attach the paperwork to them so that Hector knows where they are going and how fast the boutique wants the item.
Tuesday June 26, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Today I learned about tasks that I would be responsible for each week during the internship. One of which includes making sure that all four cash registers are well stocked. I learned where the bags were kept and also learned about the different tickets
that each cash register needs. They included tags for hold, damages, transfers, charge/sends and re-tickets. I made copies of each and cut them individually. This would become my responsibility since making copies of the tickets take up a lot of time for the sales associates to do. I also did my own re-tickets today. Hector showed me how to properly ticket a item by first finding it on the computer and manually typing in the style code, color code and size. I then learned how to package items correctly. Chanel has a strict policy on wrapping items in a unique way. For the items that are being sent directly to customers each item get wrapped neatly into a box with a ribbon tied around it and then a camellia flower gets placed on top a bow on the box.
Wednesday June 27, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m.
I learned another task that I will be responsible for during my internship today. Whenever the boutique sells the classic Chanel handbag there is a different way that it gets wrapped. I had my supervisor demonstrate the process for me so that I would be able to prepare the boxes for the sale associates. The wrapping process takes a lot of time (12 boxes took me about 3 hours to do) and it would be extremely helpful if there were boxes that were ready to be packaged. Each box had to be assemble and there is a certain way that the tissue paper inside had to be placed. The boxes all need to have a separate kind of camellia flower and sticker, and also I had to accurately measure out the ribbon to make sure it was enough to wrap the box around and bow it on top. My next task was to call clients who have repairs that they need to pick up from the store. I first had to repeat the task of writing down the addresses of each client from their repair receipt. I then wrote each one on an envelope so that Elgie can place letters in
each of them. After that I called each client and left a message saying that his or her item was ready for pickup. My last task of the day was to re-censor all of the handbags on display throughout the store. My supervisor received stronger censors and together we both went through each bag and made sure that they all had the new censors attached.
Monday July 2, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m.
There was a shipment that came in today consisting of new merchandise for fall. I had to go through each item and make sure that each had censors and tags attached. I’m learning that shipment for ready to wear comes in two parts. Each collection is separated into two acts. Right now Act I of Fall 2012 is being sent to the boutique. I also had to make more boxes for the classic Chanel handbags to be packaged in. These boxes are called “iconic” and are put together with special tissue paper, ribbon, and the camellia flower. Each month the boutique receives a number from corporate regarding how many classic handbags they can sell. The limit is to make sure that the handbag remains exclusive and is kept on high demand. At the beginning of each month the employees call clients who are placed on the waiting list to let them know that they can purchase their handbag. Today 18 classic flap handbags were sold.
Tuesday July 3, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. My supervisor told me that she needed help with decorating one of the bulletin boards that hang in the hallways by the offices. Boards are put up for news and information that will be helpful for sales associates to know. This board was going to be for any ready-to-wear news about Chanel. I had suggested to include crystals on the board to match the crystalline setting of the Chanel fall 2012 collection. The color scheme of purple and grey also matched that collection. Because today was fairly a slow day due to the upcoming holiday I was able to work exclusively with my supervisor and was able to ask her any questions that I had.
Wednesday July 4, 2012 Boutique closed
Monday July 9, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. On Thursday the boutique will be holding a National Makeup Artist Event that will feature several Chanel makeup artists from different areas around the world. I helped Tony, the boutique’s makeup artist, with setting up the event. First we created gift bags for the clients that included fragrance and makeup samples. I also helped him sort new makeup shipment and replaced any empty makeup containers that he had out. Next Tony gave me a phonebook of his makeup clients. I went through it and called clients to see if they wanted to make an appointment for the event on Thursday. I also called clients to tell them that their repairs were ready for pickup. It is important to stay on top of this because the boutique only holds repairs for so long. I also continued with censoring new shipment that came in so that they will be ready to be put out into the boutique.
Tuesday July 10, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Today I received the sale associate’s client lists that were fans of makeup and beauty. I went through the list and called them to let them know about the National Makeup Artist Event. Afterwards I helped my supervisor out with handling transfers and charge sends that the other boutiques requested by fax or through email. Both require paperwork to be filled out and I was able to complete this on my own. My supervisor was on her own with handling phones so I helped her out by taking requests from other stores and completing charge/sends and transfers on my own.
Wednesday July 11, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m.
There was a lot of reorganizing being done in the downstairs offices. I helped by organizing Hector’s office, which is the biggest. All of the empty watch and sunglass boxes had to be moved onto the shelves his room. I also helped reorganize the extra supplies that are stored in his room such as ribbon, camellias and tissue paper. Next I called more fragrance and beauty clients to confirm appointment for tomorrow’s makeup event. My last task of the day was to make sure that all of the clothes that were on the sales floor had censors. The boutique was preparing for an upcoming visit from a Chanel auditor and I had to make sure that everything was properly censored.
Monday July 16, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Corporate paid a visit today so I decided to make myself busy and help restock supplies in the store, including making more of the iconic boxes. The classic Chanel handbag limit per month is around the mid-twenties so the boxes get used up pretty fast. Next I organized the empty watch boxes that I had moved last week in numerical order. This would make it easier for the associates to find the correct box whenever they sell the watch and not have to make the clients wait as long. I also created a fax sheet that consisted of all of the Chanel boutiques phone numbers as well as fax numbers. Again this will make it easier for everyone when they need to contact other boutiques.
Tuesday July 17, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Today my supervisor told me that she had ordered a new bulletin board for the hallway located by the downstairs offices. It wasn’t going to be arriving for a few days so in the meantime I was able to discuss with her what will be on the board. She wanted a
board about Chanel’s competencies, which are guidelines that the associates will be evaluated on. I read through the packet and learned about the different categories that the associates are evaluated on such as leadership and teamwork. I started to come up with ideas on how to create the board and both my supervisor and I picked out supplies that we needed online. I came up with an outline and suggested how the board should look and how I was going to place everything.
Wednesday July 18, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m.
I worked with Hector today and learned more about his job functions. He handles a lot of shipment and whenever another boutique requests an item from is he is the one to enter the paperwork in the system. He then ships out the item to the requesting boutique. I learned how to properly package clothes that is being sent out to clients. Whenever another boutique requests charge/sends it means that the client has already paid and the item will be shipped to their address. It is important that the item gets packaged in a way up to Chanel’s standards. Hector taught me how to wrap clothing with tissue and then package them in boxes. For purses, accessories and shoes the boxes all have to be wrapped in a bow and a camellia must be placed on top.
Monday July 23, 2012 , Tuesday July 24, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. We were still waiting for the bulletin board to come, however, the materials that we needed for the boards came today. I mostly worked on my own and created the pieces that were going to go on the board. My supervisor gave me the freedom to use my own ideas on what I thought the board should look like. I was able to use my time in between answering phones and taking requests to prepare the materials and get it ready to put it together.
Tuesday was another slow day so after I completed the preparations for the board I went to made sure that the cash wraps were stocked and enough iconic boxes were made. I kept myself busy and also answered phones as well. I understand that everyday might not be busy and full of things for me to do but I know it is important to help out the staff and make sure that I do keep myself busy.
Wednesday July 25, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m.
On Wednesday the bulletin board had arrived and was place up in the wall on the hallway. I took my time rearranging the different competencies and titles in order for it
look legible and neat. Once I got the approval from my supervisor that everything looked good I was able to put the board together and hang it up on the bulletin board. Next I continued to work with Hector and helped him ship out items to both clients and customers.
Monday July 30, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. New shipment had come in to the store so I helped organized the new merchandise. I first started with handbags by helping to carry them up to the handbag stock room. I think sorted them by style so that the associates can check them in quicker. I repeated the process with sunglasses and jewelry. I also learned that this particular boutique has the largest amount of space for stock, which I found surprising. Next I helped out Megan, who is in charge of costume jewelry, with re-ticketing merchandise. I used a P-touch to change the jewelry on the tags into ones that looked less noticeable. The tags had to have the style number, color code, SKU number and price.
Tuesday July 31, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Today my supervisor was the only manager working so she was busy with her own work. I helped her out by taking most of the phone calls and handling the charge/sends and transfers. I have definitely gotten more confident with handling phone calls from both customers and other boutiques. I have noticed that my communication skills have definitely improved and I am working on keeping my verbiage professional. I think that this is a good experience for me to have and continue to work on because communication skills are extremely valuable in the business field.
Wednesday August 1, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. It is the beginning of the month so Chanel is allowed to sell more of the classic flap bags. This meant that the iconic boxes needed to be made so I made several of them as soon as I arrived at the boutiques. I also re-ticketed more jewelry as part of their new process to change the tags and make them less noticeable. Another task that I did was to remove all the sale shoes from the shoe stockroom. I had to pull the boxes out of the shelves and give them over to Hector to send them to other boutiques. The head manager had wanted to make room for the new fall shoes that were coming in and decided to ship out the sale shoes that were not selling.
My last task of the day was to then reorganize the remaining shoes by style and season. I categorized the shelves by athletic shoes, sandals, wedges, ankle boots and regular boots. I was told not to move the flats because those are considered timeless Chanel pieces and they never go out of season.
Monday August 6, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Chanel’s corporate had requested the boutique to send out some merchandise to other boutiques that were low on stock. I helped out one of the sale associates, Yara, with finding each item that was on the list and separating the merchandise by the boutique. I then brought each set over to Hector for them to be shipped out. This week the boutique will be holding a trunk show for the upcoming fall season collection. All of the shipment had arrived today and I was able to help out with unloading the boxes. This trunk show was for the second part of the fall collection, which is what was shown on runways for fall 2012. The items that were shipped out were a mix of the first part (Act 1) and the second half (Act 2) of the fall collection. Because the trunk show was only supposed to contain Act 2 items I had to go and separate the merchandise into two groups. I did this by using the paperwork with all of the style numbers of the items that were shipped out and matched them by using Act 1 and Act 2 message mode books. These books are sent out with every collection and contain the entire list of items along with the style numbers.
Tuesday August 7, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Today I was given the task to put together the trunk show by first putting together the looks. I used images from the Chanel Fall 2012/2013 runway show to help with knowing which garments go together. I had to also make sure that each look was in order as shown on the runway. These clothes were all samples from the runway and are shipped to a new boutique each week for trunk shows. Styling the runway looks was something that I really enjoyed and I got to put together the collection.
Next all of the shoes and purses for the trunk show had to be removed from their boxes and be stored upstairs. The trunk show will be on Thursday and tomorrow Chanel’s visual merchandisers had to get the items prepared and put together.
Wednesday August 8, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. I’ve become more comfortable with doing customer service tasks on my own. Today I was able to handle the incoming repairs from the repair facility and type up letters to the client. I stabled the copy of the receipt and a note saying how much the repair was on each bag and put them all in the repair room when I’m done. I also leave the client a voicemail and mail out the letters through the mailbox in the Drake hotel. Sometimes I will talk to the client directly over the phone about their repairs. Most of them do not live around the area so I set up the shipping by taking down their credit card information and explain the Chanel shipping policies.
Monday August 13, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. My first task was to check to make sure that all small leather goods had authenticity cards inside of them. There were a few items that the associates found that didn’t have them so my supervisor wanted me to double check all back stock to make sure the cards weren’t missing. The boutiques aren’t allowed to sell merchandise without the authenticity card because it is proof that the item isn’t counterfeit. The ones that did not have the card inside were pulled of the sales floor and given to the director. Next my supervisor gave me client descriptions to type up for an up and coming client styling event that will take place in September. This is only the second time Chanel has ever done this and this year Chicago was picked. There were several clients that were chosen for this event and associates interviewed them about their lifestyles. These
questions will be helpful when it comes time to pulling out merchandise for the styling event because it gave helpful information such as the client’s personal tastes and interests.
Tuesday August 14, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Today I learned more about Chanel’s perfumes from their fragrance and beauty representative, Tony. He gave me a small book on how all of the fragances were created and what ingredients are used to make them. Chanel’s newest perfume, Coco Noir, will be debuting later this week and I was able to see and smell the fragrance. Chanel is known for their fragrance and their No. 5 perfume is one of the top selling fragances of all time. Later on I wrapped a few of the classic Chanel flap bags in the boxes that I had prepared earlier. Inside the box includes a book about Chanel’s handbag, a note stating the date the bag was purchased as well as a dust bag designed by Karl Lagerfeld.
Wednesday August 15, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 2:00p.m.
The new message mode books for the Chanel Cruise 2013 came in and I spent some time looking through it. I’ve looked through message mode books whenever I have free time because I think that they are very interesting to read through and become familiar with. Inside there is information about the inspiration behind each collection and how it links to Coco Chanel. There are photos as well that further explain the theme and inspiration behind the collection. The books show all of the looks from the runway shows as well as the style numbers for the corresponding pieces and when they will be sent to the boutiques. Chanel also includes information such as how to tailor the garment, how to wear it and care for it. I think that this company does a good job with keeping their employees well informed about each collection. I also decided to look at the new floor sets that the Chanel visual merchandisers had put together for the fall season. Floor sets are done about twice a month to keep up
with the newest merchandise and the window displays change with each season. I had to leave early today due to a family issue that I worked out with my supervisor.
Monday August 20, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. This week Hector who is in control of shipment was on vacation so I helped Elgie, the customer service ambassador, with doing his job. Over 150 boxes of shipment came in and together, along with the director Lisa, we went through the paperwork to make sure the boxes were delivered correctly. We worked in the supply room that holds the supply stock. This room is located in the basement and is connected with the Drake Hotel. Deliveries come through here first and we all helped with opening boxes and taking supplies out. I also helped with clearing out room to place boxes that didn’t have to be opened yet. I took the items that we opened and used them to stock the cash wraps on the sales floor. Next I learned how to actually ship out items on my own. I learned how to use a system on the computer that allows me to create the shipping sticker that gets placed on the shipping boxes. Each shipment sticker I created also had a part that the boutique needs to keep in their records. At the end of everyday all of the paperwork for the items that were sent out are stored in Chanel’s files. This helps deals with issues in case the package gets lost or was delivered to a wrong address.
Tuesday August 21, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. I continued working with Elgie on handling incoming shipment and packaging. Each shipment that comes in has to be checked into Chanel’s system and the paperwork that is received has to be looked over to make sure that each item had arrived. Elgie handled the paperwork and I handled the packaging. Elgie also had to do his customer service duties so once we were done I helped him handle repairs. I called clients who had their repairs sitting in the boutique for too long and also made calls to clients whose repairs had just came in. For the clients with the repairs that have been in the boutique for over 6 months it is important to contact them repeatedly. Chanel’s policy states that repairs being held for 6 months will be sent out to corporate for destruction. I had also mailed out letters to these clients with the director’s signature, stating that they need to pick up their merchandise as soon as possible.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Corporate is trying to make a few changes with their boutiques by making sure that everyone is doing what their job entitles them to do. I was given the task to type up Hector goals as Inventory Control Supervisor and Elgie’s Customer Service goals. My supervisor wrote the goals that I typed up. She and the director, Lisa, were given outlines of Hector and Elgie’s jobs and they re-wrote them with a few changes.
I later took over Elgie’s job while he handled shipping and completed all of the incoming repair tasks such as making calls, creating letters, and doing the paperwork.
Monday August 27, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Today I worked with Hector on receiving new shipment. There were a lot of new merchandise that came in this morning and I helped with censoring them while Hector unloaded the boxes. I also made sure that the tags were attached correctly and that they were tucked inside the garment. After they were done I carried them upstairs to the ready to wear stock room where the associates check them in and organize them by size. Elgie is going to be off for the entire week so I also did a few of his job tasks such as filing away repair receipts and making phone calls to clients.
Tuesday August 28, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Tomorrow is cycle count for the small leather goods products and I went through and made sure that each item had a tag inside. This will make it easier for Hector when he has to scan them and also every item should always have a tag located inside. The ones that didn’t were sent to Hector to get re-ticketed. I also had to destroy employee uniforms that were extras or in the wrong size. Each item had to be ripped and anything that had a Chanel logo had to be taken off before being thrown out. Next I went to the repair stock room and organized the dust bags for sunglasses, jewelry, and handbags. New ones had came in and I grouped them by size.
Wednesday August 29, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Because next week was the start of the new month I decided it was best to make as many iconic boxes so that the employees wouldn’t have to make the clients wait for them to make the boxes themselves. This task has become really easy for me to do and I try to make as many boxes as I can during my downtime since they run out quickly. Next I helped one of the associates by destroying sunglasses boxes that had gotten dirty or old. The “Chanel” printed on the box had to be written over and the boxes had to be broken down before throwing them away. I also did the same thing with shoeboxes and handbag boxes that were located inside the supply stock room. There wasn’t enough space for every box so I went through and pulled out the ones that were old and destroyed them.
Monday September 4, 2012 Hours: 10:00a.m. – 6:00p.m. Today was my last day at Chanel. I first helped by creating more iconic boxes because all the ones that I had prepared were already gone and the employees had to ring more up. Next I helped Lisa with organizing sales receipts from the past 7 years by months and stored them into boxes. The boxes are all labeled and stored away in chronological order. Shipment for the upcoming client styling event came in today. They were transfers from other boutiques and whatever doesn’t sell has to be sent back to them. Lisa decided to make that process easier by going through each item and labeling which boutique that had come from. I used the shipping paperwork to do this and labeled the clothing, jewelry, shoes and accessories with the store number. After closing the staff threw me a party to congratulate all of my hard work throughout this internship. I have learned so much and I am extremely grateful that I was lucky enough to land an internship with my favorite designers and work with such helpful people.