SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA JOB MARKET : A SPECIAL REPORT ON EMPLOYMENT TRENDS : INDUSTRIES & OCCUPATIONS : RETAILING : PERSEVERANCE, ENERGY ARE KEY PREREQUISITES FOR THE JOB

By MARTHA GROVES

Sept. 20, 1987 12 AM PT

<i> Times Staff Writer </i>

When Kathryn L. McConville started as a Bullock’s sales associate 15 years ago, she had one thing on her mind: the 20% employee discount.

Today, McConville manages Bullock’s elegant downtown store, and the employee discount ranks in importance far behind the satisfaction of serving customers and working with a staff.

“I am a store person inside and out,” she said.

In rising through the store ranks at Bullock’s, McConville followed a typical career path in her industry. Selling, after all, is the foundation of the business, and the sales associates’ success with customers can make or break a retailing operation.

For those who prove themselves on the selling floor, other opportunities abound, many involving a great deal of travel. Individuals with a good eye for fashion might look to careers as buyers, with travel to New York and even the Far East to select the garments that customers will see on shelves and racks.

“If you’re going to break in to the retail business at Bullock’s, you’ll break in in sales,” said Duane V. Johnson, director of personnel services for 22 Bullock’s stores and seven Bullocks Wilshire locations. “Whether one hopes to become a buyer or go the store route . . . you’ve got to demonstrate ability and knowledge of that function if you’re to be successful in ranks farther up the ladder.”

With the renewed emphasis on customer service, department stores throughout the Southland will be on the prowl in the coming months for hundreds of motivated workers who enjoy catering to customers. Curmudgeons need not apply, but individuals who like people and are willing to remain flexible in the face of demanding hours, fashion whims and other pressures can draw nice rewards.

“A career in retailing is still very positive,” said Phillip E. Vincent, a First Interstate economist. “It’s a booming industry, one of the strongest growth sectors.”

Deborah Allen Olivier, president of Claremont Economics Institute, also forecasts buoyancy in Southern California retailing, thanks to the area’s overall strong job growth, which she said “creates a virtuous cycle” of more people with jobs who, in turn, want more goods and services.

“If anything,” she added, “it’s getting to be a bit of a tight market” for employers, with good jobs going begging for well-qualified candidates.

At Bullock’s, as many as 600 sales associates (as salesclerks are known in the industry) will be hired in the coming months. May Co. California expects to hire “several hundred” sales associates for its 34 stores, according to Chairman Edgar S. Mangiafico.

The Broadway, with 43 stores, plans to hire enough people to fill 375 “full-time equivalent” sales jobs, said Robert A. Dourian, executive vice president of personnel. In addition, the company by year-end will hire an additional 25 college recruits for an executive training program, on top of 75 or so selected earlier this year.

Those candidates will get plenty of exposure to the selling floor, Dourian said, with initial assignments as area sales managers in the stores. “After a period of time,” he said, “they will either continue up the store manager line or move into the merchant community as an assistant buyer.”

Nordstrom, a growth-minded apparel chain that usually promotes from within its store ranks, also expects to hire for its 13 Southern California stores depending on need, spokeswoman Theresa Clark said.

Generally, according to Johnson of Bullock’s, department store personnel follow one of two career paths--one in stores and one in the corporate buying offices.

In the stores, a sales associate who demonstrates an aptitude for selling may move on to a job as department selling manager, with responsibility for a small area of the store and a staff of two or three. The alternative is to become an assistant department manager, serving as the No. 2 person in a large department.

From there, the employee moves up to department manager, supervising a sizable staff, as well as having responsibility for selecting and displaying merchandise on the floor. In a sense, Johnson said, the person is responsible for his or her own “specialty store,” usually for at least two years.

After managing a couple of departments, the individual next becomes a division manager, supervising several department managers and reporting directly to the store manager, who sits at the top of the store heap.

Alternatively, an employee could choose a merchandising track, starting as an assistant buyer of, say, dresses or men’s suits before being promoted to buyer. From there, the employee becomes a divisional merchandise manager, supervising a “family” of merchandise (such as men’s clothing, shoes and accessories) and a number of buyers. The final rung on this ladder is general merchandise manager, who oversees the divisional managers.

Compensation can vary widely and hinges on the employee’s performance, retailers say. Generally, a department manager can expect to make anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000 a year, with a division manager or assistant general manager pulling down $30,000 to $45,000, and a store manager earning $50,000 or more.

On the merchandising side, assistant buyers can expect to make $25,000 to $35,000 and buyers between $35,000 and $60,000. Divisional merchandise managers generally earn from $60,000 to $100,000, with general merchandise managers making about $150,000.

Although plenty of salespeople still earn as little as $5 an hour, these days it’s not unheard of for experienced associates on commission to make $50,000 or more.

STORE MANAGER

Kathryn L. McConville, 40, worked five years as a part-time sales associate at Bullock’s before taking on retailing as a full-time endeavor. Once her son was in school, she started moving up through the store ranks, becoming manager of the Lakewood store before moving to the new downtown location last year.

On top of a hefty commute from Orange County, she routinely works 11 hours a day “about six days a week.” If there is a downside to her job, it is “definitely the hours,” she said. “You must be a flexible person.”

She lists these as her responsibilities: selling and servicing the customer; supervising and maintaining the morale of her employees (as many as 200 during the Christmas season), and making sure that the merchandise is correct and attractively presented and that the store operates within its budget.

Her immediate goal is to manage a larger store and then decide whether to go through the buying office or stay in the stores, possibly moving into the corporate headquarters.

Although she considers herself to be well paid, she maintains that her “rewards are more personal than financial.”

SELLING MANAGER

Bill Nolan, a dapper 29-year-old department selling manager at Bullock’s downtown store, started in retailing 10 years ago as a part-time sales associate at a Florida department store while he was studying mass communications at college. Today, he splits his time between selling and administrative duties in four menswear departments.

“I don’t look at it as a job,” he said. “I believe in what I’m selling.”

To develop customer loyalty, Nolan and other go-getter associates host early-bird breakfasts and evening cocktail hours for fashion-conscious downtown executives. They also keep in close touch by phone and letter, calling shoppers’ attention to new items and sales.

Nolan has adjusted to having split days off (most associates work at least one weekend day, and many work evenings) and scheduling his vacations to avoid peak selling periods. “I want to be here when the people are going to be here,” he said. “Being successful is emphasized.”

Nolan’s immediate goal is to become a department manager and then move to the buying office before he decides which career path to take.

DRESS BUYER

When she was about to graduate from UCLA with a degree in English literature 19 years ago, Sandie Pettingell took some career testing and decided on retailing. She went to work for the Broadway, where the job of buyer “sounded very exciting.”

And so it has proven to be, although quite a bit more demanding than she had expected.

She started at the store level, then moved to the buying office near downtown Los Angeles. Nine years ago, she was promoted to buyer. “My job was going to be the most important thing in my life,” she said. It still is, although she regrets that frequent travel--including 10 weeklong trips a year to New York, during which she typically meets every half-hour with a different garment maker--leaves little time for a personal life and outside interests.

“A lot of people envision this job as fun and glamorous,” she said. “But it’s a business, first and foremost. I’m here to deliver sales and gross (profit) margins.”

In her job as buyer of petite and large-size dresses, which occasionally also takes her to the Far East, she has responsibility for all 43 stores. “The store gives me millions of dollars to spend,” she said. “I have to get the best value for my customers.”