AKIRA Reviews

I submitted my resume and was contacted within a few days of submission. The HR person on the phone who interviewed me described the job as Store Manager, described what one would typically think of as a boutique store manager, and then mentioned all the bits about not being a corporate company and looking for people who wanted to be able to make a store their own. Sounded great. I did my homework. Looked online at the reviews of the company, asked around to different people that either worked there or knew people from there. I had one interview that the District Manager was almost an hour late to. (I'm told this is habit for her.) She asked me my employment background, what I wanted to do as Store Manager, etc. Typical questions. She asked what I liked to wear when I wasn't at work, and I told her I'm typically in pretty casual cargo shorts and a tank top or gym gear. She seemed satisfied with that answer. Told me the same things that the HR phone interviewer said. I'd need to hire staff because they needed a fuller staff. I'd need to fix up operations and work on instituting better clientele procedures. It seemed like a match. I was hired on the spot. I get there the first day to realize I'm not the Store Manager, but something like a 2nd assistant manager or co-manager, but, really, they wanted me to be a sales associate. They told me I had to make $1500 a day, which I thought was a decent if not large goal. I also found out from the girl that ostensibly was the real store manager that much of the job description was false. I wasn't actually going to be responsible for all of the stuff they told me. That was her job. Also, I found out on the first day that the benefits package they told me about was false. The insurance, time off, and all the rest of it was some amalgam of untrue and kind of true. Over the course of the first four days, I was told on different occasions that I should consider wearing make-up, should wear high heels, should wear a dress or other women's clothing. This is not only insulting, but verges on illegal. I told the District Manager on the first day that I wouldn't be wearing anything like that, and she said it was ok to dress however I wanted. I was taken off the sales floor repeatedly, beginning with day 1, and asked whether I thought this was 'working out'. I was given an indication that the $1500 sales goal was not a goal, but a requirement. With price points hovering around the $30-$50 range, and with the kind of clientele the store currently has, saying it was outrageous would be an understatement. I began to get concerned when, on the 2nd day, I found out that the first in-person manager I interviewed with had quit. She hadn't even been with the company a full year, and that sends quite a number of red flags to someone who was already wondering if they'd made the right decision. The process of pulling me off the floor continued every single day, 2-3 times a day at least, with the conversations becoming increasingly more exasperated. I was belittled and made to feel like there was something wrong with me and given the strong hint - though it was never stated out loud - that I would probably end up unemployed in the next day if I didn't hit that $1500 mark. No defense was good enough. I had never been given any training, and I was told during one of these berating sessions that I wasn't going to be given any training on the product or anything else and that I just needed to figure it out or I'd be working elsewhere. As most of the people that reviewed the interviews stated, any question I asked was treated like a giant annoyance. Everything I was told about the job description, the benefits, the salary, the expectations, the needs of the business, the daily tasks...everything was a lie. I have never felt so insulted or treated so poorly on a job, and I have never in my life heard of someone not being trained in any way and then let go almost immediately after being hired to a management position. This company's tactics are wretched and deceitful, and just about everyone who's heard this story has begged me to either hit them with a lawsuit or report them to some unemployment authority or other. The problem is that they take pride in the awful treatment of their employees and management. The amount of associate turnover is insane, and they seem to love it. Suffice it to say, I don't see this company lasting another 10 years, at least not in the suburbs. They cultivate a rude, crass environment and any sane person looking for a good job should stay the hell away from this place. There's a reason that all 5 suburb stores they opened less than a year ago are already looking to hire managers. They all quit! The stores aren't making plan, and yet they don't want to deviate from their current strategy of hiring and firing people as fast as they can - both associates and managers. BIG. RED. FLAG! I was looking for a new job by the end of the first day.

-Abusive upper management with questionable credibility -Too many hands in projects with mostly bossing around and no real support -Work place bullying -Fast fashion / sweat shop vibes -Too many visits from managers from other stores who knew nothing about clienteling, fashion, class, human decency, and respect -No benefits -Pressure to work late every day -Mean girls -No hr dept