Workers Unite as Culture Shifts. How Rue21's Bankruptcy Became a Rallying Cry.
People are fed up, coming together, and being loud about it
Running a retail floor is gritty, dynamic, and it can be downright dirty. Need to get a box for those designer sunglasses? Well, get on the floor because they're stored in a drawer under the case. There is no leaning over to find them. The style numbers on the box are so tiny they're almost impossible to read up close, let alone from a foot or two away.
Did your register crash? Welp, get on the phone with IT while you navigate the mess of cables behind computers caked in dust and grime.
Need to restock bags or receipt tape? Cool, you're on the floor again.
Many of my days on retail floors were spent sweating, on ladders, on the floor, or on the phone troubleshooting a problem.
I loved working in retail because I became addicted to the industry's speed. Five days a week, new trends arrived. I got to work with new people constantly, and I made friends for life.
I became agile and swift. I could see things before they happened. I could forecast payroll and business trends. I could see swells and lulls in customer patterns and get my cashiers ready for a rush. I hired outstanding people and put up with no shenanigans. I didn't tolerate cliques; everyone was included. Everyone was part of the team.
Many of us didn't mind the hard work; we'd do anything for our teams because we felt like our bosses would do anything for us.
When COIVD hit and our store closed for two months, I still came in four days a week. I wanted the company to survive, and I wanted a job to come back to when the world opened. I knew other people would do the same for me.
It's different now.
People are Fed Up
One of the reasons capitalism works is because there is an invisible carrot dangling in front of us. This unspoken promise that if you work hard enough, you, too, could have the corner office. You, too, can make the big bucks and go on store tours. You, too, could afford nice clothes and the dry cleaning bill that goes with it.
Company leaders would look down as if to say,
"C'mon, brush that dust off your jeans, store leader. Keep grinding and falling in line and one day maybe you can make so much money you could actually take that vacation you've always wanted or maybe even be a member of a golf club - like me! But you have to keep working really hard. Keep it up!"
Wink.
Sound like another promise you've heard a lot? The American dream, perhaps?
Yes. They are similar.
Here's the thing. This fairytale is beginning NOT to work.
People on the frontline are fed up with bad bosses and greedy CEOs. They're taking a moment to stop and share notes.
Older generations stayed at the same job for decades for many reasons. Loyalty was seen as virtuous, and there was a sense of pride about being dedicated for so long. But as the years slipped by, larger companies gobbled up smaller ones, and the heart of these operations began to bleed out.
The people didn't matter as much. Lies were told. Promises were broken.
Empty promises, like the ones corporate crafts, work best when people can't share their experiences. When you work for a company, you're often isolated from their way of thinking and their way of running a business. You're discouraged from comparing notes or flat-out threatened.
"Don't share your wage with anyone else. It's against our policy."
"This conversation is confidential. Don't talk about it."
Companies keep you so busy with your workload and chasing that carrot that you're too exhausted to question much. They also aren't very transparent (on purpose), so you may not know what's really going on at the top.
Then, social media joined the party.
Facebook was a distraction at first. A way to connect with old classmates and share your weekend pics. But it evolved. In Instagram's heyday, carefully curated photos of a perfect life got all the likes. They silently screamed, "Be like us!"
Not anymore.
All those Instagram photos were full of empty promises, too.
Now, culturally, we're leveraging social media to drive our own businesses, connect with people we'd never get to meet otherwise and expose the despicable behavior of executives at the top.
Timing is Everything
If the rue21 bankruptcy happened ten years ago, I wouldn't be talking about it. However, it happened precisely at the intersection of fuck around and find out fueled by TikTok.
One month ago, I had no idea who Josh Burris was.
I was blissfully unaware.
Now, his former employees have painted a spectacular portrait of a man who cares about two things: himself and his money. (Allegedly). Nothing else. From all these employee accounts, he also clearly does not know how to lead people or manage businesses, which led to someone in my DMs asking these questions:
"What's bananas to me is that aside from his potentially purposefully harmful decisions at Rue21, and his previous downfall due to ego driven leadership at GNC, is that this is someone who spent 16 years at Abercrombie and almost 8 years at AM Retail Group. Was he always the douche canoe leader he is now? How does someone like this remain in high level leadership positions and move up for as long as he did? Or was he at one point a good leader who sold out his customers and teams for the almighty dollar? Is Josh just another great example of white male syndrome that's slowly driving capitalism into an inevitable brick wall, or is there more to it?"
Right?
Many of us are asking all of these same questions. I'm asking them, too.
We're at a crossroads where social media is bringing us together to share stories, and we're also at a cultural tipping point.
The Blockout & Shunning of Wealth-Flaunting
The Blockout 2024 is flourishing on TikTok. While The New York Times cites this as a purely pro-Palestinian movement, I disagree. The movement may have started this way, but I now see people blocking all kinds of celebrities and companies that they deem a waste of time.
Regular people don't want to give these soul-sucking, do-nothing, money-flaunting celebs an inch. They're going in and blocking people, so their views will decline.
Bumble recently had their asses handed to them because of their awful marketing campaign. People blocked them and deleted their accounts. Let me be clear: women blocked them and deleted their accounts because women drive the economy.
People are over celebrities; they're over the in-your-face millionaires. They're over the bullshit. They see the carrot and are choosing not to chase it because they know it's a game they will always lose.
Hardworking people want to be paid fairly and treated like they matter. They don't care about holding up the oppressive system anymore that only benefits a few.
They're okay with burning it down. They want what they're owed.
People are struggling to pay rent and buy food. Work hard and be a millionaire? Please. We just want to pay our bills without having an anxiety attack. We want the luxury of sending our kids to school to get an education - nothing more.
The freelance hairstylists and models who worked for rue21 want the thousands of dollars they're owed.
The once mindless social media scroll is turning into a revolution.
I've learned more about Black history on TikTok than I ever did in an American school. Moms and teenagers are driving trends, not companies. Driving trends means earning dollars. Watch this space because our current capitalistic structure doesn't like the average person making money and driving trends. Trade and industry are supposed to be controlled by private owners for profit.
But here we are.
What will happen to all the Burris-like CEOs?
I don't know, but it's going to be harder for them to operate in the shadows. It will be harder for them to treat everyone like trash, burn a company to the ground, pocket the cash, and walk away. (By the way, Burris has hired a PR company and has a new website touting his leadership skills. You can check it out and email him here.)
Some people who had to sign NDAs at rue21 are afraid to tell the truth. You know who didn't have to sign one? People in the field. And people in stores give zero fucks. In the last few weeks that rue21 stores have been open, some people put whiteboards in their windows, spilling all the tea.
Do not test store teams.
I hope it becomes harder for terrible executives to fail up. Just because you have a business degree doesn't mean you know how to lead people or manage a company.
Money does not always equal success. Being an asshole isn't cool. It's not how you get respect anymore. It's not 2002.
Underdogs have been wreaking havoc throughout the glass offices for a few years. Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty on X, shares investing tips. He bought up tons of GameStop shares because he thought they were undervalued. This led to more people buying the stock, and the hedge funds who had shorted the stock lost tons of money.
There is power in numbers. It's why collective bargaining or strikes often work. There are more of us than of them. When we come together, we have power.
So, we have to keep talking. We need to keep sharing our experiences.
All you'll find in silence are lies.
Kit Campoy is an author and retail expert with 20+ years of experience leading retail teams. She thrived on building relationships with customers and motivating sales teams. Now, as a ghostwriter, she leverages this people-centric approach to craft compelling content that resonates and ignites brand loyalty.
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Thanks. You’re literally the best.
In my company, we've had the normal generational turnover, but also a couple of accelerants (COVID, and an earlier buyout). The younger employees that are now here have exactly 0 F's to give about gauzy corporate narratives like loyalty. They're good at their jobs, and consistently deliver, but their loyalty lies with their coworkers and our customers, not the C-Suite or Wall Street.
You love to see it.
SO much gold in this article!! You really connected the dots with one company 's closing and the employee movement on social media for rights and empowerment. Keep it up!!!!