Hello again and welcome to part two of our "Sandboxing 101" blog series. We've been super busy this month with stock arriving daily and attending buying shows for next Spring and Summer. So as we mentioned in our last post, we are constantly busy with "other tasks" (both in and out of the store) when we’re not assisting our customers at the dressing rooms.

Customers are ALWAYS number one, so please interrupt us if you need assistance! That is why we are in this business. On that note, here is PART TWO!

How We "Staff"

Our current Sandbox Crew consists of seven full time staff, two "almost full time" staff, one "casual" part time staff, and about a dozen "please help us" staff. What our customers may not know is that not all of our staff assist at the dressing rooms. Why? Because they are either not trained to do so, are better at other duties within the store, or they just don't feel comfortable doing so.

Our philosophy in business is to place people in positions that we feel they excel in. That is not to say that they don't also have to do the "daily grind" duties such as cleaning, steaming and unpacking, however their main role is based on who they are and where their strengths are. Have you ever been placed in a job role that you literally struggle with everyday, you're just not good at, takes way too long accomplish? It really SUCKS! Sandbox owner Juanita would always stress about doing "updos" when she was a hairstylist, because it would just take her tooooo long and wasn't what she was best at. Now "colour" was a totally different ball game — bring it on.

So because of own life experiences, when we hire people needed for specific roles, we want them to feel comfortable with whatever that particular job entails. Sometimes those roles evolve over time and we uncover a "new" talent — bonus for us! Part of the job is being able to be on your feet for 7.5 hours a day. We are walking, bending, reaching, steaming, and cleaning all day, everyday — it's the nature of what we do. (That’s why sometimes you’ll see us with coffee in hand, to keep us going!)

Based on this philosophy, we feel that we have assembled a group of expert staff, responsible for maintaining their own area of the business.

Introducing the Sandbox crew:

CURTIS ~ aka Moneyman (Full time)

Curtis takes care of all things money related. We buy, he pays. You won't see him in the store very often as his office is upstairs.

COLLEEN ~ aka Coco (Full time)

Colleen does dressing rooms, marketing, merchandising, organizing, reorganizing, reorganizing, reorganizing, buying and more.

JUANITA ~ aka Wawa or Swannie (Full time)

Juanita does dressing rooms, scheduling, blog, events, buying and more

MEGAN ~ aka Smeagol (Full time)

Megan does dressing rooms, facebook and video marketing, Sympli expert, reorders, her own jewelry line and more.

CHELSEA ~ aka chelSA (Full time)

Chelsea does pricing, returns, dressing rooms, cash desk, reorders, is a Sandbox model, and more

SAMANTHA ~ aka Sam (Full time)

Sam does dressing rooms, styling for fashion shows, Sandbox model, Instagram, mannequins, artwork, and more

TALIA ~ aka Nadia (Almost full time)

Talia does cash desk, reorders, returns, facebook, pricing, is a Sandbox model and more

JAMIE ~ aka Jay-may (Almost full time)

Jamie does dressing rooms, steaming, unpacking, dusting, is a Sandbox model and more

DEBBIE (Full time)

Debbie does dressing rooms, unpacking, swiffering, steaming, is a Sandbox model and more

NIKEESHA (Casual part time)

Nikeesha does steaming, cleaning, straightening, unpacking, tagging and whatever needs to get done (Sorry, no photo of Nikeesha at this time!)

COURTNEY, staff member from afar (The Bay Area to be exact)

Courtney does the proofing, modifying, and formatting of the blog

"Please help us staff" ~ Consists of friends, family, and customers that assist us with everything from special events to moving stuff. We count on these people A LOT! So thankful for them!

So when you, our customer, asks one of our staff for assistance, often we will grab another staff member to assist you, based on their role and expertise. Or if you call the store, we will connect you with the person that can best answer your question or have them call you back. We want to make sure that you get the most accurate response the first time!

We also want to you to know that the time of day and the actual day that you shop will determine how long you may have to wait to get into our dressing rooms or get the one-on-one assistance you may require. Although we strive to be "available" all the time, every day, it's just not always humanly possible. When we are at full staff, with no one on holidays or off sick, we have 8 people on the floor on Saturdays, 7 on Fridays, 6 on Thursdays, 3 on Thursday evenings, 6 on Wednesdays, 5 on Tuesdays, 5 on Mondays, and 3 on Sundays. So if you come into our store when we are have limited staff available, you will likely have longer wait times to get one-on-one attention. (Although we have been know to literally "run" back and forth between dressing rooms to help as much as we can.)

We recommend that if you are requiring a lot of wardrobe revamping or style advice, call ahead to let us know when you would like to come in. That way we can ensure we have the team member that is the best fit to work with you. (Especially if you are new to the Sandbox and aren't familiar with how we do "things".) We feel that that our staff is to credit for the longevity and success of our business, and that is why the entire PART TWO of our “Everything Sandbox” blog is dedicated to staff!

Stay tuned for Part Three in the upcoming weeks. We knew this would be at least a three part series — maybe more!

Sandboxing 101 Part Two: Meet Our Staff!