Retail Confessions: Chanel, Part II

"Some clients will spend, especially around the holidays if they buy gifts, like, half a million dollars."

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Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

“Retail Confessions” is a regular Back Row series where I interview retail workers from the most expensive, most exclusive clothing stores to find out what customers are really like and what they really buy. In the first installment on Chanel, we heard from an ex-Las Vegas store employee, who had the heartbreaking job of telling a woman that Chanel could not fix her $12,000 python shoes after her dog chewed them. In part two, we’ll hear from two more former Chanel employees. Both interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.

The first interviewee worked at Chanel in New York during the 2010s.

What were the New York clients like?

When I started, it was more clients that had been shopping at Chanel for a long time. By the time I left, it was clients that would just show you their phone and say, I want this one thing — more transactional versus relationship-based clientele. And some people would just take selfies in the mirror and walk out.

A former Bergdorf Goodman employee told me their best clients had no problem coming in and spending $20,000 a week. Did you have people spending that much at one time?

Definitely. Clients expect a certain level, more than [anywhere] I’ve ever worked in my life. People buy one thing and expect to have it for their entire life. But you can't do that with anything.

What were some of the biggest purchases when you were there?

Some clients will spend, especially around the holidays if they buy gifts, like, half a million dollars. There were regular clients that were very high spend clients that would come in at least once a month too. Not many clients wore head-to-toe Chanel.

Did celebrities come into the store?

A lot of celebrities would come in.