Aritzia, McDonald's add staff as chains reverse self-service push

Macy’s reports sales uplift after adding staff to select stores

Canadian apparel retailer Aritzia staffs sales floors with “style advisers” who restock shelves, work the register, curate outfits for shoppers, and freely offer their opinions, WSJ reporter Suzanne Kapner wrote in the paper’s CMO Today newsletter. The approach, she reported, summons the experience of higher-end shops and supports Aritzia’s “Everyday Luxury” positioning.

“The first time I walked into an Aritzia store, I was like, ‘This is amazing,’” Gabriella Ferguson, 18, told Kapner. “It has a luxurious feel. But it’s affordable enough for me.”

The model carries costs beyond staffing. Former Aritzia employees told the Journal that the company’s style advisers face rigorous sales targets and expectations to look a certain way.

Most mass-market chains have been cutting sales-floor staff in recent years. Aritzia can support attentive staffing partly because its prices run slightly higher than those of typical mall chains, Kapner reported.

Some retailers that previously reduced store staff are reversing course. Macy’s has been adding staff to select stores and has noticed a sales uplift partly as a result, according to the Journal.

Aritzia’s communal mirrors outside dressing rooms give style advisers another opportunity to sell but have also drawn customer backlash, including a Substack post titled “Hell Is an Aritzia Fitting Room.” Aritzia told the Journal that mirrored fitting rooms are available on request and that most customers prefer the communal arrangement.

Fast-food chains are similarly rethinking their shift toward kiosk and app ordering. The Journal reported that some diners have defected to competitors like Chick-fil-A, which is known for heavily staffed, attentive service.

McDonald’s plans next month what the Journal described as one of the biggest hospitality pushes in the company’s history. New employee interactions will encourage energetic greetings such as “Enjoy your meal!” and “See you soon!”

“Food is important,” Tiffanie Boyd, McDonald’s global chief people officer, told the Journal’s Heather Haddon. “Price is important, but experience has also become much more important than it used to be.”