Kristle Peterkin will never forget the early-morning shift at the Rittenhouse Square Anthropologie store when a Black colleague took off work because her child was sick. Peterkin’s supervisor hung up the phone, she remembers, “and basically said, ‘Why doesn’t she go back on welfare?‘”

Employee Appreciation Day for the year 2019 is celebrated/ observed on Friday, March 1st. Employee Appreciation Day is held on the first Friday in March allowing management to show thanks and reward their workers for their hard work throughout the year.

• (7 days ago) Anthropologie is known to give one of the best employee discounts in the retail industry: 60 percent off designated full-price items, 40 percent off all full-price apparel and accessories, 25 percent off all full-price home goods, and on special employee appreciation days, you can get 40 percent off all sale items.
• Anthropologie products are an expression of our customer's appreciation for artfulness and good design. To that end, our buyers and designers travel the world to uncover special products and to.
• 116 reviews from Anthropologie employees about Pay & Benefits. Associates and felt like a valued employee. Nothing to show appreciation for the employees on.
• Anthropologie benefits and perks, including insurance benefits, retirement benefits, and vacation policy. Reported anonymously by Anthropologie employees. 25 percent off home. Employee appreciation dates allowed 40 percent off home and sale items.

The comment stopped her cold, but Peterkin, who is Black, continued to hear many more like it. Even after she reported the incident to the store manager, the supervisor routinely made racist and derogatory comments, according to Peterkin and another former employee. The signal, Peterkin said, was “this is just something that’s just accepted.”

Peterkin is not alone in sharing her experiences with racism at the multi-billion-dollar retailer headquartered in Philadelphia’s Navy Yard.

Anthropologie and its parent company, Urban Outfitters Inc., endured fierce criticism on social media over allegations that its employees racially profiled customers, as protests against systemic racism swept the country following the police killing of George Floyd.

The company has faced criticism internally too. Last month, more than 700 employees signed a letter to corporate executives, calling for “racial justice” inside the company. According to a copy obtained by The Inquirer, employees asked the company to institute mandatory training on bias, create a diversity and inclusion team to oversee hiring, and establish an “official HR team” where Black employees would feel safe to report discrimination.

The outcry has forced company executives in recent weeks to confront how they deal with racial bias, and to commit to new hiring initiatives and expanded anti-discrimination training. “We support and stand with the Black community, and we recognize that we all must do more than we’ve done to date,” CEO and co-founder Richard Hayne said in a June 3 statement.

Urban Outfitters also acknowledged that the company had a policy of using code words such as “Nick” or “Nicky” to identify possible shoplifters. That policy was “misused” in stores, the company said, and has been revised. “We profusely apologize to each and every customer who was made to feel unwelcome,” a spokesperson said. The company hired a third party to review store practices, and says it has a “zero-tolerance policy regarding discrimination or racial profiling.”

In response to questions from The Inquirer about discrimination claims at the Rittenhouse Anthropologie, the company said “several employees were terminated” as the result of an investigation stemming from an employee complaint in June. “Regrettably, it is now clear that there was an issue in the Rittenhouse store, and we will be taking further actions to fully rectify that situation,” the spokesperson said.

In interviews with The Inquirer, 10 current and former employees who have worked in stores and at Urban’s headquarters described racial profiling of Black customers as potential shoplifters and hearing racist language in the workplace, as well as barriers to career advancement for people of color, and difficulties reporting discrimination complaints internally.

For those who work in fashion and design, Urban Outfitters headquarters is considered one of the only games in Philly. Three people of color who worked at headquarters said their supervisors demeaned or excluded them from important meetings, while their job responsibilities could change with little warning, or didn’t match the roles for which they applied and were hired.

Designer Lamarr Nanton said he was promoted and replaced a design director at Anthropologie. But he said he was not actually given the title or the pay for that role, the company didn’t inform the team Nanton took over that he was their manager, and his own boss didn’t invite him to meetings about products and collections that were essential to his job.

“There was no way to win,” said Nanton, who is Black and now works for another company in California. “It seemed like people of color were always being shuffled. So you never got an opportunity to level up, or feel like you were really part of a team – so you were always trying to play catch up.”

As the company pledges to take action now, he said, “you can recruit us all day long. But if the culture isn’t supportive of us, then you’re not going to retain people.”

A company spokesperson said: “We strongly believe that every customer, partner, vendor, employee, and associate should feel welcomed and respected when they walk through our doors. It is clear that there is work for us to do to make that a reality.”

Urban Outfitters did not provide diversity statistics on the makeup of its workforce or senior leadership team.

‘Core principles’

Founded in West Philly in the 1970s, Urban Outfitters Inc. today operates a constellation of lifestyle and consumer brands for clothing, home décor, and eateries. The company does nearly $4 billion in annual net sales.

Protests over Floyd’s killing started in Philadelphia on May 30. The company’s publicity problems over racism started to intensify two days later.

Hayne, the CEO, in a June 1 internal email to employees, said several of the brand names reflect the company’s “core principle of inclusiveness and cultural understanding.”

Anthropologie is “the study of different cultures,” Hayne wrote, and Urban Outfitters “was so named to celebrate the richness of urban life where diversity is the rule not the exception.” The brand Free People, said Hayne, 73, “was born during the anti-war movement of the early 70's when young people, including yours truly, were protesting a war and loss of life that made little sense.”

The email also referred to company stores damaged during the unrest.

“Even though I joined those protests in the 70's, I always rejected violence and destruction,” Hayne said in the email. “Today is no different. Criminal acts did nothing to promote peace then. And they do nothing to promote understanding or justice now.”

That same day, the Urban Outfitters Instagram account posted that “racism, injustice, oppression and complacency have never been welcome in our community.” Anthropologie’s Instagram featured a Maya Angelou quote about diversity draped in whimsically illustrated flowers. (The post no longer appears on the account.)

Neither post mentioned the Black community or the Black Lives Matter movement. Many users on the platform, current and former employees among them, viewed these initial posts as empty platitudes.

“There’s no mention of white supremacy. There’s no mention of police brutality. There’s no mention of the pain and trauma that Black people are feeling every day,” said Da’ani Jetton, who started working for an Urban Outfitters store in Atlanta last summer.

And yet, she said, the company relies on Black employees and Black customers like her — and capitalizes on streetwear looks that were made popular by the Black community.

“This company caters to young city folk, and they aren’t even hip to the political climate,” Jetton said. “I don’t know how much more they want from us.”

The Instagram posts also elicited an outpouring of emotion from people who felt the messages belied their own work history with the company. It was “a lot of people telling stories they felt like they couldn’t tell before – or they fell on deaf ears,” Peterkin said.

Many of those accounts centered on allegations of racial profiling, and the comments gained even more traction when the fashion Instagram account Diet Prada wrote about them on June 10.

‘Nick’ or ‘Nicky'

Five people who worked at Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters stores on the East Coast told The Inquirer that they were instructed to use names such as “Nick” or “Nicky” to identify shoplifters in general. But they said the code words were often associated with Black people in practice, and that racial profiling was commonplace in stores where they worked.

The workers said it was easy for managers and sales associates to project their own bias onto flagging shoplifters. A mix of factors contributed to that problem, according to interviews. In some stores, employees were trying to meet goals to decrease losses from shoplifting. People working for Anthropologie also understood the typical customer to be a white woman.

“We would call out ‘potential Nick’ or ‘potential Nicky’ a lot,” said one former employee who worked at an Anthropologie store in New York, and requested anonymity to speak freely about a former employer. “It was a lot more frequently Black women than anyone else.”

This person said managers encouraged employees to “go with your gut” when identifying possible shoplifters, and there were no consequences, or questions asked, if the employee was mistaken. “I think people wanted to get recognition for contributing to” loss prevention, the person said.

Some store managers recently voiced their own frustrations with the company to Anthropologie President Hillary Super. In a June 19 email to employees, provided by the company, Super acknowledged receiving a “number of messages” from store leaders “expressing disappointment, anxiety and anger over the way Anthropologie and URBN has responded to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent global movement for racial justice.”

Super apologized that the company had not made more progress on diversity and inclusion. “Black lives matter and the bottom line is that we have to do better – we have to address systemic racism,” she wrote.

At Rittenhouse Square

Peterkin was excited about landing a job at Anthropologie as a receiver, processing the daily arrivals of new clothes and home goods. The hours, from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., suited her schedule as a working mom with children in school.

But the supervisor’s offensive comments wore on her. She tried to compartmentalize them, and found some reprieve when she switched her schedule and worked fewer hours. She spent more time interacting with Black women shoppers, who often confided in Peterkin that they felt uncomfortable going in, either watched too closely or ignored altogether.

Peterkin took a job at another retailer in 2019. Looking back at her time at Anthropologie, she says, “What they allow and what they continued to allow – it has to stop.”

Joey Clayton, another former Anthropologie employee, heard the same supervisor use the “N word” to refer to employees, in front of the store manager. “I was complacent for years, and chose financial security over speaking out about what was right,” said Clayton, who recently quit his job. “Now, that’s over.”

Both Peterkin and Clayton said that a toxic culture in the store festered because of the supervisor’s offensive remarks, and the store manager’s apparent tolerance of them. The company did not make the supervisor or the store manager available for comment, and did not elaborate on their employment status.

Peterkin and Clayton also lacked confidence in reporting incidents through other channels, such as the employee hotline.

Clayton, who is white and gay, said he called the employee hotline at least twice to file discrimination complaints involving the store manager and another colleague, for comments they made about his sexuality.

A company official acknowledged one of Clayton’s complaints in a June 2019 email seen by The Inquirer. The official, Susan DiFebo, said Urban Outfitters Inc. “abhors discrimination and harassment,” and that she would work with district and regional leadership to “investigate your concerns.”

When Is Anthropologie Employee Appreciation Program

Afterwards, Clayton said, the regional manager told him he should apologize to the store manager for instigating an investigation. “There are systems in this company that need to be dismantled and restructured,” Clayton said.

In its response to The Inquirer, Urban Outfitters did not address Clayton’s account of a superior telling him to apologize for the complaint. A spokesperson said Clayton did not respond to “repeated attempts” to contact him at the time, and so there was “little the company could do to investigate.”

Clayton disputed that characterization, saying he spoke with DiFebo by phone, and he provided The Inquirer with an email showing he followed up with her as well. “This is, unfortunately, just another best effort for them to defend and deflect their bad behavior,” he said. “I don’t hear a lot of taking accountability.”

The ‘home office’

For all the prestige of working at Urban Outfitters, getting a job at headquarters can come with steep trade-offs, said some employees. These include dealing with a culture of favoritism, grueling performance expectations, and standing doubts about where to take a human resources problem. The recent employee letter on racial justice noted, “Many of our employees don’t even know if we currently have a HR team or not.”

Those issues are magnified for people of color working at the predominantly white “home office,” as it’s known, according to interviews.

Two former employees spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their current careers.

“I was surrounded by affluent white people, and if you weren’t a part of that group, you were ostracized, and you were made very aware that you didn’t belong,” said one former employee, who worked for Anthropologie.

This person described herself as a “white-presenting Mexican woman,” born in the U.S. Colleagues initially assumed she was of Italian descent, she said, but once they became aware of her ethnicity, co-workers started commenting on her looks and asking if one of her parents was white. One colleague made fun of her name. She recalled her direct manager saying to her: “Your diction is so good. I’m surprised.”

One time, supervisors sent her to New York to pick up samples, and said she had to take the bus, because there was no budget for the train. They would not buy her a return ticket to Philadelphia until she had completed certain tasks, leaving her to track down someone in the office to get her a ticket at 11 p.m. “I was hazed repeatedly – verbally abused – to the point that I had to see a doctor and be prescribed Xanax,” she said.

She said there was no HR, and no protection internally to be able to speak up. “It’s definitely a culture that promotes bullying and verbal abuse and discrimination, and the company protects the worst offenders.”

The company did not answer questions about workplace bullying. Urban Outfitters insists that it makes workers aware, through a weekly newsletter, of an “employee relations” department that handles complaints and concerns, and that every “function of HR can be found in our organization.”

Another former employee, who is Black, said that when she arrived on her first day, she was not given a desk or a computer, and her boss would not speak to her. She had been hired as a freelance designer, but was expected to sew instead. When she reached out to her company recruiter for help, she was assigned to another department, and later moved to a different team again.

Lamarr Nanton remembers how the job weighed on him, to the point he called his wife crying from the office.

After 25 years of working in fashion, he views racism as an industry-wide problem. Every job title that he’s missed out on along the way adds up, and makes it that much harder to advance.

“You do the things you’re required to do, and you do them well,” he said. “And still, it’s like why am I stuck at this level.”

———

©2020 The Philadelphia Inquirer

Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com

When Is Anthropologie Employee Appreciation 2018 Date Day

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Choosing gifts for you employees, regardless of the occasion, can be a bit of a stumper.

If you go overboard, it may make people uncomfortable. If you grab something last minute without giving it any thought, you might as well give them nothing but a note of thanks. Which is always appreciated, btw. In fact, people would usually rather have a heartfelt thanks over a thoughtless gift anyway. Just sayin’.

So leave the shopping to us! The gang here at L&L knows how to pick a good employee gift. Mainly because as employees, we know what we’d like to get.

Can you believe it? There are actual people who put together these shopping roundups for you! Picking gifts, drinking coffee, writing about them, drinking coffee, formatting the articles so they’re fun for you to read, then grabbing a cup of coffee!

Yep, us staffers have loads of fun putting together gifting lists – the endless mugs of coffee don’t hurt either.

Gifts Your Employees Will Love (No Jelly Of The Month Club Here!)

1. Water Bottle + Speaker

by Uncommon Goods

This just makes so much sense. Honestly, how much better can it get than a water bottle that’ll play your music via bluetooth while you’re getting in a workout or picnicking? It’s also perfect for getting enjoying a few tunes while at work. Your employees will appreciate the practicality of this gift, for sure!

Materials: Plastic, Stainless Steel

Dimensions: 9.75″ H x 3″ Diameter, Holds 17 fl. oz.

2. Nesting Food Bowls

by S'well

These nesting food bowls are absolutely perfect for the daily lunch packer. The outer bowl is thermally insulated to keep meals cold or hot, and the inner prep-bowl is microwave, fridge, and freezer safe.

Close it all up with a leak proof lid, and you’ve got a compact, all-in-one meal prep system. The set comes in a large selection of styles and colors to choose from, and the whole thing is small enough to throw in a medium-sized bag or purse.

3. Mini Speaker

by Lexon

This little bluetooth speaker is portable enough to take everywhere your staff might want to take their tunes. It’ll play for 2 hours on a 30 minute charge, and has a built-in mic for taking calls hands-free.

Maybe the coolest feature of this speaker is that it’s a selfie remote too. All they have to do is open the photos app on their phone and press the button on the bottom of the speaker. They’ll never miss another Instagrammable moment!

4. Monogram Mug

by Anthropologie

At the risk of sounding dramatic, we think when you’re dealing with a long day at the office, savoring every second of that coffee break is vital for keeping your sanity.

As far as we’re concerned, drinking your brew out of a beautiful mug puts you at least ¼ of the way to coffee break nirvana.

These gorgeous stoneware tiled monogram mugs are just the ticket to making your employee’s coffee or tea experience therapeutic and rejuvenating. Fill them with candies or little treats, and you’ve got a gift everyone will love.

5. Monogrammed Notebook

by ModParty

We often feature notebooks in our gift articles because we really do think they’re a great gift for anyone. Even if your recipient isn’t a journaler, a blank notebook is useful in so many ways.

They can use it as a planner, write down recipes, jot down reminders in it- whatever they use it for, it’s almost always a winner.

These notebooks are particularly pretty in our opinion, and you can customize it with their name in metallic script. They come in 6 lovely colors – perfect for giving to your whole team.

6. Coffee Pour-Over Set

by Hario

These ceramic coffee drippers are just the thing for the coffee lovers in your office. The ceramic keeps the coffee at just the right temperature while it brews, and the design allows the user to easily make stronger or milder coffee by controlling how quickly the water filters through. Its shape also allows the coffee to “breathe” during the brewing process, accentuating its unique flavor notes. Makes 1-4 cups.

7. Air Plants

by AryPlants

Air plants are so easy. It’s nearly impossible to kill them, so even your employees with a black thumb can enjoy them at their desk or at home without worrying about caring for them.

The plant is held gently by adorable, bendy little handmade wooden mini men to add a bit of whimsy. They come with magnets in their little hands and feet so you can pose them on their magnetic stand. They do yoga, handstands, hugs and more – really the only limit is your creativity!

11 ½ inches tall, made from natural pine.

8. Chia Pet

by Chia

Chia pets always make great gifts and the unicorn is one of our faves.

They’re fun and fanciful! All you have to do is get him wet, stand the mythical creature in its drip tray, spread on the seeds, and wait for the fluffy green coat to sprout. Desktop magic.

9. Book Gift Card

by Barnes & Noble

When in doubt, give gift cards! Literally, we can’t think of a single person who doesn’t love to get a gift card, particularly when it’s for somewhere (or something) that’s perfectly suited to their interests or style.

That’s why we suggest a gift card to Barnes & Noble – it’s great for anyone because B&N has something for everyone, even those who aren’t book lovers. Gift this with a heartfelt note of appreciation, and they’ll love it.

10. Large Tote Bag

by ohlittlerabbit

Much like journals and gift cards, we think tote bags are endlessly useful. The totes from the Oh, Little Rabbit shop at Etsy are especially swoon-worthy. With a massive number of design options, these organic cotton totes will get your employees plenty of compliments at the grocery store, farmers’ market, library, or wherever else they take their roomy tote bag.

11. Candle Set

by Anthropologie

With 8 exotic scents, you’re sure to find something everyone will love with these gorgeous handmade candles. They come in sets of three, and feature colorful, beautifully-designed tin containers.

Each candle is 3.5 oz, and 2.75″H, 2.75″ diameter.

12. Chocolate

by GODIVA Chocolatier

Anyone who doesn’t like fancy chocolates can just drop them off here, because MAN they’re awesome. Especially the Godiva variety.

Each little truffle is like its own present just waiting to be unwrapped! This box has flavors like toasted nut truffle, salted almond, salted caramel, crunchy hazelnut, Aztec spice, dark chocolate, strawberry cream tarte, and many more.

Perfection. Rhymes with confection. Coincidence? Doubtful…

13. Cute Hand Sanitizer Spray + Refill

by Anthropologie

Hand sanitizer doesn’t have to compromise on style, as Anthropologie proves. Your employees will get lots of compliments on these uniquely-designed sanitizer spray bottles every time they use it. Which, let’s face it, is a lot right now.

The bottle holds over 500 sprays, and the sanitizer is 65% alcohol fortified with glycerin and aloe to keep your hands from cracking and falling off, especially during the winter months! PLus it’s refillable.

14. Flowers

by Bouqs

Like chocolates, we happen to think flowers are always a good gift, especially if they’re plantable. Bouqs has great selections all year-round that are perfect for saying ‘thanks’, as well as special occasion bouquets for birthdays, holidays, and other noteworthy moments.

15. Wall Art

by Minted

With literally hundreds of unique, individually-designed pieces, you’re bound to find something for any employee’s tastes at Minted. We really love the fact that each work of art has been handcrafted and designed by an independent artist, not mass produced from a warehouse somewhere.

You can support an artist and thank your employees – a win/win.

Urban Outfitters Employee Appreciation 2020

16. Monogrammed Socks

by Uncommon Goods

Snuggly socks are always appreciated as a gift, and when you have them embroidered with your employee’s initials, they’re even better! These particular socks come in a set of five pairs, and are fitted for men, but we can’t think of any reason they wouldn’t be just as appropriate for women, too.

Happy Gifting!

When Is Anthropologie Employee Appreciation Rate

As the boss, you’re the captain of the ship. The leader of the crew. The big cheese. One of the responsibilities of a role like that is knowing how to keep everyone happy and motivated.

So take notes about your folks and their tastes, then keep them in mind so when the holidays or birthdays roll around, you’ll be prepared with a thoughtful gift.

That’s where a good journal comes in handy (for your note taking).

Urban Outfitters Employee Appreciation

And coffee.

See? Told you we know our stuff.