Job despair turns to joy for Shrewsbury shop assistants
Job despair turned to joy for two Shrewsbury teenage shop assistants just an hour after they were handed their redundancy notices.
Tineka Frost, 18, and Cathy Coxon, 19, lost their jobs when the Darwin Centre’s troubled national ladies lingerie store, La Senza, shut its doors for the last time.
However, the girls, along with four other former La Senza employees, landed new retail assistant jobs with Turner’s Furniture in the adjoining Pride Hill Centre the same day.
Proprietor of Turner’s Furniture, Julie Turner, says taking on the former La Senza staff to fill the newly created vacancies at their new furniture showroom, was an easy decision to make.
She said: “It certainly wasn’t a difficult decision. We weren’t going to let six experienced, loyal and valuable members of staff slip through our fingers.
“These ladies know the town, they know their former customers and our customers, at least those who shopped at La Senza, know them.
“It’s extremely sad La Senza has closed but we are glad to have been able to take on six of the staff.
“Four have already started work and two, Maureen Field and her daughter Emily, are currently on the holiday of a lifetime in Australia. They will start work in the store when they return in the next few days.”
She added: “It’s not a matter of what you sell, whether its bras and knickers or tables and chairs, it’s all about customer service. And we are delighted our new members of staff are more than able to provide a first class service.”
Tineka Frost says, with youth unemployment steadily rising, she feared the worst when she learned she was being made redundant.
She said: “I was devastated to be honest, really down. I couldn’t believe it when I landed a new job just an hour later! I am so grateful to Turner’s for giving me, and my five colleagues, the chance of a new job.
“It’s a fabulous place to work, the atmosphere is lovely and I am learning as much as I can about the products I am now selling.
“However, it really is all about customer focus and that doesn’t change whatever you are selling in a retail environment.”
Cathy Coxon agreed saying she too thought she would struggle to find another retail sales role especially just after Christmas.
She said: “We came into work at La Senza to be told we were not opening and instead we had to box up the stock before taking redundancy. Then we heard Turner’s were possibly taking on staff so the six of us went around and within an hour we were back in work!
“I absolutely love it at Turner’s and am so grateful to be given a chance. I intend to repay their faith in me by working hard and being a success.
“The work environment is brilliant and there is so much help and advice available to us. And of course it’s wonderful that we all know each other so well.”
Russell Hall, Operations Manager for the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Centres, said: “It has been a really good outcome for the staff of La Senza and it’s great to see a local firm stepping in and creating employment in Shrewsbury.”
