The founder Rick Forman, of Forman Mills, which is a discount clothing store. Forman
Mills is now currently sitting at a quarter billion dollar a year discount apparel chain which is
growing extremely fast in the market, it’s a flea market kind of setting. Rick says the purpose is
that he wants more excitement and says nobody can beat their rates because they are the absolute
best. Forman Mills currently have 35 stores in the regions of the mid-Atlantic, but Mills wants to
try and double that number of stores in the next year, and he wants to go undercover and see how
he can help grow the company and make some vital changes to the work place. He says he’s
going undercover mainly because he wants to sort out issues head on before their big growth in
the future and see what the problems are. Forman Mills started when his family at home when he
was younger was into making clothes but they struggled with money so Mills decided he would
make money at the flea market. Forman opened stores into the inner city when no one else
wanted to because they had no idea it would grow this fast. Forman discusses that each store
offers around 120 jobs. Forman says people who work for him see him as an intimidating boss
and has no filter, and he seems like a total jerk that is very un-organized.. Forman currently has
three daughters one of which has special needs which keeps him a little busy at times. He goes
undercover as a retired football coach and gets a toupee and a mustache to fit the part a little
more and blend in.
Rick heads to a low-performing store in Chicago and meets a sales associate of the store
Mshinda. She says he looks like he’s from a 70s sitcom and from another planet, and doesn’t
look like he belongs here. Undercover Forman says he has ADD and can’t really focus, Mshinda
tells him several times that he needs to stay focused and to get focused. Mshinda says she can’t
ever see him running his own company, but she says he could run a circus because he looks like
a clown. Mshinda teaches him how to handle price checks, and he says the price check system is
so old-fashioned and hard to work with, it takes him a extensive time to find certain things and
says it’s no wonder the store is failing, and blames in on the employees’ of the store. Mshinda
then notifies him that there are no incentive programs there and says the workers aren’t happy
with the way things are going at this point. Mshinda says she can’t work full time at the store
because she currently has a second job at a hospital because she has people to support at home
and she does what she has too to survive in the world. Forman has a lot of respect for her and
knows how hard she works and is impressed with her hard work and dedication.
Forman then goes to his distribution center in New Jersey, where the merchandise comes
before it goes to the stores and is put out. He says the shortage of technology in the stores is
frightening him and it’s his fault. Foreman first meets with Elizabeth who coordinates back
stock, she teaches him how to wrap a pallet. Elizabeth states how terrible he is at it and how he is
