Trying To Make Ends Meet

Several Americans who have a job can barely make ends meet. That describes Angel's predicament, who, at 25 years of age, hit one of life's proverbial roadblocks. She once had a job working at a restaurant, and it helped her get by.

Already a mother of two, Angel's life began to change when she found out that she was expecting her third child. Sadly, her condition wouldn't allow her to keep working, and she ended up losing her job. That's when she found herself penniless, without a roof over her head, and with two children relying on her to make things work.

Down On Her Luck

With two children and another on the way, her best option was a homeless shelter. It wasn't how she had envisioned her life turning out, but it kept them off the streets. Soon, Angel had her third child, and the young family continued living at the homeless shelter.

Weeks turned into months, and it didn't seem like Angel would find a way out of her predicament. The state of homelessness in America worsens each year, and an even sadder fact is that one out of every 30 children living in the States didn't have a place to call home.

A Glimmer of Hope

A majority of people have the misconception that homeless people don't work, when in fact, a large percentage of homeless folks work up to two jobs. The sky-rocketing cost of housing is usually the leading reason behind homelessness, and that was also Angel's situation.

The one thing she never lost throughout the ordeal was her can-do attitude. It helped her maintain a positive outlook on life, and that’s precisely what she needed to pick herself up. She never stopped looking for a job, and it wasn't long before she landed one. It gave her the strength to keep fighting for a way out.

New Beginnings

The National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC) states that the nation has lost one-eighth of its supply of low-incoming housing since 2001. Millions of families have to spend half of their household's monthly income on rent. It doesn't help that since 2008 five million homes have been foreclosed, translating to one in every 10 mortgaged homes.

Resiliency is what has seen many Americans facing similar issues through unpredictable times. Angel was part of the statistics and was working hard to turn her fate around. She started working as an associate at the New York-based Modell's Sporting Goods store.

Winds Of Change

Taking the sales associate job meant that Angel's fortunes would soon turn, but her young family still had to put up at the shelter. Established by Morris Modell 132 years ago, the sporting goods store served the Northeastern United States area.

Sadly, it was amongst the companies that were hard hit by the tough period the world faced in 2020. They filed for bankruptcy and chose to liquidate their 134 store locations. By August 2020, the sporting goods retailer had closed shop. Fortunately, the company soon relaunched as an online retailer.

Undercover Boss

Long before Modell went under, the company's CEO Mitchell Modell created a memorable impression. He appeared on an episode of the fourth season of the reality series Undercover Boss aired in November 2012.

As the title implies, the show sees business executives infiltrate their companies covertly as entry-level staff members to get some behind-the-scenes intel on how they operate on a ground level. The aim is to discover any shortcomings the business might have. The businesses that feature on the show are assured that it won't damage their reputation. That's how Angel found herself as an unknowing participant of the show.

A Quick Study

The episode of the CBS reality series that featured the Modell store had Mitchell appear in disguise as a man called Joey Glick. Mitchell got into character by shaving his head and donning an oversized walrus mustache.

To make his disguise more convincing, Glick claimed that he was an entrepreneur who wanted to venture into the sporting goods industry after closing a pizza shop. Therefore, he turned to Modell's, hoping to learn the ropes. Fortunately, he got the best person to mentor him on everything related to running a sporting goods store.

Understanding The Company Values

Angel took up the challenge to train "Glick" and told him how customer service is a crucial part of any successful business model. Joey was a quick study, but it's Mitchell, the CEO, who was more impressed by Angel's work ethic.

What caught his attention was how the values that the management team had trickled down to the staff members working at their stores. He was also taken by Angel's customer service skills and overall enthusiasm. The particular episode aired when the Northeast was struck by Hurricane Sandy, leaving millions without power.

A Day In The Life Of A Modell Associate

The episode saw Mitchell visiting the company's Connecticut and Washington D.C. locations. Mitchell even drove forklifts and operated the cash register to understand how day-to-day runnings of the business. He also served as a shipping clerk, stock boy, and sales associate.

Seeing how the front lines operated and working alongside some of the company's lowest-paid associates served as an eye-opener for both Mitchell and the business. He explained that CEOs always wonder what their employees think about the company and what their typical days look like. He undoubtedly got the answer he was looking for.

A Great Listener

Throughout the training process, Angel didn't have an idea that she had just taken the company's CEO through the ins and outs of running his business. Angel's reception also reflected the principle of customer service beyond just teaching Glick about it.

Even more endearing was how she listened to his explanation about why he had to close his imaginary store. Glick said that his food business faced stiff competition on the street where it was located. Hearing him share the hurdles he'd gone through, Angel felt inclined to open up about her own situation.

Making Progress

Their conversation took a turn when Angel decided to use her personal experiences to offer Glick words of encouragement. She told him about losing her former job at a food establishment and raising three children at a homeless shelter.

She said that things were worse when they didn't have a roof over their heads and nothing to eat. From her point of view, staying at the shelter was progress, and it gave her hope that better things were in store. Angel had more wise words to share with Glick.

Moved To Tears

Angel added that things get better if you have the drive to keep working on things. It explained her situation because she kept working hard to get her family out of the shelter. She told Glick that if he kept pushing, things have a way of working themselves out, and it all gets better in the end.

Behind the disguise, Mitchell took Angel's words to heart, and he was moved to tears. She didn't have to go out of her way to offer advice to someone she was training, let alone use her personal life as an example.

Identifying Braveness in Others

Angel continued by telling Glick that she thought that he was brave. She said that despite the ups and downs he faced, Glick kept moving forward. In an actual sense, she was the one who was truly brave.

Despite everything she had going on in her personal life, Angel turned up to work each day and gave it her best. When tasked with mentoring another employee, she not only gave them a rundown of how the business operated but took the time to encourage them about how to approach life in general. That's why Mitchell felt that he had to repay the generosity.

More Than Life’s Lessons

Angel was just sharing her truth without having a clue that her life would change completely. Mitchell would later say that the way Angel opened up served as a teachable moment for him.

Viewers of the reality series also hold a skeptical view about it and always wonder what comes from it in the end. In Angel's case, everyone got to see how the show impacts the executives who are featured and their employees. Mitchell paid Angel a visit after the episode aired bearing gifts.

A Valued Staff Member

Mitchell wanted to show Angel how much he valued her contributions to the company despite what she went through in her personal life. Mitchell surprised her with an assortment of items that would help her as well as her family out.

He gave them brand new mattresses, but that was just to add to other gifts he had presented to her following the airing of the Modell episode on Undercover Boss. Best still, he visited them in the house that they had been able to move into after finding out about Angel's situation.

Dropping The Ruse

When Angel told Glick about her life, Mitchell felt like he had to but come clean about his ruse. Mitchell explained that, fortunately, he was in charge of deciding how much associates were paid, and he could do something to help Angel out.

When the episode came to an end, he revealed his true identity and offered Angel a raise. He added a $14K bump to her annual salary, and it came with a promotion. Angel would start working as an assistant manager. That wasn't the end of it because Mitchell still had more surprises for her.

Finally Getting A Way Out

Learning that one of the company's employees was homeless broke his heart. He wanted to do more than just help her progress within the company, so he gave her a way out of the homeless shelter.

On top of the raise and promotion, Micthell presented Angel with a $250K check to help her move her family into their own home. The clips from the moment have circulated online, showing Angel’s reaction to her boss's generosity. She’s overcome with emotion and keels over as soon as Mitchell gives her the great news.

The Next Chapter of Life

When the episode concluded and Mitchell revealed his identity, he'd invited Angel to the Queens-based Citi Field. He told her that she deserved it all as he fought through tears. Everyone who watched the episode or just clips capturing Angel's story couldn't agree more.

Angel represented the millions of Americans struggling with homelessness and doing their best to turn things around. It hasn’t stopped everyone from wondering what happened to Angel since then and what changes Modell made to stop history from repeating itself for the rest of their employees.

What of Other Employees?

At the time, Glassdoor estimated that a Modell employee earns an average of $24K annually. While the figure meets the threshold for an American retail worker, the sum is $20K less than what other average American workers bank each year. In 2012, the company recorded $680M in revenue.

The episode might have been an eyeopener to the company about reviewing their employees’ salaries. But it might have been too late to implement necessary changes given that the company went belly up seven years down the line. However, they are not down and out because their relaunch under Retail Ecommerce Ventures promises to help them land back on their feet.

Adopting Life Changes

Angel told the New York Post that she was excited to have the keys to a place that she can finally call home. As for Mitchell, he admitted that spending the time doing the heavy lifting as part of the show made him come to realizations about his health.

The physical demands of the job made him decide that he needed to lose weight to stay healthy. When he appeared on the show in November 2012, he tipped the scale at 305 pounds. When the Post interviewed him in March 2013, his weight had gone down to 245 pounds just by working out and eating right.

Corporate Changes

Mitchell also took the lessons he learned from appearing on the show and implemented some changes in the business. He changed Modell's customer service approach as one of the strategies to boost their profitability, for starters. A wide range of other changes also helped steer the company in a good direction.

He also urged other American executives considering going on Undercover Boss to do it in a heartbeat. Mitchell explained that working in the front lines gives the people at the top a different perspective about how their businesses operate.

Underhand Dealings

It seems like Mitchell loved the experience of going undercover at his company so much that he decided to give it another try. However, instead of perhaps going undercover at another Modell’s location, he reportedly took the underhand route. He managed to infiltrate a rival sporting good company by false impersonation.

He allegedly infiltrated Dick's Sporting Goods store by pretending that he was one of the retailer's senior executives. The incident happened in February 2014 at Dick's store based in New Jersey. It ended up landing him in trouble with the law.

An Illegal Undercover Operation

Once again, Mitchell masqueraded as someone else so that he could take a look behind the curtains. He reportedly managed to persuade Dick's employees to take him on a tour around their establishment. He even talked them into showing him the private back rooms to get an insight into how they run the business.

Just like he oversaw the shipping at his company while on Undercover Boss, Mitchell got Dick's employees to show him their online process. Mitchell didn't get away with his exploratory visit of the rival company, and in fact, they took him to court.

Facing The Law

Dick's filed a complaint against Mitchell seeking financial compensation of an unspecified amount. They also asked that Mitchell and his staff members should be barred from accessing the non-public areas at Dick's stores. Additionally, they also wanted a legal judgment preventing Modell from using any of the information gained from the visit.

During an interview with MarketWatch in November 2013, Mitchell explained that competition from larger companies with more resources pressured family-owned businesses like his. He added that they had to resort to offering doorbuster specials just to keep the business running, but the decision meant sacrificing profits.

A Family-Owned Business

Modell's has its roots in 1889 when Morris A. Modell opened its first doors. While still operating in 2020, the store was the third oldest North American-based sporting goods store. Morris was an immigrant from Hungary and a true reflection of the American dream at its best.

The first store location was in Lower Manhattan's Cortlandt Street while his brother George established The Modell pawn shops in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Throughout its operations, the company boasted of being a family-owned business and exchanged hands through four generations.

152 Stores at Its Peak

At its peak, Modell's had 152 stores operating in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. The chain had expanded to the District of Columbia, Delaware, Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maryland in recent years. They operated their flagship store near Times Square at 234 West 42nd Street.

The company sponsored a long list of professional sports teams, including the Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics, New York Rangers, and Philadelphia 76ers. Critics noted that the company's decline in the 2010s came mostly from the poor performance exhibited by the New York sports teams as well as the difficulties they had selling their merchandise.

Giving To The Business

Mitchell added that the declining sales that plagued the company were due to increased temperature as well as the poor performance recorded by professional sports teams. In May 2019, he dug into his pockets to lend the company $6.7M so that they could avoid going bankrupt.

It couldn't save the sinking business, and in February 2020, they announced that they would close 24 stores. They filed for Chapter 11 reorganization and soon reported the decision to close their remaining 134 locations. Hilo Streambank auctioned the defunct company's intellectual property, including their marketing jingle.

Rooted In History

Before going into the niche market of sporting goods, Modell's operated the Shopper's World line. It was a full-line discount retailer located in the New York metro region from the mid-'50s to 1989. They closed shop owing to the increased competition within the discount market.

The late William Modell, who was Mitchell's father, took ownership of the business in 1985. Alongside his wife Shelby, they established the volunteer-driven Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. Sadly, their son Michael who suffered from Crohn's disease, passed away in 2001.

A Failed Crowdsourcing Attempt

Mitchell attempted to keep the business running by trying to crowdsource, but his efforts were unsuccessful. He told Fox Business early in 2020 about the decision to sell equity for the first time in the history of the company. By then, the company had closed the doors to over 15% of its stores.

Mitchell followed through by posting a video online detailing how their financial struggles started and welcomed outside investors. Critics said that the desperate tone turned off potential investors. Like most critics called it, Modell's didn't survive, but they turned to the online space to keep the business running.

Uncertain Future

As for Angel and the rest of Modell's employees in general, not much is known about what she's up to these days, especially now that the business is no more. People who've come across the clips from the Undercover Boss episode that featured Modell's agree that it's one of the most heartfelt gestures they've witnessed.

It shows that humanity exists in all of us, and company executives can learn valuable lessons from their staff members. Mitchell also hasn't shared any updates about his next ventures since the company closed shop.