If you have a good store manager it's a brilliant company to worl for.
Pros
The store teams are the heart of the company, fellow associates is often the reason people stay so long. The customers who really get us are the best. The regular shoppers often make your day they understand the uniqueness of the company and the stock we get, they can often turn a miserable day into an enjoyable one. The 10% discount is good considering it's already cheap and then a few times a year they do double discount for friends and family. Company pension plan.
Cons
Everything changes on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. and it's not just the layout of the stores. They are constantly changing policies and operating procedures. Instructions come from head office but management several layers above decide how they want implement it and even down to whether the store manager wants to do it. You'll get told 'oh no we can't do that' then next week you're getting an earful because you haven't done it. Store management are spineless no-one will disagree with district or regional management above them because they know there lives can be made hell. At the drop of a hat you can be changed stores to one 40 miles away. Team Leaders are expected to act as store managers, you need to know everything they do. Often their responsibilities are passed onto you simple because they don't want to do it. but you're only earning a pittance above a normal sales associate. If you dare to ask for a payrise you're told you need to jump through an endless number of hoops to prove you deserve one. so good by to any home or social life. There is no open pay structure you find team leaders in other stores are on huge amounts of money because they work a while in a big store then transfer to a small store, then any new team leaders start on that same wage as that team leader. Team leaders get a payrise in line with inflation while some associates had a payrise of 12% meaning a team leader earns only £50 more per month than a full time associate. On days off you're bombarded with whatsapp messages from the district management team sometimes 100+ a day then store management team and lastly store associates are bombarded with store related information on facebook groups. You're ostracised if you choose not to be involved in any of these and goes against you in reviews.