Cratef & Barrel Don't Drink the Kool-Aid - Design Trainee Crate and Barrel Employee Review

3.0
13 Jun 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Crate & Barrel is a beautiful place to work...a place where the customer is put 1st. A place where friendships are born with the staff and the frequent customers that come in. If you love talking about merchandise with customers this is the place for you.

Cons

To be quite honest the pay is not the greatest. Promotions....you know the saying "it's all about who you know"....well here it's more like "how much are you liked" it's almost like a sorority. And Diversity....forget about it, in mangement @ the moment there are hardly any minorites. One more thing there are too many women which could lead to a lot of cattiness....a place that does not always put value on hardwork.

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1.0
29 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The only saving grace is the people I've worked with . Other than that I'd leave a negative star if I could.

Cons

The CEO Janet Hayes has taken away additional employee discounts . At a certain time of the year we used to get an additional 15% off on top of our regular discounts. GONE! If an in store customer would like to have an item that ships directly from the vendor we offer free shipping . If an employee would like to do the same not only do we have to pay for shipping but our discounts can no longer be applied . How low can you go? What a great way to motivate the employees and show us all that we are just numbers and you could care less about us . This company doesn't care about it's workers and I wouldn't tell someone I don't like to work there. Every location is experiencing high turnover as management is typically incompetent and focuses on all the wrong things. Training is laughable and most designers are thrown to the wolves with high expectations after a few videos . You can not make as much as advertised so don't waste your time. Most don't stick around more than 3-6 months . You have to have open availability and they don't care if you go to church or need family time . There will be no work life balance . Constant updates are always required . What are you selling ? What are your future sales ? How many cards have you opened or how many emails can you capture? How many in home visits have you made ? Speaking of which did you know they send women to in home visits by themselves without vetting clients in the store first ? Another huge potential lawsuit on the horizon.

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