Stay Away. Awful company to work for - Anonymous employee Sur La Table Employee Review

1.0
3 Dec 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

40% Discount Health benefits for full time employees

Cons

I worked for SLT for over 3 Years. As previous reviewers stated it is a dictatorship. I was "fortunate" to be part of the management team in one of the store. The upper management does not help the store level managers in no shape of form. They don't believe in paying the part time staff more than $8.50/H with a max of 15 hours a week but they do expect the staff to sell high prices items like Jura coffee machines which Cost between $2,000-$6,000. Poor working conditions, unstable ladders, Heavy merchandise stocked way up high and difficult to bring down for customers. Unrealistic goals set by the upper management. As part of the management team you're expected to coach the SA's for the entire of their 4.5 H shift and then keep daily notes for each SA while they are not aware of it. If you fail as a manager to do so you get coached and it reflects in your annual review. The DM manages from spread sheets, statistics and percentages, not based on the customer demand and demographics of the store therefore the goals are rarely met. He adds and removes payroll hours every day which creates confusion with the schedule and the staff. Regional and DM do not help in achieving goals instead they micromanage every single move giving no room for staff to think which is highly demoralizing and counterproductive. They encourage a very toxic environment with no concentration on working as a team. The company provides very little to no training for management or staff. If you are a robot this is the place for you but if you are a human being with education, point of view, experience and creativity you better find another place to work. There is no real care, incentive or respect for the employee. The only thing the company is concerned with is their Bottom Line. I was sick one time and the DM called and when I told him that I wasn't feeling good he told me to" have some Coffee and keep my team focused" ( Coffee is always the focus because we need to sell high priced coffee machines). Stay away from this company.

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5.0
21 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

This is a good job for benefits and teaching experience

Cons

Don’t have autonomy over cancelling classes

2.0
31 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Staff was friendly and willing to help through the hiring and training process, and tasks were shared evenly

Cons

Management implements rules that harm the flow of sales and make for terrible checkout lines. Scheduling was always done last minute and it was impossible have a stable work schedule due to last minute changes and no stable scheduling duties for managers

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