Pros
Pay Work Environment Progressive Great Health Benefits It’s shocking how much better bare employees get paid compared to most other retail workers. I started at $14 when I began as a BA 5+ years ago. Since then I’ve worked my way up to assistant at $20/hr. That’s what keeps most people around anymore. At my store we had an incredible bond among teammates. We took care of each other to say the least. Work was fun, it was a chill environment.
Cons
Micromanaging Constant “Events” Booking goals Product variety Stock inconsistencies Worked there long enough to see the decline, pre-pandemic. Products get discontinued with no real reason - even if they’re best sellers. That has created a huge drop in customer loyalty, and a rise in frustration. Whoever is in charge of product development needs to go. Foundations keep getting more disappointing and have awful shade ranges across the spectrum. They cannot keep up when it comes to new product either, they have ALWAYS been 10 years behind it seems. Newness just isn’t “cool” or exciting, it’s always missing the mark. Employee perks used to be great - a boot camp for new staff taught them product knowledge and application - we got to travel and meet staff from all over. They also stopped the extra 25% off for employee anniversaries which was insulting. We seem less and less appreciated but the pressure to sell is greater than ever. Job security is non-existent. They’re closing stores left and right and leaving their employees stranded. The business culture is 100% online vs. boutique. Boutiques are losing badly. Corporate *should* absolutely be listening to boutique staff since we interact with customers daily and KNOW what they want. They don’t. They make us feel like mice. If they don’t make changes and find their identity again, business will keep going downhill.