Pros

First the area: Sandpoint is amazing for anyone who likes the outdoors. Skiing, watersports, and wilderness are so accessible it's unbelievable. The company has a great PTO policy and in most groups the work/life balance is great, especially compared to typical retail companies.

Cons

The company struggles with too much top-down decision making (a relic of its entrepreneurial beginnings). There are no career paths and developing yourself can be frustrating. Right now the company is moving from startup mode to big corporation mode, and it's painful.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on people and how you'll build a consistent organization, where decision-making is systematized and spread among more than just the upper crust of management.

Pros

Great employee discounts! Associates are nice, most are very smart/competant. Excellant customer base. Very thorough training program. This is only good though if you have a good training manager.

Cons

of course long hours-it's retail. For hourly employees, if business is slow or not making numbers needed, we had to cut or send home early. Sometimes felt that changes/ideas implemented were not realistic. They were made by someone who never worked in a store and was out of touch with store realities.

Advice to Senior Management

Think fully how changes or ideas will work in store setting. May sound great in theory, but real execution or effectiveness is another.

Pros

The discount is very good.

Cons

Too many hours, due to budget being cut back for hourly employees. Focus on the stores is more operations focused than customer focused. For example: floor sets, manual markdowns.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen more to yur store managers.

Pros

The benefirs offered are excellent. The facility is newer and in good condition - the grounds are nice and well cared for. There are good co-workes for the most part. The customers are lovely to deal with and there is pride in the product offered.

Cons

Poor communication from management - no faith in HR dept - lot of special treatment for certain employees. There is very very low morale among the employees - a feeling of being afraid to speak because the repercussions could be pretty bad. There is partiality between management and a handful of employees that is unfair to the general working population. There seems to be more pressure from management than previously - some important projects have to be abandoned because of lack of work force and these often have an effect on our customers in the end.

Advice to Senior Management

Please communicate with employees - allow us to communicate with you - no one wants to speak up for fear they will be let go, written up, will be watched closely and reprimanded constantly. We are all aware of the need to show a profit, but sometimes it seems that we are expected to do the work of two people in order to keep cost down and the pressure is causing a downturn in loyalty.

Pros

The employee benefits are very generous. Fellow employees are always nice and are a joy to work with.

Cons

A very low pay cap. Management wants you to strive for an outstanding annual review so that you get a decent raise, but what happens when you hit the pay cap? What incentive do you have to stay at a company when there is such a low cap on the pay? The internal politics is extremely concerning making advancement morally impossible.

Advice to Senior Management

Appreciate the employees and compensate them for the hard work they do every day.

Pros

Well it location in North Idaho is the only thing I can think of and there are some really nice people working there. Its the upper management team that is a total joke.

Cons

Everything the place was a mess and you had to know people in management to get anything done. People are always scared there going to get fired because someone else isn't doing there job. It only takes you a week or two before you know you've made a mistake.

Advice to Senior Management

Save you cash your about to get canned

Pros

The training is exceptional and detailed. There is a lot to learn and it is usefull for a lot of other job opportunities. The benifits are outstanding, insurance benifits, and other perks like Employee Spa, Employee fitness center. Also a great Cafe' and Espresso stand that is very convienent. Also under construction is a parking garage. Almost all of the people who work there are wonderfull, the 'team' atmosphere is one of the big reasons that employees opt to stay.

Cons

Coldwater Creek is not nearly as flexable to thier employees as they expect thier employees to be to them. Every aspect of upper management is very inconsistent. Weather it be Annual reviews, repramands, or promotions. There is a feeling of disrespect of management to employees. Coldwater Creek expects more and more of thier employees and gives less and less. The salary is not very sutable for the job they expect to be done and even a stellar Annual Review (there is only one chance a year for a salary increase) will only gain you $1.00 ( the highest increase possable)

Advice to Senior Management

My advice would be that there should be a lot more respect and more flexability. This would result in a whole lot more loyality in thier employees. Also I think wage increases should be reconsidered as higer cost of living should result in higer wages.