Container Store Reviews

Pros

Co-workers are educated and interesting
Higher than average retail pay
Benefits for part-time retail better than average

Cons

You are expected to arrange your entire life around the store-if you want to be liked and respected.
They would prefer you to be available 5am until 12:30 am 7 days a week.
High pressure sales for a sales job with no commission.
Management is quite incompetent, often has less knowledge about how to complete tasks than many of the part time employees. Management likes to delegate, but not get involved-if possible. When they do get involved, they micro-manage like crazy, which hurts more than it helps. Good employees have been forced out, because of petty Manager dislikes. Favoritism is VERY obvious.

Advice to Senior Management

When I started working at TCS, I thought I had hit the jackpot. I believed all of the encouragement given to us during foundation week, everything that was said about caring about us as employees and caring about our customers. I thought they supported me as a person outside and inside the store. I felt privileged to have been hired. Then slowly-but surely, I saw the true colors of the company. I know some of the issues at my store have to do with my particular Manager, Store Managers and Area Director. I have heard much better things about working at other locations around the US and that other locations embody the principles and culture much better. I finally realized that I had to "play the game" to get by and stay sane. I had hoped it would eventually get better, with different leadership, etc. Unfortunately it hasn't. I feel more and more pressure to up-sell, instead of giving the customer what they want and need. I am great at getting our customers the best solutions we have for their needs, but I do not up-sell for increased $'s sake.The focus is now the numbers, and is thinly veiled as "giving the customer what they deserve".
Recently, The Container Store has been posting info on their website about it's "yummy" culture. If they want to have the best of the best, 1=3 employees, they need to realize that if they expect their employees to have 24/7 availability, the culture will erode. People will apply and take the job, but keep looking for something else that isn't so demanding. The best of the best will not want to work at The Container Store.
The computerized scheduling system does not seem to be working to The Container Store's advantage. If it is possible to give Full Time employees regular schedules, why can't the same be done for part time employee? Perhaps that would eliminate the amount of time the managers and general managers seem to need to spend on the scheduling.

Pros

Foundation Principles
great recruiting bonuses
Abililty for part-time employees to make decisions without running everything by the manager
Opportunities for leadership roles
Empowered employees are able to work with confidence

Cons

It is a physically demanding job, when you are working the merchandise processing shifts. Even though a video is presented during the group interview, the MP shift seems to make or break a person's ability to succeed in the company.

Advice to Senior Management

There is a big disconnect between what corporate hopes for and the front line employee actually experiences. I would recommend more communication/feedback about job performance throughout the year rather than at the annual review. Also, give more credit to your full-time staff. They effectively run the store without the need to be micromanaged by management/corporate.

Pros

Pay is higher than the average retail.
Health benefits are available to all employees.
They also offer pet insurance.
Great discount policy.
Fellow employees are like family.
Most product quality make it easy to sell

Cons

They do not have employee parking, so you have to walk at least 1/2 mile if you drive or 1/4 mile if you ride the train or pay $6.00 a day to park in a lot.
Things started great 4 years ago when the theory was to take care of your employees. But the last year changed dramatically. 1 equals 3 is the official motto. One great employee equals 3 regular employees, but that has now changed, unofficially, it is 1 equals 5. Being a two story store, it needs to be staffed with at least 4 to 5 people to give good customer service, but there were many days we only had 3 to 4 people, having on on the register, and one on the second floor and a manager. So many times customers complained there was no one on the sales floor to help.
Not to mention the unrealistic sales goals, yes, I know they are in the business to make money, but too much is spent on changing the store layout every few months...they should save the money on the labor of the constant changes and keep the money on the employees so that we can service the customers! I could go on and on about the changes in the store, but I won't, better to use my energies elsewhere.

Advice to Senior Management

None, their hands are tied. They have to follow the rules set by Texas.

Pros

PT and FT staff are great to work with. Many of the employees truly care what happens in the store and want to do a good job.

Cons

Managers can not get schedule posted when they are supposed to. Managers spend more hours upstairs than on the floor. Managers rely on FT to run the sales floor. Managers will print out job discriptions showing you what they expect from you but do not know what their job discriptions are. They spend less than 25 percent of their time on the floor. Managers wear walkies and will try to manage the floor from the break room. Managers will coach you on your coaching yet fail to follow up on anything you have been working on with the PT staff. Managers rely on FT feedback in order to write PT reviews because they don't know anything about their pt staff, do to lack of floor presence. The focus on selling elfa is crushing the orignal idea of the company. If someone comes in looking for a travel bottle. We are supposed to ask them where they store their suitcases, and try to sell them a closet for at least 2000 because they just don't know that's what they really want. "Its what they want need and deserve" the customer could not possibly need the 2 dollar item they came in for!
Managers do not plan ahead when it comes to holiday help. They wait till the last min hire people and try to train them during our busy december weeks, while cutting PT hours because they are not making payroll due to their late in the game new hire training. We all know the busy season is comming why can't you plan ahead and hire before it gets busy? That way the people are ready to go when we need them.

Advice to Senior Management

Take a look at your job discription are you doing what the company says you should be doing? If we say we post 3 weeks of the schedule then it should be done. If we mess up on anything I'm sure to have 2 or 3 people point it out to me. Why are the same standards not used on you? Get out on the sales floor or work a truck find out what's going on in your store instead of sitting in meetings all day. Btw if you are always upstairs why can't the schedule EVER get posted in a timely manor?! When the company had an AC they could get it done! Why can't 3 to 4 "managers" get it done?

Pros

Same as most reviews. The discount, people you work with, the satisfaction you get out of (or rare recognition you receive) from really helping a customer.

Cons

Store management seems so detached from what goes on outside the break room, other than closely monitoring the numbers, of course. The huddles are tedious, especially now that they run 10 minutes and continue to include the childish role play. We get it. Connect with the customer...Open-ended questions...Steer them to elfa. And please please please, we beg of you PLEASE post the schedule in a more timely manner.

Advice to Senior Management

- Try to see the results that the constant micro-managing is producing. Very few of the employees need to be constantly treated like it's their first week on the job. This hurts morale.
- Work to minimize the favoritism in the treatment of the FTers vs the PTers. The difference in the contribution is not nearly as big you make it, but the recognition seems to be. This hurts morale
- Realize that each employee does not have open-ended availability to TCS. The petty threats of decreased hours when you dare to ask to not work both weekend days week after week is insulting. This hurts morale.
- See above about the schedule. The delay in posting the weekly schedule is shameful. The lack of respect for our lives outside of TCS is maddening. This hurts morale.

Pros

They have a flexible schedule and allow part timers to purchase some health insurance. Employees get at least a 40% discouont on products.

Cons

Nepotism, favoritism, and the rewarding of snooping and "tattling" on so-workers. Environment is "Faster! Faster!" with significant risk of injury while unloading trucks. The annual review process is an insult, and the percentage raise concept is equally insulting.

Advice to Senior Management

Do a regression analysis of profits per team member and you will find the managers protect themselves with "good" employees.

Pros

TCS has some great employees, so you're most likely going to be surrounded by people that you'll want to hang out with after work even after spending a whole shift together.

Cons

Hard work is not rewarded in the company. Recognition is given to the people who can effectively use their "vocabulary" rather than those that have proven themselves as strong leaders and faithful employees. Throw around phrases like 'gumby' and 'second pair of eyes' and you'll gain more praise than if you actually work hard. While there's a constant stream of communication; e-mails, voicemails, newsletters...actual feedback can be pretty passive. I'm not sure if it was only my store, but there seemed to be a managerial mentality to let someone else deal with it. Foundation training consists of a week long group training to instill the TCS mentality, and full-time opportunities are boasted as the incentives to being a strong employee, yet when a position for full-time opens, it is filled by an outside applicant, rather than through promotion. And unless you are full-time, your hours are not going to be consistent. In fact, during the holiday season TCS cut hours of part-timers while hiring new staff to cover for the holiday rush.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop hiring outside work for full-time staff and promote from within

Pros

higher than average hourly rate for full-timers and prime timers
foundation principles is a positive base for work and in life

Cons

successive raises are in coins. will take years to accumulate a $1 raise.
foundation principles diminish in importance compared to sales goals
favoritism is rampant and affects morale of "team"
follow the company line or else
lack of accountability

Advice to Senior Management

Be professional
Stop playing favorites.
Staff is working very hard to achieve sales successes.
They are going above and beyond. "Atta Boy" and "Good Job" doesn't cut it.
Will lose more good people if segregation of the favorites from the rest continues.

Pros

The people are by far the best part of working in the stores followed by being surrounded by fun products. The day to day can be a variety of activities which is always nice- especially if you're on the visual merchandising side.

Cons

You have to have a strong management team in order to get the full TCS culture.

Advice to Senior Management

Be supportive- don't take advantage of your great workers.

Pros

The overall working environment is welcoming, positive, and energizing. The employees are indeed wonderful to work with and once you get the swing of things they are willing to help you in any way possible.

Cons

Because the employees are so tight-knit be aware that their behavior may seem cliquish at times. The manager's I dealt with talked about employees-personal problems, work shortfalls with me and others, and this made me wonder what they were saying about me behind my back. Other than this loved working for this company!

Advice to Senior Management

Be open and honest with the people that work for you. Being judgmental of others can create a harsh work environment for your employees. Home office leadership is wonderful and I think most stores do a great job.