Crate & Barrel Reviews

Pros

Beautiful work environment
Employees are great to work with

Cons

Low wages, poor benefits and upper management are in a time warp! They need to step into the future with technology, PR and best hiring practices.

Advice to Senior Management

Educate yourselves and the staff. Stop playing favorites and hire based on knowledge and competency. Pay wages that attract people that think and have a vision for the future or there won't be one.

Pros

You wear multiple 'hats' and learn many aspect of the business

Cons

No advancement within the company.

Pros

Fantastic merchandise and presentation, great communication from corporate office (and they do what they say they're going to do), fun atmosphere, encouraged to be autonomous and entrepreneurial, customer loyalty, user friendly systems, great marketing/catalogs, tons of product information available to sales staff, cross training among different departments

Cons

Compensation is well below industry average (particularly in furniture), some lack of communication and micro-management in my location; felt as though upper managers were threatened by rising managers who very capable and smart; favortism was obvious and led to some people being, or feeling, excluded; those who did not meet standards were not held accountable; inconsistencies in the way situations were dealt with, depending on the people involved; lack of strong management presence on sales floor despite an excessive number of managers

Advice to Senior Management

Spend enough time on the floor to experience first hand what your staff experiences; listen to ideas and feedback openly, without being threatened; show appreciation genuinely and often; set expectations and hold people accountable when they do not meet them.

Pros

Beautiful Merchandise
Looks excellent on a resume
Amazing sales staff
Fun job
Leader in the bridal business
Learned a lot about housewares and furniture

Cons

Terrible management at store level
Area designer is belittling and insecure
No appreciation or recognition for hard work
Stuck in "old ways"

Advice to Senior Management

Re-evaluate your area and store management teams. Just because someone has been around for 3 decades doesn't mean they're management material. When you're hiring the new graduates and younger associate to carry on the legacy, don't try to limit them and keep them down.

Pros

Great design, great products, good people.

Cons

Need "new" blood to help grow the business and always fall back on "it's always the way we do things".

Advice to Senior Management

Go cover when a store manager needs time off, be on the front lines again AND gain understanding.

Pros

For the most part employees and managers were great to work with - friendly and helpful. Plenty of training. Meetings on the weekends are informative. Nice welcoming atmosphere.

Cons

It can be labor intensive - those dishes and other product can get heavy. Some employees can get mad that you don't learn everything right away. Some of the work can get repetitive.

Advice to Senior Management

Have better solutions for stocking the floor and all that product that gets wasted when it breaks (such a shame).

Pros

good associate discount, public is eager to buy and mostly very nice, sales floor has a great atmosphere, some nice people to work with

Cons

The store was badly designed with the stockroom up two flights of stairs and a slow freight elevator. Sales associates are expected to dress "business casual" but are required to work in the warehouse lifting heavy merchandise, climbing ladders, etc. After getting sweaty going up and down the steps with merchandise, one has to make nice with customers. The computer inventory system is spotty at best.

Advice to Senior Management

Put a dumbwaiter in this type of store, and improve the computer system to send orders for customers and re-stocking to a dedicated order fulfillment warehouse associate.

Pros

When I first started I loved, LOVED my job...Benefits are great, GLBT friendliness throughout the store, decent pay for retail, and discount is great.

Cons

Micromanaging, lack of communication to office associates, managers are nice people with NO management capabilities. Only had 1 raise in over two years for $.25 even though my reviews were spotless. I was hired as customer service but fulfilled the role as Office Manager. When I asked if I could work towards being promoted I was told if someone asked I could call myself the Office Manager but it wasn't in the budget for the promotion. Then they internally moved someone from another position in the store and gave her the Office manager title and had me train her.

Advice to Senior Management

When I walk out of my job I am aware of the circumstances so PLEASE... do not call me, apologize (too little too late) and ask me to come back, and THEN once I accept retract the offer because of "negative feelings" throughout the store.

Pros

Everyone got along...everyone was very helpful if you had a question or needed help. Management was very friendly. Overall one of the better retailer to work for

Cons

No communication from Management regarding issues or praises if you did a good job. I think there is too much management. You have Store manager, Manager in training, Department managers and Floor managers.

Advice to Senior Management

I don't think there is a need for Floor/Houseware manager.

Pros

coworkers are great. fun environment. customers aren't too demanding. benefits package for full time employees is good. managers treat workers with respect.

Cons

the pay is way too low for the responsibilities. lots of secrets among upper management- useless. promotions not fair and promises aren't fulfilled.

Advice to Senior Management

Open up the lines of communication. Everything need not be a secret. Open your eyes to which employees are valuable and which are not before you promote.