Benjamin Moore – “Good Paint Mediocre Job”

Pros

There are a few good reasons to work for Benjamin Moore...
First, most designers and a great deal of painters will agree that Benjamin Moore has the best color selection. When one shops for paint one is actually shopping for COLOR. Paint is just the vehicle that gets the color up there. Though they make a good PAINT too.

Second, they seem to be genuinely onboard with making the "greenest" paint possible with Nutura (sp?)which will be out soon. From what I'm told it will have a recycled can, soybased ink, zero VOC's, and all the colors can be made in it. It will be greenguard & greenseal certified I think. I would like to see a Life Cycle Analysis of the product. I think that's the true "green" or eco-friendly test...but I digress.

Third, It's really easy to sell a product that people come in needing anyway. Most of the people who come in are cool. It's mainly women and paint contractors who tend to be men. The contractors are no nonsense guys who just want a little personal service and a fair price. I give them both and that's why I am successful.

Overall, not a bad place to work...Good product, eco-friendly things in the pipeline, product sells easily, cool clientele.

Cons

There really isn't an opportunity to be upwardly mobile in the retail space working for someone else.
You may become Manager someday, but unless you are in Corporate you are capped for the most part. That's unless you are the store owner and then you are salary-capped only by how much paint is sold. That's assuming you want to own a store. Some people don't and that's O.K. too.

It can be very boring. Especially when sales are slow. This applies to the wintertime and in recession economies when people will delay home improvements, ie., RIGHT NOW. When making paint (or color, excuse me) the day flies by. I just want to be productive all day being . Is that too much to ask?

The pay is mediocre at best.

They just laid off a ton of people in the corporate office. It does not bode well for the humble employee when they are viewed as an expense rather than an asset.

Advice to Senior Management

Give your people more praises AND raises!