Stage Stores Reviews

Pros

Leader in the industry
Professional
Family oriented
Fun and Friendly atmosphere
Overall great company to work at
Promotion from within encouraged

Cons

At times the hours can be long

Pros

employee discounts, its close to home

Cons

not all store are ran the same, some store managers make up their own rules. its always so hot in the store no matter what time of the year it is. and employee hand book says if you work on a paid holiday you get time and a half and another day off with pay, but we never get that other day off with pay

Advice to Senior Management

treat and talk to your employees that been there for years and devoted to the company better

Pros

Home grown roots with focus on family. Small enough company to where you can make a change and your voice can be heard.

Cons

Very tough environment with little work life balance. Some areas better than others, however the rise in turn over across multiple departments is no accident.

Advice to Senior Management

Company moral is slowly diminishing. Management needs to step in and make a change before it's too late.

Pros

the store discount and store hours.

Cons

high turnover; managment not experienced to handle associates grievences, favortism, lack of advancement. lack of training.

Advice to Senior Management

To Provide Better Training for Management and Supervisors.

Pros

The company is moving toward the right things, and is growing to boot. They recognize your accomplishmets and there is a great reward with responsibilities.

Cons

The company is moving too fast in some regards, and it is difficult to take a breath before the next big project. There has been constant turn-over which can be exhausting. The retail industry doesn't pay the best, Stage is no different.

Pros

-Good benefits; has one of the better compensation packages for a retail company (to reiterate: for a retail company)
-Offer exercise programs, Weight Watchers, Bible studies during lunch hours or after work
-Summer hours (early release) on Fridays from Memorial Day to Labor Day
-Hired some of the best employees from Foley's (May Company) & Macy's (Federated Dept stores) so there are plenty of intelligent, capable people to learn from

Cons

-Long work hours; published hours are 8:30-5:30 but "face time" is very important to management, & the unofficial working hours are 8-6. Expect to work 50+ hours including through lunch.
-Extreme stress; part is due to the nature of the industry, most is due to managerial reactions to industry shifts. The phrase "swing from one ditch to the other" is common, & emergency recaps/projects with tight deadlines are the norm.
-Politics play key role in advancement opportunities; many openings are filled outside of company or people are chosen to fill a position without giving others chance to interview.
-Senior management appears to be very out of touch with the day-to-day operations of their workforce; weekly reports are due by 8:30 or 9 am on Mondays which means you either work a few hours on Sunday or get to work 7-7:30am Monday.

Advice to Senior Management

-Morale is low, turnover is high due to the fact that senior management doesn't appear to trust their employees to manage their businesses (as evidenced by the number of programs/plan changes dictated by management that are in addition to or take away from current business plans). IF there were more visibility to why these changes should be implemented it would be easier to work with them instead of feeling like our hands were tied.
-Work/Life balance used to be a key part of our corporate culture, with the management changes the new policy is work/work balance. Even with summer hours, most merchants work 45+ hours (in 4.5 days). Understanding this and extending deadlines to allow for 9 hour workdays would drastically improve morale.
-Put everyone (including senior management) on the same review guidelines. It is disheartening when only a few merchants bonuses due in part to the extra coupons added to drive sales (but reduce margins) yet the lowest bonus given to Sr management was $175K.

Pros

Friendly coworkers
Fast paced environment
Ability to run business without much interference from management
Pushed to think outside the box
Niche market

Cons

Rural location
Low compensation
Basic benefit package
Work/Home balance
Lack of training
Company morale
Lack of direction from upper management
Little support staff

Pros

They are a good company to work for. They care about their employees and try to be fair. They are getting better with communication out to the store level.

Cons

Downside- I wish they paid better and even though communication is getting better it is not where it needs to be yet.

Pros

Those at the corporate level know what their business, this is a fair company and the people in this company are fair, they are understanding and give praise where it is deserved. The rate of pay and bonuses are comperable to the performance of the individual. There is always a chance to move up in company as a person wants.

Cons

The floor plan changes are a down side, the people at corporate level don't seem to realize that all the stores are not the same size or flow the same.

Advice to Senior Management

There is no advice I could give to leaders, although it would be nice if we could carry size tall in the missy dept. and a better selection in womans and petites.

Pros

The store is small and it is like a family. Management is in tune to the associates personal needs as far as scheduling etc.

Cons

The biggest downside of working for Stage Stores is pushing the sales of magazines. I am not convinced that all customers understand that their account will be charged if they do not cancel when their free subscription expires.