The Pantry Reviews

Former Employee – worked at The Pantry

Pros – There are no good reasons to be employed by The Pantry also known as Kangaroo Convenience Stores.

The company is more concerned about cutting costs at every level to a degree that is comparable to a slum landlord that never wants to fix anything wrong at their locations under any circumstances if they are not forced to by any regulatory agencies.

Cons – Business operations of this company are less than professional by most standards set forth in this industry. Management consists of ill-equipped flunckies attempting to take a more significant market share of the convenience store and gasoline retailer market which they will never achieve due to their lack of professional business acumen.

How many managers does it take to re-arrange the merchandise in a Kangaroo store? Just the ones that only graduated from high school...seems rather crowded in there...

711 has nothing to worry about.

Employees are treated with a standard that is equivilent to a prisoner in custody. Literally with no rights of communication to the management without reprecusions. **But its in their employee handbook...right! Over worked and over scheduled their sales associates and managers are to the point of not only exhaustion but most managers have suffered extreme abuse with little to no time off and have had major illnesses occur and have suffered a multitude of others injuries due to overwork, over demands of management and in many cases unsafe working conditions that exist in many of their stores.

A prime example of employee abuse...Don't get sick on the job site and need to leave immediately one must do the shift change and report on the computer before leaving the premises to take care of themselves.

A manager actually take their vacation??? that is due to them...some have gone years and have had to give up their vacation time or risk loosing their jobs...management makes no offer to the long standing employee for alternatives. Due to policies by the company that are in place which prevent store managers from having an assistant manager in place for coverage due to cost cutting budgets, no time to train due to single coverge shifts and a small dangled carrott for a monthly bonus for saving on labor.

First impressions mean everything...just walk into a Kangaroo...The company does not invest any money in updating their stores. Many stores within the chain that have significant unsafe working conditions from a lack of cleanliness to down right dangerous fixtures within the stores that have caused injuries to their employees. Just down right dingy and dirty.

An employee has been injured or becomes sick or cannot perform a certain fuction no one including the store managers and all the way up the management ladder take any concern of care whatsoever. There's just no time and the general attitude is if you can't do it take a demotion or leave. Tenure with the company has no preference with management.

No sick day benefits at this company until you have slaved at the job 1 year...then for the next year you can be sick 3 days! Hold on now there's more to get excited about.

Throughout the company there is rampant cost cutting of not only merchcandise standards and more significantly the over scheduled over worked associates all in the name of single shift coverage to save on their labor.

Candy at Kangaroo? still selling off to the public candy that is years old well past a expiration date from the manufacturers.

Many of the stores in any given location are frequented by local drug dealers and in some cases actual drug deals are completed transactions in their stores. Management in general look the other way even when tried and true customers voice their dissatisfaction with the lack of company intervention to rid the locations of illicit activities. The companies view of the situation is blamed on a lack of police presence.

Due to the drug dealers that frequent their store locations it puts the working associates in higher than nomal dangerous working conditions increasing the chances of a hold up or more serious possible consequences in working for the company.

The companies Loss Prevention employees use tactics of intimidation and very volatile interrogation procedures of suspected shrink by associates that are not documented or go unsubstantied that threaten the associates job and well being.

The company does suffer large shrink losses most due to to lack of proper security in conjunction with operating single coverage shifts which gives way to a more uncontrollable consumer theft.

With dramatic cost cutting procedures being implemeted at all levels throughout the company the "at store level managers" are being tasked to do more an more without any further employee benefits or compensation indeed creating the over worked employee.

Want a snack and a cold drink? Sitting at a red light with a Kangaroo on the left and a 711 on the right...even vendor representatives that service Kangaroo do say... go right young man go
right to the 711...

Advice to Senior Management – Quite simply become an employee friendly employer by offering benefits or compensation in wages that are comensurate with the increased demands of work load.

Mr. Sodini...come down off your corporate throne stop being the slum landlord employer for the convenience store gasoline retailer market...it just might change your bottom line.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at The Pantry part-time for more than a year

Pros – if your a people person its good because you get to talk to many different people.and it was close to home so my gas bill was low.i likes the store manager they were nice.it is a big corp. so you know the company will be there.there is room to move up if you want to.

Cons – well for starters the pay is very poor also you never know when your working from week to week.could be morning one day afternoon the next and overnight the day after, the company dont care bout its employees.i was there two years and never got full time.its hard to raise kids not knowing what time you have to work everyday.no benefits for part time .the problem with moving up in this company is store mgr. dont make as much as they should for the stuff they have to do.

Advice to Senior Management – you should hire people for each shift only that one shift so they know when they work every day, they should also make some employees full time

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at The Pantry full-time for more than a year

Pros – Growth opportunities and compensation is fair for those who have the skills needed.

Cons – Staffing never enough associates working due to labor cost restrictions.

Current Employee – been working at The Pantry

Pros – It's a job and you get paid weekly.

Cons – This company is pretty bad all around. It's more focused on sales and money than it is it's customers and the well being of it's employees.
Training, if you can call it that, is horrible and many people are ill prepared to do their jobs effectively and efficiently.
There are many other issues, just don't have the time or patience to type it all out. At the end of the day, working for this company will mentally exhaust you.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at The Pantry

Pros – The people make it such a great place to work. A very solid company who values its employees. The company consistently strive to keep innovating and improving the customer experience as well as the employee experience. I know first hand that if you work hard and do a good job, you will have greater rewards and opportunities afforded to you. We are the Apple of retail (convenience stores and gas).

Cons – The only downside I have experienced is that it is still a job. I may not have been with the company long enough to have discovered more cons, but this company truly values their people and strives for excellence each and every day. We have a new CEO and there is always some uncertainty with a new top dog, but all the whispers thus far are very favorable.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep up the good work and please continue to reward us for quality work, especially those of us in the trenches serving the field.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at The Pantry

Pros – I like to stay busy and in my role there is never a dull moment. There is always something to be done, customers to greet, etc. No day is ever the same and I love working with our customers!

Cons – Like every job you have your good and bad days. Luckily the bad days are not so bad that there are other places I would rather work.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at The Pantry

Pros – Working at Kangaroo Express (The Pantry is the parent company) has been a pretty good experience for me. I work in a store as a manager, and like most retail jobs, you have to have a sense of urgency when working with customers. The company is really trying to clean up the stores and is focusing on selling more fresh food and coffee. I have been treated fairly by my District Manager, and for the most part I work 45-50 hours per week. Salary and bonus are good. I have heard that the management training program has improved since I joined the company.

Cons – Sometimes we are short-handed when someone calls out sick.

Advice to Senior Management – A tuition reimbursement program would be nice.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at The Pantry

Pros – wages for store mgrs okay

Cons – labor is cut to the point that you can't take care of your customers effectivley.

Advice to Senior Management – IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE!!!!!!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at The Pantry

Pros – You may be able to move up quickly as employees are constantly quitting in disgust, as long as you don't get pigeon-holed for being "too important in your current position".

Cons – Labor is cut nearly to the point of noncompliance with health codes.
Employees are expected to ignore franchise quality rules when inspectors aren't around in order to lower food costs.
Management is expected to keep product inventories low to the extent of running out of product, requiring them to buy supplies from the grocery store out of pocket.
Salaried managers are warned that their salary still comes out of labor budget if they take time off, making vacations nearly impossible.

Advice to Senior Management – Allow reasonable food inventory levels during peak seasons.
Establish a minimum labor budget for food service that may not be cut by District Managers.
Set reasonable goals for food cost % and work closely with problem stores so model stores don't have to pick up the slack.
Allow managers to take earned vacation time without affecting labor budgets or bonuses, and communicate this to DM's.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at The Pantry

Pros – This company has come a long way in improving work conditions in the 10 years I have worked for them.
The new CEO seems to care about store conditions and the reputation of the company. I love my customers they are the reason I go to work each day. Salary is average for the industry.

Cons – Long hours, not enough labor hours, I feel all shifts should be double covered for safety. Fighting to make bonus even when sales are up and labor is down.

Advice to Senior Management – Gold & Silver Stores need double coverage if you want Clean, Fast & Friendly Service.
Make assoicates happy, give them a contest each quarter, or a small bonus. Something Extra is needed to keep good assoicates.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend