Ulta Reviews

Pros

the ONLY good thing is you occasionally get free gifts. in the seven months that i've worked there, i have gotten a bottle of Coach Poppy perfume, a $30 face wash, and some Laura Geller make up for free.

Cons

At first i loved it and it was a fun job, but with all the extremely rude customers that come in constantly, it's not worth it at all. The management is terrible. even if you request time off a month in advance, they don't give it to you and say that it's "your problem" and you have to deal with finding someone to cover your shift.
All the managers are concerned about is getting customers to sign up for Allure and Glamor magazine. Most customers don't want to sign up and its reflected bad on us.
the worst is during christmas time when i worked over eight hours in one day and only got a 15 minute break, even though i was on my feet all day.
Managers don't care about employers. I once was scheduled to work a 5AM to 9AM then had school at 930.
i recommend working here if you are extremely laid back and do not care about being mistreated by both customers and managers.

Advice to Senior Management

Ulta is more than Allure and Glamour/Instyle. i get that you have a goal to meet, but customers get extremely mad when we constantly nag them to sign up. Also, we're humans too, we need to be treated like one.

Pros

Good experience learning management skills before entering the workforce after college.

Cons

Retail hours, disgruntled customers, etc.

Advice to Senior Management

Need better training in store products.

Pros

Always got a pay check
got amazing education
loved the salon staff
great employee discount/offers

Cons

Negative managment
no concern for their staff
pay out of pocket for benifits offered
no set schedule

Advice to Senior Management

Being personal always helps the relationship between the employees and managment team. Even if you don't care about there personal life at least give them the respect and treat them like a person.

Pros

Products
Great people to work with

Cons

Managing stylists out of control
Allocation of payroll hours a HUGE issue. Not enough hours to successfully run the business
Customer expectations way too high for drug store enviornment
Company doesn't know if they are big box or specialty
Company just does not know who they are or where they are going

Advice to Senior Management

Learn quickly who you want your customer to be
Modify customer service expectations. It is not a specialty store
Supply more hours to be a successful retailer retaining employees
Have five to six keys in the building.

Pros

good management ( in my district)
nice discount and gratis
decent work life balance
easy, straight forward systems
internal promoting
ownership of store and job
freedom to market

Cons

the pay could be better
loss prevention methods

Advice to Senior Management

the company could save and conserve, it tends to be wasteful with marketing materials and product, loss prevention is a bit off in effectiveness and the pay could be better

Pros

gratis, the ability to be creative, assisting in empowering women, working with great products, the discount

Cons

This job appears to be a great job from the outside looking in, but, unfortunately, that's not the case. Promoting within is not an option and they will hire someone with no knowledge over someone that has been loyal to the company without hesitation. The managers are all on different pages, so everything is very chaotic. The employees are pulled in several directions at once and there is no organization. Its not worth the amount of pay.

Advice to Senior Management

The managers need to be on the same page and learn how to lead by example. For as much as the employees are put through and do for the company, a little appreciation and respect would be much appreciated.

Pros

Get a small pay increase

Cons

You do a lot of management work but don't get paid as much. You get a lot of crap from customers.

Advice to Senior Management

.

Pros

Discount , Gratis, Coworkers, awesome products

Cons

Not promoting within
Hours cut due to sales
More Gratis or insentive to sell the products instead of throwing them out!
GM's who have NO Clue!

Advice to Senior Management

Promote within it would make the transition for running a better company and would cut back on paid training bringing a outside person who knows nothing about ulta is just plan dumb.

Pros

Good Pay, enjoy doing makeup and promoting others self esteem

Cons

Dramatic GM, WAY too strict with loss prevention. People were walking out with flat irons and expensive products and I was accused of stealing a sample!

Advice to Senior Management

Be more trusting of management

Pros

-25% discount on everything in store
-50% discount on salon services
- *decent* gratis ( you only get gratis if you are a consultant or manager, which I was a consultant.)

Cons

- NO communication whatsoever, unless threatened to do so by upper management.
- False promises for promotions. New store was soon to be opening, I was told a specific position was a "sure thing" for me to receive, our district manager went on a leave, the new district manager hired someone else for the position who was entirely incompetent to do that particular job.
- Don't expect to get a raise at all. After two years I never got one, when I asked about it I was told you only get a raise if you get a promotion. (and don't expect the promotion promised, because like I said.. communication is horrible. No one knows anything.)
-False promises all around. I was the #1 seller in the store for products as well as subscriptions to InStyle (which is total crap).. I had the most positive surveys written about me, did I ever get ANYTHING from any of that? No. But management got a bonus.
-Like I said, management gets a bonus for reaching sales goals, even though they are 99% of the time not the ones selling the merchandise. It's really unfair, you get no benefit from anything you do.
-Your position entails doing everything in the store. You scrub the toilet, clean the whole bathroom, mop the tile, straighten everything (low-end and high end cosmetics, PCA -personal care appliances-, skincare), apply skincare products and cosmetics to customers, are required to be knowledgeable about EVERYTHING in-store, etc, for $8 an hour.
-Needless to say, I was/am still unimpressed by everything. Management thinks they are The Holy One, don't disagree with them. I left Ulta to go to their big competitor ( I shouldn't even have to say the name ) and I get $4/hour more, and I'm appreciated for the job I do. I have job specifications and I don't have to scrub anymore toilets.

Advice to Senior Management

There's so many things I could say... Communication is the most difficult thing it seems for upper management and just management to complete. Don't string people along with promises of promotions and then just expect them to be content with their mediocre pay. I'm never even stepping foot in an Ulta again in my life. It's just disgusting.