Winston Retail Solutions Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Winston Retail Solutions as a contractor for more than a year

Pros – Write your own schedule. I enjoy visual merchandising and meeting people so it was a good fit to me. There is never a boring day on the job, get to work with various brands, and retailers.

Cons – Inconsistent hours, sometimes very PT, durning holiday 55 hours wk.

– I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Winston Retail Solutions part-time for less than a year

Pros – I love how I can make my own schedule. I am the only MC in my area, so I get all of the available hours. This is a wonderful company to work for if you love to travel. I have been sent all over the county on my works dime. I always get positive feedback on all of my reports and the staff is very friendly. I get paid on time and never have a problem submitting invoices. I do believe the people that had a problem with lack of direction are just not experienced enough in this field. The staff are on hand whenever I need them. I have never encountered a problem that could not be solved within 24 hours. If you are outgoing and love the fashion industry, this is a wonderful company.

Cons – I do not have any CONS about my position. You need to be a leader and have experience in this field in order to be successful. If you are not one of these people than this is not the job for you!

Advice to Senior Management – I think management has everything under control!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Winston Retail Solutions as a contractor for more than 3 years

Pros – You can create your own schedule, work with some great brands, and learn a lot about the industry. The company has high standards regarding pay on time. You are always paid on time. With regards to the comment below about being paid late, most people with work experience have used direct deposit and are aware it takes a few weeks to kick in. This is not something new.

Cons – The great brands you work with sign contracts that they will not employee you in the future. However they do not inform you of this. You are not an employee of Winston and this could be a legal problem for them in the future. Additionally, I learned from a fellow MC that Winston will not verify you have worked with them on your future job applications.
There are two levels of pay for projects. The work required for the two levels is almost equal. The lower pay rate is below industry average.
Sadly as of recent some of the comments below are true and helpful.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop making the FTMs do all the work.
Gather and make better use of feedback from out in the field.
Stop with the contest that never have winners. Either they don't really exist, or there is extremely, extremely poor execution. It doesn't go unnoticed.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Winston Retail Solutions as a contractor for more than a year

Pros – Great hourly wage working with some very elite brands. Extensive tutorials are offered as well as phone support. If more work becomes available in an area you are working in, you are given first dibs on the project.

Cons – You control when your time is scheduled, but it is usually expected within a given set of dates. Some of the reports are lengthy and the questions are redundant from visit to visit. Plus the website, where the reports are housed, seems to be dated and it takes a long time to upload photos and go through items that are not associated with your particular visit.

Advice to Senior Management – Have a forum on your website where merchandisers can give feedback on what would make their jobs better out in the field.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Winston Retail Solutions as a contractor for more than 3 years

Pros – There are no pro's for this company.

Cons – The training materials for this company is not up to date and they expect you to know the information that has not been uploaded into their Intranet website. Field Training Managers are the individuals you are suppose to report to, but they are never available to answer the phone. If you run into a problem at one of your visits, you are required to contact them right away. However, if they cannot answer, you are stuck at the store with no proper guidance, leaving you late to your next visit. They also have other contractors who review your reports. Sometimes the reports are not reviewed in a timely manner and you are not able to submit them for payment. There is no room for advancement in this company.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop playing favoritism and start hiring professionals to get the job done right.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Winston Retail Solutions as a contractor for less than a year

Pros – You have the flexibility to make your own schedule!

Cons – Hard to get staff on the phone sometimes, especially during floor visits when you need an immediate response. Didn't get compensated on time! Very part time opportunity; it averages about 4hrs/wk. Very little direction once you get into the store and start working. I would imagine that this job would be challenging for someone who has never worked in retail. Most of the information you need to complete a successful visit is not up to date.

Overall terrible experience and very unprofessional!

Advice to Senior Management – Improve Organization and Communication, so many things are left unsaid until they happen and it's too late to react . I.E. explaining to me on the actual pay date that my check will me mailed and that it takes a while for direct deposit to go into effect
Make sure every employees meet with District Training Manager so they can become effective merchandisers
Explain to employers that the first direct deposit doesn't actually start until 2-4 payment cycles
Explain to employers that your first check is going to be mailed
Update your brand information!!!!!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Winston Retail Solutions as a contractor for less than a year

Pros – Very friendly staff they did follow through with confirming call back times to set up phone interviews.

Cons – The companies you represent through Winston are HORRIBLE about call backs to confirm a time.. Very very frustrating! I eventually just gave up..

Advice to Senior Management – There needs to be accountability on the vendors part to follow through with confirming times. You will continue to lose great people because trying to get one on these managers to call you back is an act of congress! It all fall back on the field merchandiser and is not at all fair. To much pressure for to little pay.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Winston Retail Solutions as a contractor

Pros – Merchandising work is fun and you set your own schedule.

Cons – This company hires freelance merchandisers all over the U.S. The problem is none of them at the main office are on the same page, and they are bitter unhappy people out to screw each other. My rep for Texas was mean and spiteful over the phone, yet we had never met, so I knew it was nothing personal. I love this business, but I would not bother with these people again.

Advice to Senior Management – Move on! The CEO needs to clean house.

Current Employee – been working at Winston Retail Solutions

Pros – I enjoy the accounts I work with and the extreme flexibility this job offers. Everyone I have had the pleasure of working with at Winston shows extreme professionalism and passion for their jobs.

Cons – This is a very part time job that I would love to be full time at some point. It is a growing industry and I have hopes to land more hours and more accounts.

Advice to Senior Management – Being a part of the Winston community has been terrific. I would love the opportunity to travel outside my region more.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Winston Retail Solutions

Pros – Flexible hours, make your own schedule, work with management level employees, some jobs can be completed faster than the hours you get paid for, and it's a very creative job.

Cons – compensation and some jobs take longer than you get paid for.

Advice to Senior Management – Offer a raise after 6 months (without the employee having to ask for it).

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend