Aritzia Employee Reviews about "pay"

Pros

Good pay for retail (could be higher since we are forced to sell 30x the amount we make in an hour). Good music. Discounts are ok BUT should be much higher considering we need to wear the clothes from there to sell it. You meet some great people at times, and you become very fashionable too

Cons

Really tries to enforce teamwork yet sometimes the managers can be extremely hypocritical, and would side with other girls causing you to feel like you're working ALONE. managers will steal your sales even though it doesn't even matter if they sell or not.

Pros

Discount and pretty good pay for retail

Cons

Too sales focused- there should be no need to feel the need compete with coworkers. Every move is constantly being watched. Little to no training, was told on the first day to just get on the floor and pick up a client. Never had basic trainings like register training but was expected to learn it myself.

Pros

- Above average pay rate for retail if you can reach incredibly high sales goals immediately and can compete with the other sales girls - 40% discount

Cons

Aritzia had been aggressively trying to recruit me for over a year. I finally decided to give it a chance and meet with the hiring manager. She offered me a very high pay rate and hired me on the spot at my interview. Training was the absolute minimum and basically consisted of paperwork and a brief history of the company. My first week I was given two 4 hour shifts and told by several managers just to focus on engaging customers and not to worry about sales for my first week. Little did I know, how wrong this was. I was not put on the schedule again. When I casually asked if I could be added to the schedule I was met with strange confusion and the store manager was quick to throw my sales numbers at me. I was reluctantly given two more short 4 hour shifts and that was it. Needless to say I was pretty shocked and extremely disappointed I had given this company a chance. My advice is to avoid this company or try a few shifts before you leave your current job. - If you do not meet sales goals and adapt to the culture and operations on your first shift, that's it. Do not expect any training or guidance on operations either. - You will be given no time to acclimate yourself with operations, computer system, or product. - Highly competitive. Sales girls are incredibly aggressive and will steal customers and sales since they are working for hours, not commission. Managers will also pull you to help other sales associates with their sales. - There is a major disconnect between management and staff. - Scheduling is done by the home office solely based on sales numbers.

Pros

The people you meet can become your life long friends and the pay is goof after some time.

Cons

some people & head office folks

Pros

Forward thinking company. Privately held company with an ingenious founder that works hard and values A players. Women do very well at this company and hold executive positions (all have worked retail during school at the inception of Aritzia and have earned their stripes, which is inspiring ). The stores are beautifully designed and not cookie cuter. They don't cut corners, they do things well the fist time. Retail - Sales driven environment: individual KPI's, with a healthy competition environment. Store teams at retail that drive the business are valued here. A players are recognized and the executives know who you are. The people you work with at store level in my opinion surpass other competitors. Retail is definitely a refined career path at Aritzia. All applicants are met in person by the Store Manager and or head of TA, they will make room for talented people and value referrals. It's inspiring to see leadership roles filled by internal talent, not only external candidates. They move people across the country and the US ( yup they have a legal department and they understand mobility). Hard work does pay off and you will get recognition ( financially and though experiences and development).

Cons

Those wanting a career in fashion and have graduated-You must be willing to work hard no matter how tenured you are and even if at corporate you will be required to support your peers at retail during our black out periods which is four times a year. No personal travel during black out ( yes you will work Boxing Day with a smile). Customers and selling objectives must give you energy, otherwise this may not be suited for you. You must know all areas of the retail business before you move up. Fast paced, get ready to be tired at the end of the day. It can take a while to understand and apply the business philosophies. You may feel overwhelmed or lose confidence, it eventually sinks in and makes sense. Discount is generous but only for you ( not your friends and family).

Pros

Great staff to work with

Cons

The discount is NOT enough if you want to look 'Aritzia' which is why you need to ask for a high pay rate. If you ask for $11, you WILL get get $11. If you ask for $16, they will give it to you. Especially if you've worked in retail for so long. I worked off of $11 & it was NOT worth it. The amount of stress you go through is not worth $11 an hour. You will get a high goal. It's easy to hit it if you spot the moms with bags in their hands that have designer names on them. My goals were sometimes $6,000-$7,000 which was ridiculous. They say it's easy to hit your goal if you give every girl an outfit which is pants/skirt, top, with layering pieces. But honestly, not everyone is like that. So GOOD LUCK. It takes FOREVER to close the store. Sizing, fingerspacing, edging.. You could be there more than 2 hours after you close. Girls can be really sharky, & WILL argue if you steal a customer from them without knowing or if they've worked with them in the past. The discount will not be enough to buy clothes with your paycheck, which is why I'm saying you need a higher pay rate. You cannot be working 25 hours a week with $11, then get a $430 paycheck (because taxes get taken out), then get asked to look 'Aritzia'. You'll look at the price tag & not want to spend $110 from your paycheck on a silk blouse. If you stick there long enough, you're a good sales stylist, you can tell them you want to leave because you got a good offer somewhere else & they WILL match them, or at least give you a dollar more. I know one girl that kept on threatening them that she was going to quit because there were better opportunities. Up to now, she gets $25 an hour PLUS commission. She started off of $12.. That's ridiculous. Now she can support herself through graduate school. Good for her, but I don't know how she did it. I'd rather jump off a bridge honestly.

Pros

The pay is decent and the store music is good.

Cons

It's a cult. Upper management is very passive aggressive.

Pros

- For the most part Aritzia hires amazing people into the company so you get to work with some of the most caring and talented people who are likely to become your lifelong friends - Extensive in-store music library from which you get to select what music to play - Seniors/Managers get an annual voucher allowance which makes clothing affordable - PTO, 401k, etc. - Competitive pay; they pay better than other retail jobs so don't lowball yourself; the job is much harder than other retail jobs - There's always that one workaholic who's die hard Aritzia and doesn't think there's anything bad about the job; if you're that person then you'll thrive here

Cons

- Career advancement is very slow; not much room to grow past store management - Breaks are limited to 30 minutes - Competitive environment causes disputes, stress, friction, tension, distrust, and tears - Blackout dates during holiday/sale seasons - Friends and family discount is limited to the holiday season - Terrible work/life balance; schedule comes out the Wednesday/Thursday prior to the week of and there are a lot of last minute changes - When you're a full time employee you're expected to have full time availability (32+ hours) and yet FULL TIME HOURS ARE NOT GUARANTEED; hours vary drastically depending on the season/your "performance" - some weeks you get overtime, some weeks you get <20 hours