Pros
Decent wage for an hourly barber.
Cons
This is going to be a long review, but I believe you will understand why when you read it. I was recruited aggressively by this company, when I already had a great store manager position at a national men’s haircut franchise, where I had advanced via hard work, solid skills and a strong work ethic. The opportunity at Bronxton was presented as my next step to grow my barbering skills and be able to gain experience I was missing with my previous job. Big mistake! After accepting the position and then being asked to leave my current job a week earlier than I had originally agreed to, they threw me into sales training for the retail clothing side of the store that had nothing to do with my job as a barber. Furthermore, management did not tell me I would be required to do this when they recruited and hired me. After a week of this unnecessary training, I was informed that the store build out was behind schedule and the store would not be opened for two and a half more weeks. Worst of all, Bronxton refused to compensate me during this delay. They even suggested that I go back to my previous employer and see if they would give me some shifts until they opened the new store. Who does this? The obvious and ethical thing to do after all of this disruption in my career would have been for Bronxton to step up and at least pay me an hourly wage. I have a 4 year old child and no other support than my job to care for her and pay my mortgage and other bills, but Bronxton felt no concern or responsibility for putting me in this position. Fortunately, I left my previous employer on positive terms and they were open to giving me some shifts in the meantime, but it was understandably at a lower hourly wage than I was previously making as a manager, creating lots of stress and putting me into a very tight financial spot a month before the holidays. Bronxton recruited and hired me in mid-September and I didn’t start my job until November 15th. I should have realized at this point that the owners are not honorable people and it was a bad sign, then run as fast and far as I could from this place, but I gave them the benefit of my doubts. Unbelievably, when the store was finally completed and I went in for my first day on November 14th, I was to find that my manager, another person Bronxton recruited in advance of store opening, had quit (walked-out) because the owners refused to listen to anything she had to say and denied themselves the benefit of her years of successful barbering management experience, which is supposedly what they hired her for in the first place. I soon understood why. This manager walking out should have been the next sign, but I stuck it out to see if things might get better now that the store was up and running. It didn’t! I was working 6 days a week and getting only 40 hours, not what I had agreed to when hired, but I wanted to help get this business over the hump. I was dedicated. They stalled off hiring additional barbers while one other fellow barber and I worked 6 days a week to help them run a barber shop that they have no business owning in the first place... stick to retail. I did this because I’m a good employee who works hard for what I have, I love barbering and I’m good at my job. Once my fellow barber became fed up with the the owners arrogance and treatment of other employees and herself, she walked out too, leaving me as the only barber. I couldn’t blame her. I stayed on and worked for them doing what I could inside the shop and on my social media accounts to grow the store. Of course, this wasn’t good enough for them. My talent and work ethic was completely unappreciated and untrusted, to the point they wouldn’t even let me open or close the cash register. I’ve never worked anywhere that I didn’t have that level of trust and responsibility. Eventually the owners hired some other barbers who brought with them drama from their previous shop. At this point, I received some refresh training on some skills I had previously learned in school but never really gained the kind of experience I anticipated when I left my previous job. Things got a little at that point, because I didn’t have to work directly with the owners, but then I was told my hours were going to be cut and they were not going to pay for my parking pass, as originally promised when I took the position. I also never received the insurance that I was promised when I accepted the job, another key “supposed” benefit cited to recruit me. Nearly every verbal promise made when I was recruited was broken. Barbers beware if you are recruited by Bronxton. It is a hostile work environment. The owners are arrogant and exclusively for themselves. Their employees are a last priority. They are unethical and I saw them treat many employees poorly and with no respect. In the end, I was fired via a text. Who does that? So unprofessional! True, I voiced my unhappiness to another employee about how the owners run the business and their horrible treatment of employees. Probably not a smart move, as it was blabbed back to them. I openly admit that, but I was on my way out and moving on to a better, more dignified opportunity anyway. It’s a fair bet that the owners will post a response to my review and bad mouth me and characterize me as a bad employee, as evidenced by the other employee review here that they responded to. Call it what you may, but this isn’t retribution on my part, it’s honest feedback about a bad environment, so others can make an informed decision about working for this company and avoid wasting their time. That’s what Glass Door is all about… sharing experiences, good and bad, to balance the employer/employee scales.