Pros
The Shade Store makes beautiful products. They stand behind their products 100% They offer short lead times and professional installation There is a Customer Care department in Port Chester, NY that supports any post-sales problems The pay is above average for a retail job Strong benefits The Shade Store has an organized and structured admin system In house measuring and scheduling department Family owned and operated
Cons
There is no room for advancement as a Design Consultant. This is a retail position. Design Consultants have no real voice in the company. Changes are made frequently without advance notice. The Design Consultant position consists of nights, weekends, holidays and LONG hours. The interviewing process is tedious. Negotiating the largest salary possible is necessary because you will see very few raises. Poor Management. Over 200 Design Consultants report to little to no management. The management of the showrooms requires a professional demeanor and leadership tools. This management lacks both. The incompetence of the showroom management is general knowledge but nothing can be reported to the owners because of fear of backlash. TSS has "regional managers" but they have no real pull. No proper HR department. HR consists of 1 or 2 people depending on the day. All other HR issues are expected to be reported to showroom management. This is a conflict of interest. Self Management in showrooms. In theory self management is a dream for responsible professionals. The issue with this management structure is that Design Consultants are responsible for their co-workers behavior. If a co-worker is unhinged this company is very slow to act. Poor company morale. Most showrooms experience a lot of conflict. The conflict stems mostly from a hands off approach to managing disgruntled employees. The Port Chester Dream. When/If you are hired on to this company TSS will fly you to New York to meet your "team". This whole process is very moving. The company itself seems to stand for everything anyone would want to be apart of. This company is so easy to believe in and support but sadly the truth is when it comes down to it..it is all smoke and mirrors.
