Pros
Time and half on Sunday. Don't know why people put "Staff Discount" they are always in sale. This means customers normally get the same if not more off then staff.
Cons
I was told that I was not allowed to take single days off as holiday and that holidays must be taken in week blocks and all in advance. This was not stated in my contract or associate handbook. The manager of the store was young and had very little experience. Whilst age doesn't and shouldn't matter I found the manager to be unable to communicate very well with staff. When they did, they came across patronizing and condescending.Most staff had minimum twice as many years experience in retail and yet were treated with very little respect. "You're on bedding today" an 8 foot section, a big difference from running a 20,000 square foot store! Important messages were passed on via note form to me from other members of staff after the manager had left, even though we were working on the same shift! When I asked other members of staff they confirmed this was the norm. The training was non existent. You watched a series of videos (I've seen better youtube tutorials) and were then expected to be able to do it. Very little support from management with regards to training. Some staff members, knowing what the training was like would be helpful and supportive. Some reviews moan about the targets but unfortunately that's retail but again the manager was very poor in coaching or giving support to struggling staff. Accounts were the most important and to be honest they're a gimmick and a con. Products were terrible quality or ridiculously expensive. Customers would be amazed at the prices in the sale however to me the sale price would make more sense as the normal price. The store was in a constant sale, on the few days we wasn't in a sale the takings were poor. I don't know legally how they can say a product retails at one price even though the majority of the year it's been less. Huge health and safety issues at my store. Rubbish piled against the only fire exit, sometimes for most of the day, corridors piled on one side with stock and the push to open fire door had a bolt at the top and bottom that were not opened during trading hours. (I notified line managers of these issues). Till systems were slow and 15 years out of date. No touch screen or contactless, no integrated ordering system. Queues formed at the tills due to other computers being taking up and the fact that when signing onto a till you sometimes had to wait minutes for it to start. I could go on but I have listed quite a few of the major issues with this company and my experience with this specific store. All I would recommend to anyone thinking of working at Laura Ashley or who is working there is: You will learn so much more with a different company. Retail is tough but can help so much with regards to experience, Laura Ashley is way behind the times. At one point I'm sure they were cutting edge but myself and several other staff have commented simply "How backwards" this company is.
