Like many retailers, the company is struggling to bring people into the store and having and even tougher time converting those customers into sales. They are looking to cut costs, primarily at the expense of its people. Too much availability is asked of part time employees as more and more hours are getting slashed.
Expectations are way too high for the compensation that is offered. Floor lead positions and below are only part time with no benefits or major incentive beyond the store discount. Training is little to none and while vendors are very supportive about coming in and training employees, there are often not enough hours to even have them bother coming in.
The corporate culture is seriously lacking and the priorities with accountability are skewed. High quality employees may be fired for trivial matters while low quality employees can get away with murder because they have not been "coached" enough or the documentation is not specific enough. This creates additional workload for salaried management both with unnecessary paperwork and to pick up the slack of their employees who are not given enough hours or training to complete what is asked of them.
Upper management is not supportive in key areas and micro manage in others. They want their managers to run their stores, but will micro manage things like simple coaching conversations or the store's cleanliness level. If support is really needed on a higher level you are expected to "figure it out," then are criticized if you do not follow through the way upper management would have.
Many customers get away with scams and sob stories with a complaint to upper management and customer service. Return policy is strict but overridden to the point of creating bad tension with clientele and stores. Stores also take a major hit on online returns at a cost to the store's bottom line, often affecting store's ability to hit difficult sales goals and destroying bonus potential.
Compensation is also skewed, based on "zip code." Stores located within 10 miles of one another may have employees making 5-15% more or less in starting base wages for the same position.
Merchandising is often unrealistic and stores carry way too many skus often resulting in clearance laden wastelands and too much clutter.
