Sur La Table reviews

3.1

40% would recommend to a friend

(1,059 total reviews)

Jason Goldberger

41% approve of CEO

28% positive business outlook

Sur La Table has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 1,059 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Sur La Table employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Ventas al mayoreo y al menudeo industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

1K reviews
1.0
Nov 29, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Sales associates and customers alike share a love of all things cooking. Sur La Table products are well selected for the foodie. Cooking classes are excellent.

Cons

With over 30 years experience in all levels of corporate business, I have never experienced the level of unprofessionalism and incompetence as evidenced by my local Sur La Table store manager. The store manager consistently created a hostile work environment where sales associates were routinely reprimanded in front of both co-workers and customers for no apparent reason. Favoritism was prevalent. Sales associates and assistant managers have been systematically terminated or their hours diminished to zero to force resignation. Management does not seem to understand the concept of teamwork and respect for co-workers and staff. These practices are particularly alarming as the majority of the sales associates and assistant managers have many years of experience in either retail sales or other positions in corporate America. All employees that I worked with had a strong work ethic as well as the skill set needed to attract customers and build sales at Sur La Table. Finally, we were discouraged from addressing any personnel issues with HR, and were not even given access to a phone number or e-mail address to address our concerns. I highly discourage anyone from making the mistake of joining this company as a sales associate or assistant manager.

1.0
Apr 16, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The discount is ok, the customers are nice, if you are a foodie you will enjoy talking about food and cooking at work, nice products

Cons

Poor management, no real policies, only the ones they make up as they go along to pacify or scold employees, depending on the day. No training to speak of regarding product, except select high priced items. Although they carry many products, you are told not to sell certain ones because of price point or profit margin, scolded if you do. Zero communication - you never know if what you are going to do is going to incur the wrath of a manager - micro management to the point of ridiculous, if management is the right word. You may be told you are empowered to make decisions, but you are not. There is no right answer here, as someone else mentioned. Back stabbing and gossip between management and employees. Unfair and rude treatment of employees, with no accountability to anyone. Upper management answers to no one, while they are fully aware of problems, they don't care how employees are treated. If you are brave enough to ask for some accountability, you will be retaliated against with cut hours, even more rude treatment and a hostile work environment. You may not get fired, but they will be sure you quit. Promises of pay raises never happen - if they do they are insulting at best. No adherence to labor laws regarding breaks and hours worked. Really high turnover rate creates instability and confusion on everyones part. Read all of the other reviews, and include anything I forgot - they are very accurate and and should be a warning to anyone thinking of working here.

1.0
Mar 8, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The discounts: 40% off products not already on sale, otherwise you get the sales price. 10% off electronics not already on sale. 50% matching of 2% of your salary on 401(k) contributions. The occasional celebrity siting at the Santa Monica store.

Cons

A very dehumanizing and unorganized environment where employees feel that they are not valued and are constantly being chastised for not following ever-changing policies. Unaccountable and lazy store management. You are repeatedly scheduled for the shifts you requested off. Manager walks away from you when you need help with a customer (or anything) instead of following through and taking responsibility. It's embarrassing when you're with a customer! The only two remaining long-term assistant & floor managers are very good, but treated with little respect. District management is very abusive. Reviews were written at the district level this year and were consistently negative and seemed to be written by someone who didn't even know who were were. They gave us these reviews right before the holiday season (our busiest time) so we were all completely demoralized. That just seems dumb. All in all, a very frustrating, degrading and bizarre place to work.

Viewing 208 - 210 of 1,059 Reviews

Glassdoor has 1,088 Sur La Table reviews submitted anonymously by Sur La Table employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Sur La Table is right for you.