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The Container Store

Engaged Employer

The Container Store reviews

3.3

45% would recommend to a friend

(1,959 total reviews)

Joel Bines

52% approve of CEO

34% positive business outlook

The Container Store has an employee rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars, based on 1,959 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The The Container Store 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

2K reviews
2.0
Nov 25, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Container store does a fantastic job on hiring. You will love the people you work with. The pay is great for part-time retail work. Also with a 40% off employee discount, that is not to shabby. If you want to learn something new in the store, management is open to teach you.

Cons

There is basically no room for advancement. There will be 30 part time people all wanting just 6-8 full time spots. The full timers make 50% more than the part time and do the exact same work. The only difference is they have keys and open and close the store. I am also not sure how this place got best place to work in Fortune. I assume it is the corporate employees and managers as they are the only ones that really are taken care of. They will abuse you as a part time employee, making you feel guilty about not coming in when someone calls out then the next cutting your hours because they say sales are down. They never cut full timers hours even though we could do the exact same work at 50% less pay. "Too many cooks in the kitchen" is a problem. Many shifts will have half a dozens full timers and mangers and you will be the only PT person getting told what to do. Since they preach "Everyone is a leader," everyone fights for control. It is chaos. No one is really in charge. Mirco managing is also a huge issue. No creativity, or outside the box thinking. There are over 50 manuals on how to do everything in the store. So the job can be very boring but I guess that's typical retail. There is opportunity to move up if you really push for it but be prepared to drink the Kool-Aid. If you ever say anything that resemble reality or is not 100% positive you, will be verbally called out on it. This company is on the verge of borderline cult. But everyone is afraid to say it even though everyone knows it. The only reason people stay longer is because other retailers pay less. If they paid the same, this place would have zero employees. The most important thing in the store is to sell, sell, sell. Managers will even tell employees that they are losing money for the company if they feel you are not filling up customers carts enough. If you choose to work in the store level, you will notice it within 2 weeks.

1.0
Jul 6, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Employee Discount, and that is it.

Cons

- store has severely cut hours; never enough staff to assist customers - getting constantly berated by customers due to lack of staff - poor communication to staff -dirty store, dirty breakroom and dirty bathrooms, as the few people who work on a given day are additionally expected to take out all the trash, recycling, compost AND clean the bathrooms at closing. Included in this is doing closing money procedures and attempting to restock returned items. AND this is supposed to happen in 30 minutes with generally speaking with only 2-3 employees - managements does not listen to feedback, well they listen, but they do nothing about it - no raises, yet they'll fly 30 or so people to Dallas for training, spending precious money on plane tickets, food and lodging. There is something called Zoom to save on thoses expenses

2.0
Mar 17, 2017

Highly Overrated

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The pay (as advertised, or should I say marketed) is indeed a bit higher than the average retail. Standard discount for employee purchases as other retailers though they try to sell you on the fact that their discount is SO generous.

Cons

At first glance there are things that seem "quirky" about The Container Store. You look around and see so many people that appear to be happy and love being there. You think to yourself that those "quirky" things must be okay and that you'll get used to it in time. After some time goes on you realize you've ended up in your very own real life version of Stepford and start trying to figure out how to run away as fast as you can. People who have been there a long time (and there are a lot of them) fall into three categories: 1) love their job assignment so much they choose to overlook the "drink the cool-aid" expectation 2) been there so long that their pay and benefits cannot be matched doing the same job at another retailer so they choose to live in purgatory 3) choose the lobotomy so they can fit right in with this "highly rated" employer If you value diversity, individuality and innovation do not take a job here. On the surface some retail locations may appear to be diverse. You might see a good mix of gender, age and ethnicity, but that is where the diversity stops. At the heart of the business, The Container Store does not like employees to challenge their ways of thinking or their philosophies. Other things that I now realize are just crazy and not "quirky": •No HR department. HR issues go through risk management. Hmm. So my concerns as an employee are considered a risk to the company. •They tout their lack of policy manuals, but the policies are there. They are embedded into the culture. Good luck when you realize you need to change something for the benefit of anyone including the customer. •Typically give people the salary they ask for on a job application even if it means way overpaying someone with no relevant experience. Hiring decisions based more on fit in the culture and less on how good they might actually be in the many tasks required to do the job well. Job interview process for part time positions is a joke. •"Intuition" frequently used as the sole basis for decision making. What if my "intuition" says different?

Viewing 13 - 15 of 1,959 Reviews

Glassdoor has 2,046 The Container Store reviews submitted anonymously by The Container Store employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if The Container Store is right for you.