retail assistant manager

gérant de commerce de détail

store manager

assistant buyer

assistant manager

Bluenotes

I've been working here for 2 years now and I started out as a Manager in Training (Key Holder) and in about 8 months, I was promoted to Assistant Manager. Just over a year later, I was promoted to Store Manager. Through my whole journey, I felt the full support of the Manager and District Manager as I moved up and have continuously been respected and appreciated for all of my work. This company has many employees from Head Office that really do care about their employees and are very understanding. I've always felt comfortable with any questions or concerns and I've always been listened to, no matter what I had to say. My DM specifically made it very clear she wanted to keep me here as an employee and help me move up when I thought about changing paths in my career and she really pushed to make me happy in my position. 

As a manager, it's not a very stressful job, it's very routine and once you get the hang of it, it gets much easier to succeed in the position! Everyone is very supportive and you have all of the tools you need to succeed. 

The only downsides of working with this company are the pay and the hours, depending on the location. If you work in a mall, you have to adhere to mall hours, so most shifts are usually right in the middle of the day, leaving no real work/life balance. If you work in malls that are open later, you get a lot more opening shifts, so the work/life balance would be a little better. They do have lots of incentives to get bonuses for management, but the pay is very low, much lower than the general salary for retail management. If you aren't too money inclined and are more about enjoying your workplace, then this is definitely the best place I've ever worked and it's very enjoyable (with the exclusion of annoying/rude customers, which is a given)! I personally prefer enjoying going to work than getting paid a higher salary. The benefits are good if you get the enhanced plan and you do also get sick days which is nice as well! 

Overall, I definitely recommend working here! 

A typical day at Bluenotes as part-timer includes processing stock, cleaning the store, and keeping up with putbacks.

I learned a lot about the functions of how the store is run but I had to ask to learn anything at all. I was not properly trained so much of what I know was self-taught.

Management is a joke. I was a team lead for several years and received little-to-no appreciation for all the work I've put into this company. No one on management gets the respect and appreciation they deserve. Head Office doesn't care about us as individuals, they care solely about the numbers. They give your store minimal hours and expect management to complete all marketing/promotional changes, visual, stock, putbacks, shipping, and customer service on two-man coverage.

Depending on who you work with, your coworkers may be your only sane place. It is frustrating working in a fast-paced environment when you are not given enough manpower to make things happen. Hopefully, you work with people who know their job well enough to make life a little easier. Otherwise, you're constantly being asked questions by your part-timer and it seems that no matter how many times you tell them the answer, they always forget.

Now Bluenotes was not all awful. I've definitely had my moments where I'm very grateful for my job. Before I moved locations, I would stay for an extra hour or two almost every shift to help clean or finish visual or process stock. I loved that store and I loved the people that worked there. Head Office was still awful, but there's nothing new there.

Overall, I suggest if you're looking for a simple part-time job that will give you 5-15 hours a week, this is the job for you. You don't need to know much besides how to fold clothes, put them away, work a cash register, and help customers. Just don't get sucked into management, it's never as much as you think it will be.

Numerous years into this company I recognized that no matter how much you met their expectations they always expected you to achieve even more. No compensation for helping DM's during their time (they last nearly a year and always leave due to stress). No appreciation for your hard work. Claim manager is salary but if you worked less than 40 they would not pay you - no overtime and no banked days if you're forced to work over 40. 

The entire home office is being cleared out, fired or retired and they consistently claim they will change their ways.

They do NOT care about their employees in any capacity - health wise or not. They pay the worst I have ever seen for retail when it comes to management. Their benefits are not fantastic and do not cover eyecare. 

The amount of stock, the constant changing of visuals, the amount of emails coming in to ask you to do this and that and this and that. The consistent promotion changes which created lack of knowledge in employees who were not there often. Minimal hours to run a store while trying to enforce you hit targets that raise each and every year despite the economy. 
District managers did not care when they texted or called you or whether you were on the clock.
The literal gaslighting when it came to you asking for help because it is overwhelming. 

They treat employees like replaceable door mats. I watched upper management all go on stress leaves and literally none of them ever came back. 


The WORST company to EVER work for and I would never recommend accepting a position in this company. 

I usually work the closing shift, in a mall environment, The mall opens at 930 on weekdays and closes at 9, and we are usually there till 930. I come in, start my shift, check in with the am manager about how much stock, what are our daily tasks, if anything new has changed. Depending on the day, we have mark downs, visual changes, more stock/less stock, etc. usually do tasks, customer service, run the floor, and cash. the closing shift is there from 1230 till 930 which is a 9 hour day, so we take a lunch around 430-530.  and then finish tasks and customer service with another part timer until 9 when the mall closes. 
the most enjoyable part of where I work is my co workers, we all try to make it fun and enjoyable to get through. Another thing would be when you have the customers who actually answer you, talk, and are respectful. I think the hardest part of the job is the customers who treat you like nothing and treat your store like a dump. I feel sometimes I'm there not cleaning and managing the store for them and their shopping enjoyment but there to clean after them, cleaning up their garbage, There is little respect in retail. 

Even though there are cons to working in retail, just like any other job, retail does however help with a lot of skill building such as; confidence to talk to others, good customer service, confidence in yourself, leader roles, communication skills, tasking skills, time management skills=, organisation and cleaning skills. We go by Nco Standards ( neat clean and organised) detailing, multitasking, etc.

I worked for Bluenotes for almost 3 years as an Assistant Manager/MIT. The good? Great way to get your foot in the door as a teenager/young adult new to the workforce, the company is lenient with time off requests as long as you have a reasonable manager, flexible hours/shifts for part time staff, and an employee discount. The bad? If you haven’t worked in a retail environment it can be challenging to catch on to the fast paced work environment at Bluenotes. Managers are responsible for everything, tasks are not divided equally and from what I’ve experienced there is a LARGE pay difference between the Team Leads, Assistants and Store Managers even though they are doing the EXACT same job. No opportunities for raises, even if you have seniority in the company and run a store successfully the higher-ups will not give you the recognition you deserve or proper compensation for your hard work. If you’re full time, most of the time you are scheduled 4-6 days in a row with 1 day off break since managers have to work at least one weekend day. 
Overall, I would recommend working here, but only for young people to build up basic work skills. This is not a long term career for anyone, especially when they won’t pay management a dollar over minimum wage most times. 

My typical day at work consists of either working on the floor, or as a cashier. I love this job because it is always switched up, keeping the job interesting. My job while working on the floor includes greeting customers, informing them of our current promotion(s), following up, and assuring they leave satisfied. On the other hand, working on cash consists of cashing out sales, or processing exchanges/refunds accordingly. This requires attention to detail and focus, in order for a smooth transaction. 

Management is great. I can definitely say that each and every one of them strive to be as helpful as possible, and treat all employees with compassion. 

My co-workers are a lot of fun to work with. They are all different in their own way, making it interesting to work by their sides. They are also very helpful and very friendly. 

The hardest part of the job is dealing with difficult customers, and aiming to have them leave happy without breaching store policies (ex: not being able to issue refunds on final sale items)

The most enjoyable part of this job is being able to be myself. I can put my own personality into what I do (while being professional of course), and applying my own skills into the job. For example, speaking to Spanish customers in Spanish when there is a language barrier. In addition, I really enjoy the fact that I am working and interacting with people the whole time.

A typical day at work for me consists of,
 - Getting in on time,
 - Once your shift starts, looking at the 5 minutes meeting board, to find out your zone (section of the store you are responsible for maintaining), and reading the to-do task you've been assigned. Some days they won't be assigned to anyone, and you'd be expected to assign your self to them.
- Maintaining and organizing your zone.
- And helping customers, some will know exactly what they wan't (you'd think that those would be the easiest to help, but no) and  others won't know a thing about clothes.

Keeping your position:
Once a week, every week, you manager will keep an eye on you, and score you based off of your ability to keep your zone clean, and handle customers. (If you happen to work at the till that day, your effectiveness as a cashier)

Co-Workers:
Everyone I have worked with are great people.

Hardest Part:
The Denim Wall, and Graphic Tee Table
You'll know what I mean if you get hired

Most Enjoyable Part of the Job:
The customers, They will tell you some pretty amazing stories sometimes. 

Management:
From what I can tell, it depends on your store, my store has pretty good management.

During my time at this company, I had the opportunity to work under three different management teams. While the earlier teams were supportive and recognized my dedication—leading to a promotion and consistent scheduling—the most recent management created a difficult work environment. Unfortunately, I felt excluded, undervalued, and pressured in ways that were inappropriate and unprofessional.

There were instances where I felt pressured to do personal favours for upper management, and I was made to feel that my hours and opportunities depended on personal preferences rather than performance. Despite being a part-time employee, I frequently worked over 30 hours a week and often took on responsibilities beyond my role as a team lead—with little recognition or compensation.

What disappointed me most was how my efforts over the years were disregarded when the new team took over. I was no longer scheduled fairly, and ultimately felt pushed out. Even when it came to references, the focus seemed to be only on recent challenges and not the full scope of my contribution to the store.

If you're considering a career in retail sales and value a fair and respectful workplace, I would recommend exploring other opportunities.

Key holders/MITs are paid minimum wage to do the work of 6 different people often times all by themselves... (To be a visual manager, stock processor, department manager, fitting room attendant, cashier... all while expecting the store to look perfect.) No hours to help you accomplish the absolutely massive work loads Bluenotes requires of you. Not enough time or people to help you at all. 

Not to mention the company does not have enough money to hire a janitor to keep our store clean. In the first 7 months of my role, the floors still have not been mopped, and the counters have JUST been started to be cleaned a week ago. We quite honestly don't even have enough time to clean our store. It's embarrassing and gross. 

I've never worked anywhere where you are alone in the store for an hour (sometimes more) all by yourself to handle cash, fits, processing, cleaning, getting things down for customers , do visual, etc. It's so stressful... and not to mention, dangerous! How could a company think it's okay to leave their employee alone in a store? Especially if there was an emergency? 

I do not recommend this company to any aspiring leader. 

As a Sales Associate my first task of the day after clocking in would be to count my til to ensure the cash in the register matches my systems records. This helps when you have multiple people using or taking over the tilt to determine who may be responsible for any discrepancies at the end of the night.
After which I would begin to tidy up the store since I was usually on a afternoon shift.
This would mean organizing and moving things around in order to make the store more presentable.
Then Id begin to hang and out put out our stock material. Both mens and womens. 
At times I would be managing our stock , serving customers and/or managing the fitting room area.
Retail service requires a lot of fast paced multi-tasking sometimes,all while providing a superior service that continues to keep the customer delighted.
Keeping our customers happy and helping them find their fashion needs, while sharing a few jokes or moments was and always will be my favorite part of my position.
I would always get compliments on my customer service, smiles and laughs and approachable demeanor. 
My co-workers were great team members, and we always worked well together. Supported and encouraged each other

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Retail assistant manager 12 salaries reported	$17.68 per hour
Gérant de commerce de détail 4 salaries reported	$17.38 per hour
Store manager 1 salary reported	$49,500 per month
Assistant buyer 3 salaries reported	$41,667 per year
Assistant manager 4 salaries reported	$37,000 per year

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