sales

team leader

engineering team leader

shop manager

quality assurance technician

Purdys Chocolatier

I worked for the company for almost a year (literal days away from the year mark lol), and through all of the peak seasons. Here is what I can say about Purdys.

Purdys was honestly a large part of my childhood, and getting to work for the company definitely fulfilled some childhood dream. The work place is generally quite fun, and the majority of the customers are friendly and enjoyable to assist. You will learn *tons* about the products and history about the company, especially if you spend a lot of time around the chocolate case like I did.

The Purdys #1 focus is customer obsession, so be ready to really engage with customers and create those “Purdys Moments”. And to be honest, connecting with customers was probably my favourite part of the job. 

Now, the unfortunate truth? You likely will not be making as much as you deserve, especially just in a Connoisseur position. And that was the main reason I chose to leave. 

This can differ from store to store, but in my shop, many of the weekly tasks were placed on myself and my coworker (at the time, we were the two most senior employees). This included order placement responsibilities, shop displays, inventory, weekly rotations, etc. And this may not necessarily sound like a lot, but it piles on and on to the workload until you can honestly barely take it anymore. When I first started, most, if not all of these tasks were management responsibilities that we would assist with, not handle entirely. 

That being said, I did feel a certain amount of pride in taking care of these tasks, and if I had been earning more to reflect these extra responsibilities, I would have had zero issues with it. But I didn’t.

And once we got a second manager/leader in the shop, none of these duties were eased up from us. Rather, the new leader just got other duties pushed onto them, our hours became strained, and we had less time to complete our workload. Not to mention still having to maintain the most sunny exterior you can muster for customers, while simultaneously wanting to pull your hair out because you have so much to do. 

SO, TLDR;

Was fun, learned a lot, made a lot of great friends. Did not earn nearly enough to equate for the blood, sweat, and literal tears put into the job.

Would I recommend Purdys, though? Yes. But create boundaries in the workload you take on before you’re drowning. Minimum wage is not worth the stress I let myself be put under. I’d recommend applying for a seasonal position the most, not permanent, but that’s depending on how that particular shop operates.

I'm a fairly experienced retail employee in terms of customer service, time management, inventory/shipping procedures, etc. As a corporation, Purdy's seemed on the surface to be pretty standard. However, hopes and expectations were dropped pretty quickly.
1) I had technical issues from the time I started up until my last shift of the season. I could not clock in or out on my own and had to rely on management to make my punches for me, as I was not given log in information.
2) Purdy's boasts in their employee handbook that they have a break policy that goes beyond Ontario law requirements, but this was not enforced, and you would face disdain from management if you requested a 15 minute break.
3) I've worked in both corporations and small companies, and management here was the poorest I've experienced. The assistant manager was extremely nitpicky and would at times chide me for doing anything other than standing around waiting for a customer to come in that I might be able to assist. (Yes, seriously.) The new manager was extremely rude and unprofessional. I've not in all my years of working been treated so much like I was dumb or intentionally causing problems. The district manager was fine and friendly the few times we met.
My fellow associates + keyholders, and the free chocolate were the best parts of my job. Pay was fair— minimum wage, to be expected from a part-time seasonal position. Hardest part of the job aside from dealing with management was serving ice cream. If you are applying as an associate, be ready to serve a lot of ice cream.

I was hired as a contract employee for 6 months and I initially went into it with a positive mindset and good out look. As the weeks went by that faded away completely. Some employees were nice and kind while others (particularly the older employees) were incredibly rude and disrespectful. I talked to other employees and this was apparently an issue long before I got hired. Despite this they were still employed and were never held accountable. The hours were absolutely terrible and gave me 0 free time to do anything. It was either 8 hours a day or nothing. You're expected to stand during all of it in steel toe boots which are painfully uncomfortable that long to begin with and you can't sit at all unless you're on break. While i was working I found myself constantly looking at the clock waiting for me next break or for the shift to end and it felt so much longer than it actually was. I had asked to go on vacation for the holidays because I needed it and they gave the ok. Despite this I get an email the day I come back saying they are letting me and various other employees go 3 months early. Right after new years. They see contract workers as disposable, use you up and then as soon as the holidays are over perform mass layoffs meanwhile all the old disrespectful employees keep their job and are never held accountable. Do not work at the warehouse at Kingsway. 

I joined Purdy’s in Fort McMurray in November 2023, when the amazing first manager worked there. I loved my job, I was excited to learn new things, being there with the team we had was phenomenal, in May of 2024 I was promoted to key-holder, was excited to dive deeper into my job and I was good at my job, me and the team were like a family! 
Unfortunately after Christmas of 2024 things went down hill, the original manager had moved on to another country and we had a new manager join us, she was kind, very energetic to pull the store up and push sales, unfortunately she slowly but surely begin to push out everyone that the original manager had hired all except our team lead who is absolutely phenomenal as well, new people were hired and my shifts got less and less and my key was taken on a minor mistake along with the other key holder, who also has left. 
I was working 30+ hours and by the time I resigned I was lucky to get one shift a month, my mental health was taking a toll because I wasn’t even making enough to support myself and family anymore. I reached out to our DM on two different occasions and nothing seemed to get better.
Every-time I had a shift it was either cut shorter or cancelled. 
New people coming in and getting pushed into higher positions and my hours and others taking major cuts. Unfortunately I ended up having to leave the company I absolutely loved and would have stayed for many years to come just poor management made it unbearable to work there.

My day at purdys would start off with a staff meeting which would last for about 10 minutes..we then would go to our departments  (Packline/Chocolate line "APV)  I would normally Start my day in the Packline then half way through my shift i would go and die a Chocolate blend. while i wait for the chocolate to melt i would either go back to the Pack line or help out in the warehouse

I learned how to work in Production i also learned how to use different Machines such as the Wrapping machine in the packline and the Hedgehog machine that would Wrap that Hedgehog chocolates. I also did a bit of Janitorial,Maintenance and Kitchen work while at purdys. 

Every year we would get different co workers "seasonal work" but for the people that were there all year round..they were always good to me! i learned a lot from some key people in this Factory

The hardest part in all honesty was getting there. I live in Mission B.C..we had to travel all the way to Vancouver. My father worked there as well so we would commute together. Thankfully Purdys allowed me to stay on the same shift as him so we only had to travel to Vancouver and back once! Days were long. we would leave the house at 2 pm and get home close to 3 am! 

The most Enjoyable part of my job was Blending I loved working with people..but Blending was something i got to do alone. the Supervisors trusted me to do the blends which made it easier to just go up there and do my job!


 my experience, management focused heavily on sales metrics and customer email collection while not paying enough attention to employee needs. I was expecting around 16 hours per week based on my interview discussions, but the actual hours were inconsistent and gradually decreased.

The new location in  Oakridge Mall  came with significantly more operational responsibilities, including additional ice cream products, toppings, and closing procedures, which increased the workload and made closing shifts much longer.

There was also a strong emphasis on collecting customer email addresses. While I understand the marketing purpose behind it, I felt this sometimes slowed down customer service. On one occasion, a customer spent a long time entering their email information while other customers left without making a purchase.

I also felt that some management practices could be improved. Product knowledge was heavily emphasized, but employees were often directed to reference materials for the same information afterward, which made the training approach feel inconsistent.

Overall, I believe the company would benefit from placing more focus on scheduling stability, employee support, and operational efficiency, rather than relying so heavily on sales metrics and email collection targets.

Purdys Chocolatier teaches their employees how to distinctly taste chocolate to provide the best customer service possible. They are customer focused and within 15 seconds of entering the store, you feel welcomed. A typical day at Purdys Chocolatier began with a piece of chocolate, either a new product or something you have already tried. You are expected to help customers and provide excellent service even if you don't get the sale. Ask the customer "how are you doing" followed by "have you ever been to Purdys before?" If they haven't then you can ask if they would like a piece of chocolate. You will rarely see angry customers as it is your profession to make people happy. 
You are also expected to pack boxes for customers, put items on hold, educate customers about the process of chocolate and now dietary restrictions. You will also have to know "first in, first out" and double check dates on each product to provide maximum freshness. 
Purdys Chocolatier prides themselves on being the best employer, they offer many benefits, team challenges, and personal goals. 
The CEO is very kind and genuinely wants to get to know each employee that works with her. Even though she has a busy schedule she will take time to teach and listen to you.
The most enjoyable part of working at Purdys was the lifetime friends you make, the knowledge you learn and the values you leave with.

A typical day at my location required you to stand for 4-7 hours alone, and because of my location I didn't have many customers. When customers did come in, the store lit up and they were almost always nice, and fun to talk to when selling products.
Learned a lot about chocolate, and a lot about fun facts that we use to sell the products. Did you know Mayans used cocoa beans as currency?
My very first manager who hired me, was fantastic, she was really nice and very supportive, I was sad when she transferred. My second manager was also nice, she was new so she also made mistakes, wish she realized certain ones though, and my assistant manager, I didn't know her well, so I can't judge her completely, but she was very intimidating and kind of strict when it came to small things. You could kind of tell when she was upset with you even though she didn't show it.
My coworkers were wonderful, they were all nice and funny, we were all girls too so sometimes a bit of gossip would come into play. 
There was nothing "hard", a least for my location, it was more trying to find things to do while working a 7 hour shift alone. Because of the small location there wasn't much to do, especially since they took away the wrapping and other things we did in store.
The best things however were definitely my Coworkers, packing boxes and wrapping. Also talking to customers.

A typical day was to come to work review task, read communication book, update your knowledge of new items and start your task of what was need to be done. Customer Service come 1st. Attend to all customer and talk with to figure out what their needs are, and make suggestions and up selling to them based on their needs. Run it through the pos system. Set up displays, based on the new advertising directions book, check all dates of the chocolate boxes, make seconds chocolates. Try your best to make goal, beat last years sales.

What you learned was the most important part of your job and that was to educate yourself on all different chocolate types, healthy, dark,milk,white chocolate, and what all their ingredients are and how it was made. Because this helps for your style of selling technique.

Management was really good, very supportive if you needed help with something or you did not know how to do something, they got your back!

Co-workers were really easy going and knew their stuff and always there to lend a hand if need be.

The hardest part of our job was we have to package everything, and wrapping everything, this became very time consuming.

And the most enjoyable part of this job is your get to eat your mistakes and when your knew you get to try out all the different chocolates yum.

If you are a retail worker who hates to work with people, you might love this job, but I didn't. 

After only about two weeks (with bare minimum training) I was made a keyholder and made to close on my own. Due to my being there only a few weeks, I made some mistakes and despite being told "It wasn't a big deal" and that I would be properly trained on how to close in the near future (never was), I quickly heard from a coworker that my manager was talking poorly about me and my "work ethic". 

I spent nearly every shift after that alone, or with a co-worker for MAXIMUM two hours in a 5+ hour shift (so one of us could take a break). Because I was typically working alone in a high traffic area of the mall, I would never be able to even leave for a quick sip of water.

My manager also insisted that they would continue my training "soon", but "soon" never came. I recognize that I could have been proactive and took time to learn on my own, but I was not made aware of the resources until about 4 weeks before I left the company.

All in all, I did not enjoy my  time at Purdys, and there are many reasons beyond what I listed. I know there are people who have loved their time here, but I simply was  not one.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Sales 88 salaries reported	$17.73 per hour
Team leader 12 salaries reported	$19.87 per hour
Engineering team leader 25 salaries reported	$19.84 per hour
Shop manager 19 salaries reported	$55,550 per year
Quality assurance technician 20 salaries reported	$45,000 per year

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