A very unrealistically demanding job -not worth the stress
Ardene is not a job worth working minimum wage for.
This job is exhausting; emotionally, physically and mentally.
The managers/assistant managers will give you a task for the day such as; unpacking stock, organizing, folding, and hanging. While you do that task you're expected to keep your space in the store clean, while giving attention to each customer who passes by your area, AND be expected to be at the till before a customer approaches it when they're paying. AND TO TOP IT OFF.. they expect you to finish your task of the day for example... in 1 hour, when it really takes 3 hours to complete without the added tasks on top of it.
And when you don't finish your task before their unrealistic deadline they make you feel like you're not worth keeping at the company.
THE FUNNY THING ABOUT IT IS.... the managers/assistant managers will give you a task and deadline THAT THEY CAN'T EVEN ACCOMPLISH.
There's a lot of favouritism that happens within the staff and management, and it comes off very unprofessional. With that comes drama, it's like high school all over again. If you're disliked you're given the harder tasks, if you're liked you're given the easy tasks (the front greeter).
I've seen staff cry because of what ASSISTANT MANAGERS tell them, -fat shaming and bullying (verbal harassment). The line is crossed with professionalism when someone in management sets a horrible example to their other employees when it comes to respect. After that line is crossed it m
The only nice people are your coworkers (I have met some friends that will last me a lifetime there.) but some would bully you straight to your face. You'll only get about 30 minutes off in your whole day (not counting the time you put in for the close) and most of the time you barely get a fifteen minute break. My manager forbade bathroom visits during the shift unless they were taken during your break (for a 9 hour shift you'd only get one 30 minute).
Severely understaffed because almost everyone quit within the first 2 months of working there after being repeatedly bullied or humiliated by the Manager for childish things like laughing with either your coworkers or the clients themselves or even taking too long to redo a table that was massacred by the clients (yet you will be yelled at if the store isn't spotless) or because of your appearance.
Dress code was extremely severe for no apparent reason, we were forced to wear ardene shoes that weren't "sports shoes" , "converse type shoes" or open shoes. Which left us with very uncomfortable shoes to last for our long shifts. you are left at the mercy of your manager to decide whether or not the rest of your attire is acceptable for your shift, my manager did not shy away from making very nasty comments about not only your attire but your overall appearance; "are you wearing this because you think you're fat?" or " if that top looked good on you I'd let you wear it, but it doesn't so you're gonna have to put something
A typical day at work constitutes being degraded, rudely ordered around, snapped at for irrelevant and unnecessary things, gossiped about, subject to favouritism, bullying, accusations, discrimination, and verbal abuse. If you call in sick, you're accused of being a liar. Your availability doesn't actually matter, if your boss wants you to work you better be ready to work within an hrs notice. You have school? Sucks for you, she'll say she'll accommodate but most definitely will not. You need time off? Good luck. Throw up at work and need to go home? Okay, better prove that you threw up, she won't believe you. Manager got dumped by yet another man due to her poor taste in men, the next day she came into work and 3 girls got written up for hickeys (even though when she was dating, she didn't care). The district manager and store manager are close so if you try to take any issues to a higher authority, don't expect a result. One girl who spoke out about being treated poorly was bullied by three different managers in the back room to the point that she walked out mid shift in tears. If you try your hardest at your job, it's not good enough. You could spend 8 hours PERFECTING something the exact way she asked, for her to turn around and say "that's hideous, change it." The main issue is management for sure, but its worth recognizing that you will only be paid minimum wage to endure the sheer abuse that will be thrown at you, you will absolutely hate going into work, you have no r
Work begins with the counting of the moneys at the cash register to ensure all records from the previous day are correct. The manager or assistant manager designates a responsibility in the store for each sales associate, after which the doors to the store are opened. My position is usually at the cash, though all sales associates are trained at the cash as well as on the floor. I remain at or around the cash register, refilling the stock in my area until a customer is ready to check out, at which time I politely greet them, make sure they had a helpful service, then inform them about the special deals happening, if it applies to their purchase. If not, I inform them about the general monthly sales and promotions, which I accompany with the appropriate flyer in their bag. I remove all tags before ringing the customer up, then once I have counted the items rang up on the screen to ensure the number corresponds to the amount of items in front of me, I tell the customer his or her total, count the money handed to me out loud and in sight of the customer twice if it is cash, then give him or her the appropriate change back after also counting it out loud twice and in sight of the customer. I quickly but neatly place the items in the appropriate bags with the customers receipt. Finally, I leave the customer with a goodbye that would entice them to come back, most commonly saying : "See you soon!"
I have learned to work in a quick and efficient way at the cash as lines can be ve
A typical day is unloading boxes, even if this gets in the way of customers shopping (also garbage bags are left anywhere too, which get in the way). The number one priority is getting the million boxes out of the back room and onto the overflowing, jam-packed store. You're not allowed to stand behind the counter, because "head office could be watching!". They do spontaneous visual audits, not to keep track of theft, but to make sure employees are putting out stock. If there is no stock, good luck. Just a lot of folding and refolding the massive piles of clothes. Management is allowed to "take out the garbage" multiple times per shift to take 10-15 minute smoke breaks, but if you step into the back room for 15 seconds to grab a drink of water while there is no one in the store, don't expect equal treatment. In my 4.5 years, I saw 5 different managers and countless employees. The managers fire employees for the smallest reasons. If the manager is short $5, it was "the computer's fault" but if you're short $5, expect to get written up. 3 write-up's or "infractions" is grounds for firing. A lot of passive aggressive note writing, especially if you choose to help customers over putting out stock for a few minutes.
They don't like to give you time off, even if you request far in advance, and no one else has requested it off.
I stuck here because it was a small town, and I was nearing my college graduation. I started the day the store opened in my town, and was the longest
Prosdiscount
Consbasically everything else
1.0
Retail Assistant Manager | Stratford, ON | Nov 4, 2014
Unprofessional and disrespectful
Worked at ardene for 2 months before they blind sided me 1 month before my probation period was over and dismissed me, they accused me of forcing other employees to do my work, not listening to the manager and taking extra breaks, and get this going to the washroom too much! None of the things they had accused me of had I done nor heard a complaint or warning about and when I denied it they said to me in a snark voice "we have cameras" trying to intimidate me.. I came into work and was attacked randomly by the manager who is completely un professional, lacks communication skills, and is disorganized and is easily overwhelmed and the district supervisor who is rude and talks down to you, like you're a child. I was clearly terminated for personal reasons and not professional ones because the issues could have been easily fixed with communication, I felt while working there I was in highschool again all the girls would talk behind your back and backstab you to get more hours or get you in trouble, the environment is unsafe because the thermostat is broken making it insanely hot and dry which means you constantly get dehydrated and dizzy head office is aware but does nothing about it! I was not trained properly they did not have an assistant nor manager for a month of my team working there so we were trained by 3 different managers from Kitchener talk about dis organized!! The new manager is not professional at all ever since she was hired the store has fallen a part and it will
A typical day at work, if new, would be greeting customers, especially at the Portage Place location, and you would have to greet every single customer that comes through the door. If you're shy, or are a bit of an introvert, I suggest you practice talking to a lot more people, because this job is a lot more than folding clothes and looking pretty, ESPECIALLy at the Portage Place location.
I've found that in order to do this job, you have to be one step ahead of the management. What this means is, you have to be able to do things without being told to do them, and if management comes around asking if you've done such and such, your answer should always be yes.
The people working at Ardene, at any location, are really friendly, and easy to talk to, so asking for help shouldn't be difficult, even if you are really shy. Make sure when you ask for help from your coworkers, it's still in line with what management expects from you.
Management at each branch may want to do things a little differently in terms of the way you greet customers or the way you go about your job, but it's not hard getting used to the different management styles as long as you keep an open mind and remind yourself that it's not personal.
The hardest part of the job, I think, is the keeping everything tidy part, and the fact that they're allowed to change your schedule up to a day before your due for a shift. One day you'll look online at your schedule and it will say you have a shift four
ProsEventful, Get to work with clothes.
ConsLong hours, Changing schedules up to a day before
1.0
Retail Assistant Manager | Camrose, AB | Oct 11, 2014
Horrible!
I had ONE day of training as keyholder. There was only myself, the acting manager, and another sales floor associate working there at this time. I was working completely by myself 4/5 shifts. The acting manager had a horrible work ethic, came in late and expected me to work all the stock and help customers while she got to play around on her phone. The sales floor associate would work, but once she was done one task she never took the initiative to find something else to do, or to ask what to do. I never got ANY of my breaks working here. Not a 15, not half an hour or an hour for lunch, nothing. The district manager was SUPPOSED to come and work with me when I was scheduled alone, which was like I said 4/5 shifts. SHE WAS NEVER THERE FOR ME! The hardest part of my job? Doing everything by myself and not getting any breaks. Trying to provide customer service when you got couriers ringing the bell at the back to be let in, then trying to put stock out all at once by yourself just is not possible. I learned to not depend on other people for help, because when I did I was given the shaft. You were also expected to take the bank deposit, on your dime might I add, to the bank and deposit it ON YOUR TIME. So not only did I NOT get any breaks, I never got any compensation for driving across town to make the bank deposits! I did not enjoy any part of this job at all. They are always short staffed, and now I understand why. They do not care about their coworkers! My grandmother was on
ProsNONE
Conslong hours, no breaks, no staff, no remorse for family emergencies
Fast paced. Price changes will be the death of you. Price changes come once a week but are very unorganized and don’t make sense at all. It can be very complicated. For example, tops. Some are 2/20, buy one get one half off, 40%, 50% 70%, 3/15 etc. Constantly changing. Customers are confused, sales associates are confused and management is confused. Everything in the store has different promotions.
There’s a huge lack in training which can be frustrated because the big rigs come in and tell you that you’re not up to standard but they expect you to know everything without being trained.
Management is not given empowerment. The management role would be a assistant manager role anywhere else. You have to go through the district supervisor to get anything done. The store manager virtually can’t make any decisions for themselves.
The scheduling is absolutely ridiculous. You have your schedule until Saturday and then the new schedule gets posted Thursday which is only 2 days heads up.. store managers always get Sunday’s off.. I honestly can’t remember the last full weekend I’ve gotten off. So I mean you have to be willing to never get weekends off.
On top of that there’s season changes and stock coming in like crazy but you work off of minimum hours. You pretty much unpack clothing and merchandise it and move it around the store for price changes and before you know it you’re packing it up and sending it out because the seasons over and nothing has sold.
They exp
Worked at the New Minas location for a little over a year. Management did nothing but complain about their subordinates, and the workers were petty. One girl ADMITTED TO trying to get one of the girls fired. She was rewarded for her petty behaviour with a management position. The atmosphere was catty. Several people were intentionally shut out of all conversations on the floor (including instructions for our tasks) and were then chastised for "Not acting like part of the team". Those people who wound up being iced out were made to do the worst tasks and deal with the vast majority of the customers. They also had the most to do with the least amount of time.
Upper management was completely useless. If two people complained the person of higher standing was automatically believed. They would make up witnesses and corner employees to sign write ups for things they've never done. To my knowledge this has happened to at least three people.
Unless you are immediately liked by management your life there will be bsd. Atmosphere is catty and toxic, management is useless and the hours are nothing. If you specify you want a day off you will get it, but a vast majority of your hours will disappear with them to punish you for having the audacity to ask for one consistent day off a week. You will never receive a penny above minimum wage unless you are promoted. You won't be promoted unless you're liked. This job will not pay your bills and the discount isn't worth it either as their
ProsNothing.
ConsToxic atmosphere, no mobility, unrealistic expectations
some of the problems i faces were location-specific, however most of them were managerial/corporate issues.
-inconsiderately impossible sales goals, not adjusted for holidays.
-extreme pressure for employees to grab emails for e-receipts, with a company wide percentage ranking as to which stores have the most amount of emails.
-there is no discernible difference between part time and full time associate. same pay, just “longer hours”, despite part time associates being forced to work full time hours regardless.
-severe understaffing, while managers are shifting back and forth to do training at other locations.
-incoherent “dress code”. when you are hired, you receive an email on what to wear on your first day. it is not a dress code, rather a style inspo. however there is no written dress code in any employee resource. my location’s dress code was fairly… dumb, to say the least: no hoodies, leggings, biker shorts, crop tops, spaghetti straps (90% of the store’s merchandising right there). no shoes with logos.
-half the managerial staff sucks, from breaking dress codes themselves, to sitting around and doing nothing whilst piling on the tasks for associates, to blatant DISRESPECT that goes unrecognized.
-no real security. my location had been stolen from multiple times, with one instance occurring in the stockroom, where we have no sort of lock or pinpad for entrance.
-pay is not worth the stress, hard work, and inconsistency. associates should definitely be paid commission.
Proscute clothes. great employee discounts.
Constl;dr: impossible sales goals, understaffing, bad management pay’s not worth it, picky dress code
Questions and answers about Ardene
What is the promotion process like at Ardene?
Asked Nov 12, 2022
very weird, i got promoted within 3 months with no experience
Answered May 21, 2023
Terrible
Answered May 15, 2023
How often do you get a raise at Ardene?
Asked Nov 8, 2022
Rarely, it was based on the prevailing minimum wage
Answered May 23, 2023
1 years
Answered May 2, 2023
What benefits does Ardene offer?
Asked Sept 28, 2018
Discount
Answered May 17, 2023
Employee discounts on ardene items and higher than in other places
Answered May 15, 2023
What does the dress code consist of
Asked May 1, 2017
The dress code for each store can very, depending on the managers discretion. The only stipulations are no open toed shoes, leggings with a longer top, no other logos showing. Other than those things you're free to wear what your manger will allow.
Answered Sept 24, 2019
Things not allowed:
- Mid-drifts
- Cleavage
- Hoodies
- Thin strapped tank tops
- Open toes shoes/heels
- leggings need to be worn with a long shirt
Answered Jan 17, 2019
What is Ardene holiday leave policy? How much holiday leave do you get per year?
Asked Nov 13, 2018
You have to ask a month in advance and I believe its only 2 weeks
