sales associate

retail assistant manager

assistant aux ventes

gérant de commerce de détail

retail sales associate

Platos Closet

Not all Plato’s Closet locations are bad to work at. Just some particular locations ran by the same owner.

Due to their managing style and specific goals; money driven only, not engaged with employees and their needs, sometimes not confrontational at all and other times too confrontational, lack of open mindedness, straight up disrespectful (ex. belittling, swearing, and yelling at employees).

There was an evident lack of recognition and incentive. We had bonuses (in-store credit use only) for every month we’d reach our sales quota, and a 20-30% discount on most items, that’s about it.

Since Plato’s Closet’s success depends so significantly on its employees and their customer service skills/personality/overall work ethic, when management/the owner find a way to only hire candidates solely based off of their availability and disregards many other important factors that would make a good team member, it sets the entire workplace up for failure by involving people who couldn’t care less about the company but just needed a job.

Promotions are granted almost every 6 months depending on your performance. You have to go out of your way to ask for it though since they never recognize you.

The hardest part about working at Plato’s is putting your best foot forward, and getting little to no recognition or incentive for it. It’s very demotivating. The best part is the relationships and friendships you will create with your co-workers, along with the ability to completely change your wardrobe with all the trendy clothing you’ll be buying using your discounts. 

A lot of these issues are location specific, meaning some locations are great to work at since their management and owner are the opposite of everything negative I’ve mentioned, so if you ever want to apply at a Plato’s Closet, I’d recommend asking the employees how they feel about management, their owner, work/life balance, workplace culture, and more before deciding to work there.

What is the best part of working at the company?
It is a unique retail environment focused on quality control and attention to detail. It is easy to build relationships and friendships with co-workers.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
There is little to no management presence which can make relationships between supervisors and regular associates a bit messy and cause blurred lines between friends and colleagues. Gossip culture is alive and thriving in this workplace, and the lack of management only enhances that.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Honestly the environment and culture gets worse and worse the longer you're employed. There is a lack of transparent communication between associates and management which leads to a hostile environment more often that not. There is a very quick turnover rate for employees and I believe that is because the environment is warm and welcoming to new employees, but the curtain quickly falls to reveal all the issues.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day starts with finishing any tasks that were left from the night before, which usually involves sorting through a few drop-offs or ticketing merchandise. 3 Instagram posts should be made and scheduled each morning, and once that's done it's time to replenish stock or prepare for the influx of customers dropping off bins and shopping. The rest of the day is usually a lot of customer service at the cash registers, and quality control while sorting through the items people would like to sell.

When I received a phone call from my managers in 2014 requesting an interview to work at Plato's Closet, I was stoked to say the least. My mother and her boyfriend were going through a rough break-up, resulting in the loss of our home, and we were struggling financially. This job meant I could be independent and my mom could get back on her feet without having to worry about supporting me. The job went well, and I ended up meeting some people that would eventually grow to be some of my closest friends. When the store first opened in August, the traffic was insane. We were working eight hour shifts on the daily almost, and barely had time to sit when we did. This resulted in my manager doing another round of hiring, where about six or so people were added to the scheduling. However, as the months progressed, the store began to get slower. Now, I am lucky if I even get scheduled once a week. My last two pay checks have had the grand total of $0, because the new employees are getting all of the work, leaving those who helped create the store with no hours. I have spent the last couple of months in a panic, barely able to afford gas to drive my car which I have just paid off for the year. Working here has taught me how to help build a store from scratch, and gave me the customer service skills needed for future job endeavours, however with the declining hours, it is hardly considered part-time employment anymore. I understand that this is the nature of retail, and no one is specific is to blame. My manager has been a very good one and is doing her best to spread out the hours, but with the business failing, can only do so much.

I had only worked at platos for about 4 months when I realized that I wasn't going anywhere with my work or my mental health. My coworkers were the only plus side of this job as they supported me and actually took my concerns with the job seriously. Management does not appreciate you at all. Typically, I clock into work around 5 minutes early to get a feel for the day but at this location was told to wait until the last possible second to as "this is not what we do here". Next, I was to organize some racks which in itself was easy enough to do but I had to juggle customer service, rack maintenance and dressing rooms at sometimes. I can multitask but when management wants a certain number of bins out (sometimes 3 at a time with 60+ items) by a certain time, it can get messy. I was always placed in dressing rooms never getting a chance to work at cash where I could've been trained appropriately to cover when another co-worker had to take time off (we are in a pandemic!). The hardest part of this job was dealing with my management staff. When I quit, I gave them the proper two weeks notice only to work one more shift after that. Management also brings their family problems into the workplace, something they told us not to do at the beginning and as a result, makes me worried for the girls who currently work there. I do miss the girls I worked with though, I heard that most of them quit or got fired for really weird reasons. If you want to work here, it would be best to wait until new management takes over or just don't bother working here as I know you can find better retail with less problems. 

Having 6 years of retail experience, this location still remains the worst retail store I have ever worked for. Plato's Closets are normally fun and dynamic work environments that really allow for employee independence, I did not find this to be true at this location. 
Coworkers made the experience memorable, but the owners made the environment toxic. The complete lack of communication, backtracking on things said, or outright lies made it extremely difficult to effectively work. The way the owners interact with their employers is unprofessional, and they consistently showed a lack of respect for their team in general. Talking badly about different team members to their employees made the environment very stressful. Scheduling was also a nightmare and the management had no appreciation for anyones time, putting schedules out very last minute, not scheduling enough people for a given shift, or not having enough staff as a whole. There was no coverage when individuals were sick leaving the team short on staff and very stressed and drained. 
 It was impossible to meet the standards of the management when the standards continued to change daily. The constant influx of entirely new staff is an immediate red flag at this location, the owners cannot keep a team of people for longer than a few months at a time. I would strongly recommend not working here. 


I’ve been with Plato’s Closet for five years and have enjoyed growing and excelling within the location that I’ve been at. While I understand how stressful retail can be, I enjoy working through the busy periods and thrive at it. Retail is not for everyone. Plus with the added skill of buying clothing from customers (a personal experience for them), it can be difficult to say no to items and to deal with any conflict from that but I feel that the owners at my location have given myself and the rest of the staff the tools we need to explain the buy process to them. 
The only downside is that there will always be gossip. Most of the employees are young (15-20) and most are females. While we try our best to stop the gossip and for the most part the cliques, bonds tend to form and from there, staff thinks it’s okay to share everything about their life.
However, even with this, this job has been the one that I’ve been the most successful at and the one that I’ve liked the most. The great team members outweigh the ones that have not worked out, as well as the regulars who know us by name outweigh the ones who threaten to never shop with us again.

Completely unprofessional management. Managers and the owner would gossip and talk bad about employees to other employees. There was always some sort of drama happening from the management and owner. This in turn created a toxic and stressful work environment. No room for advancement. Management understaffs shifts that they are not scheduled for, leaving their employees to suffer. Management would take the side of the customer in every situation even if the customer was going against store guidelines and policy. This created a customer base of people who would argue to get what they want ie. discounts, doing a refund on non-refundable items, doing returns past the return policy date, etc. Owner and management would not address staff concerns when brought to them. Suggestions would also not be listened to. Overall a bad experience, stressful, toxic, drama filled environment 

The job itself can be fun, fast-paced, and enjoyable.. on days when the owners don't show up. The owners create an environment where staff is constantly on edge because the owners make the staff feel like every issue is their fault and like they are constantly doing something wrong. All they care about is the numbers, meaning their revenue. Cutting shifts the day of, sending staff home early, and just flat out not scheduling certain staff members for weeks are all common practices. Advancement takes way too long and the salary is way too low for what's expected. Staff is taken advantage of and underappreciated. The owners constantly change their minds about operations and procedures, then seem to experience memory loss and berate the staff members for following a procedure that the owners forgot they implemented. Turnover is extremely high (staff rarely stay employed for more than a year, and most employments end negatively) because the owners make working there a lot more stressful than it needs to be.

Working at Platos Closet has been an extremely rewarding and eye opening experience. This job, unlike common retail stores, has the additive layer of purchasing gently used clothing. This has forced me to constantly work to improve my customer service, as it is challenged everyday. Thus, the hardest part about this job is having to educate individuals about our process and why we may have been unable to purchase their items. On the contrary, Platos has a wide range of customers that come to shop/sell that enjoy catching up, seeing whats new in the store and may be wanting some assistance searching for a specific item/outfit.
The staff, management and employers are some of the most amazing people you will get the chance of working with. Everyone gets along great and often develop friendships outside of work.
Management and scheduling is extremely accommodating and flexible. 
Overall, Platos Closet is a great job that provides you with opportunity to grow in new roles, and stay up to date with the latest fashion and trends!

This was my absolute favourite job but I did not enjoy the way I was treated by the owners. They were very inconsiderate and unreliable with scheduling. I had my schedule changed several times last minute without asking if I was available. Also very last minute scheduling. I worked 9 1/2 hour shifts with only a half hour unpaid break. I was promoted with no raise when I was told I would receive one. Constantly new employees because no one ever stays. The concept of Platos is fantastic and it is a great job, but change needs to happen. I get your business is important to you but your employees need to be better taken care of. Build relationships with them, get to know them as a person, not just an employee, but don’t take advantage of them. And also, if you’re going to fire/let go of an employee, tell them. Don’t just remove them from the schedule and Facebook group, then never speak to them again. Very unprofessional! 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Sales associate 5 salaries reported	$18.57 per hour
Retail assistant manager 4 salaries reported	$18.27 per hour
Assistant aux ventes 9 salaries reported	$17.02 per hour
Gérant de commerce de détail 3 salaries reported	$17.85 per hour
Retail sales associate 1 salary reported	$15.00 per hour

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