sales associate

supervisor

department manager

cashier

stocking associate

Toys R Us

A typical shift during my holiday stay started at around 9:30PM or 10PM and went until at least 6:30AM. My duties included deconstructing pallets and flatcarts full of product and then moving that product from the truck bay into the aisles and onto the shelves in my section of the store. Once the truck was unloaded or there were simply no more materials to take out for my section, I would go to the aisles and begin stocking them with what I had brought out. 

Speed was critical to the success of each shift, as we only had so much time to get everything unloaded and put away before the store opened, so being able to meet and exceed deadlines was an important part of the job. The aisles had to be not only stocked with product, but it had to look good for the customer too. That meant making sure displays were correct, end-caps were full and eye-catching and that the aisles and walls of product were all facing the right way to create an enticing experience for people when they came in when we opened our doors. 

Other than the physical aspect of the job, the only really 'hard' part of it was keeping everything clean and organized to make the end of shift clean up of the cardboard easier. If you're reading this and are new, then make sure you stack like-sized boxes together and don't have em strung out through tons of different aisles. Keep a spare box around to toss all the little pieces of paper and cardboard into that won't just stack or are too small to mess around with at the end of a shift when you're tired. It saves so much time, even though it won't feel like it while you're breaking down your boxes as you go. 

Keep in mind that this review is for work at Toys R Us in a Seasonal Night Crew position during the Holidays. Each night we had a truck coming in, and the work was fast, sweaty and sometimes painful. Management was awesome and worked right alongside the rest of the team in making sure everything got off the trucks and onto the floors in a timely manner. Everyone worked efficiently and were generally very positive and helpful. If one person finished their section early, they'd help out in a different section. 

All in all, I'd say that getting on for this position really helped to make me a better, faster and more efficient worker and it was a great experience with good people.

I would say my experience working at Toys R Us was overall positive, however there are definitely pros and cons. The work environment was fairly relaxed and I was able to form fairly good relationships with my coworkers. Management was also relaxed, my only complaint would be that there were sometimes inconsistencies and lack of communication between the management staff. I can also recall many occasions especially at the beginning of my employment where I was unsure of my assigned tasks or expected roles for my shift as they weren’t always directly communicated to me. Overtime I was able to develop my own routine but in the beginning the confusion was a bit stressful and I would have appreciated a bit more structure. Another negative aspect of the job for me was the inconsistency in shifts. Seasonal was incredibly busy and at times very stressful, however the months following I can recall only getting a few hours a week. The decrease in shifts can be expected in retail given the change of the season, however this being my only stream of income I found myself to be quite frustrated at times. It is definitely something to consider when applying for the job. On the contrary hours were quite flexible and it was very easy to change my availability and book off days when needed, however if you are looking to be getting a lot of hours this is not the job for you. There is also almost no opportunity for advancement within the company, and after working for them for over a year I found myself to be in the exact same position I started in with the exact same wage, just with higher expectations put on me. I know this is also the case for my coworkers who had been with the company for longer than I had. This did not make staying with the company a rewarding experience. If you’re looking for a company to advance in I would not recommend to work at Toys R Us. That being said if you’re looking for a casual job with flexible hours, especially as a student, it definitely does the job. I don’t regret having it as my first job, I just found I outgrew it due to personal experience as well as financially. 

This has to be the worst company I ever worked for. The store I worked for is an all women management so I was expecting a better understanding management, but the Store Director and Asst. Director still cannot face each other without fighting a single day even after working for more than 10 years together. If they offered you higher pay rate than minimum, remember they will send people home in the middle of the shift citing no business so you are not better off than working somewhere else. They will promise you the world during the job interview including career advancement but will make you clean washrooms and garbage with no further training to help boost your career once you start working. They have done this to several candidates who were working for leading retailers and make them repent for leaving a better job. Nothing against cleaning job but they should make it clear during the interview and not promise to train you on back office for career advancement. Their IT systems still run on DOS and painfully relic to work on. They don't follow several Health & Safety norms or even training but they will have paperwork in place to show they did....totally sham. Staff rooms don't have basic amenities like water dispenser or clean kettle or coffee maker (the kettle and coffee maker that they had were so filthy with limescale that no one could use it). Management does not trust the staffs and have egoistic tussle as to who gets whom to work as per their instructions. The problem is that this company is under new Canadian company but the management right from CEO to the Store is still the same as before so the work culture never changed only the owners have. Every management staffs have worked so long in this company that they have no idea of how amazing the work culture is in rest of the companies.

I worked at Toys "R" Us for about two and a half years before quitting due to COVID-19. 

A typical day as a sales associate would be organizing the items on the shelves and ensure they appear presentable and most importantly, approaching customers to welcome them into the store and ask for any inquiries they may have. You may be put as a back-up cashier too depending if management decides to train you on it.

I've learned and improved my customer service skills tremendously while working here because I was always talking to customers every other fifteen minutes. I learned how to interact with different types of customers through quite a lot of problem solving. Over time, you could expand and have take on various other roles like stocking, cashier, help out with visual merchandising and perhaps even warehouse too. 

The management is welcoming and always there for you. Yeah, they can be a little intimidating at first, but they're always going to be by your side. 

The hardest part of the job is encountering rude customers. Working at a toys store where some parents just can come off as entitled and really blunt about whatever toys they're looking for for their spoiled kid can be quite common haha. Whether you consider yourself awful at customer service and nervous around situations like these, you'll find yourself to be in one regardless. Although it's a hard part of the job, it'll definitely help you improve your customer service skills overtime. 

And, the most enjoyable part of this job is definitely your co-workers. They make the workplace that much more enjoyable. You will have reliable and down to earth co-workers that will cheer you up on times where you just feel like quitting your job (aka days like Black Friday, Christmas and Boxing Day). And, who knows, you may make a couple of close friends while you're there. It's an extremely friendly environment.

You start off my getting 3 hours of training on cash and then your thrown to the wolves to figure the rest out by yourself ( stocking shelves, getting product from the back, checking the system etc ). When asking for help fellow employees are more then happy to help however when you ask a manager they are rude and are no help. The managers there have favourites and of your not one of them your hours will be cut and you will be treated like dirt. They will also sit there swear and get mad at you in front of customers for the long lines even though your only one of the two people on till but will not help or do any work themselves what so ever. The fundraisers are also extremely competitive and if you don’t get a certain amount of donations during your shift you are yelled and treated horrible as well. When I first started the managers were awesome however all of them quit by the start of the New year and it went downhill ever since. You will also be expected to stand outside in the pouring rain and when you ask to get your jacket they will say  “no that’s not part of the uniform and this is your job” and when you call in the next day smothered in a cold they will say that they need a doctors note or else you might loose your job. When you do try to call in or book days off it will be up to you to get others to cover your shift and if you aren't able to you will again be yelled at and your job will be threatened. Multiple of my co workers have had breakdowns and have cried from how the managers have treated them a bad the things that they said. Overall this company at this location is run extreamly poorly and I would not recommend working here unless your prepared for constant stress and a emotional roller coaster with no organization what so ever 

I adored this job very much!  I worked with a wonderful team and had the most amazing boss!  Toys R Us Express in Barrie's south end was a small store, that only had a team of four people,  the manager, assistant manager, myself the key holder and our part time sales associate.  With having such a small team, we were crossed trained to do almost everything. Often we would be working in the store alone and would have to be able multitask to handle customers, merchandising, pricing and other duties.  

Our store was not as nearly popular as the main store on Bayfield which allowed our team to spend the quality time with a customer and help them find what they really wanted and/or needed.   Before I had worked for Toys R Us, I had very little knowledge on merchandising and well toys and baby products.  I quickly learned age appropriate games, what was popular with boys, girls and toddlers and during which season as well.  I also became quickly knowledgeable about the various baby products that we sold.  I am not a parent myself so I made mental note on what the customers had commented about certain products, to be able to better help other customers in the future. 

Since we were a small store we had a lot of regulars that came into the store and it was a pleasure to be able to have a name to name basis with your customers.  I also offered great customer service and this was recognized by both a customer and my manager.  To my surprise I did not think that I had done anything out of my way to help them.  The customer approached my cash with his daughter holding one of our teddy bears and instead of asking him to take away from her, I just went to grab another of the same bear to scan.  I would have done this for anyone, but I was happy that a simply action of mine could make such a difference in a customers life.

I would say the best part of working at toysrus is the employees. Everyone I worked with was so nice, friendly and made the workplace better! The hardest part and the reason why I ultimately left, is how stagnant and repetitive the job can be, especially upfront. If you’re a cashier/customer service person the job can become very stressful and repetitive. They push you to get people to donate to charities and to sign up for a loyalty cards. Actually asking for the things isn’t bad but they track you super hard and ultimately as time goes on it gets harder to do and will stress you out majorly.(or at least it did for me) I believe the rest of the positions in the store are much easier, less repetitive, and not tracked as harshly, so I’d recommend anything but being a cashier mainly. 

Management is pretty good. There’s some super amazing managers and then a few who just aren’t as nice to work with, but overall I’d say I enjoyed the management. They care and try to help as much as they can be but sometimes lack understanding of how hard certain positions can be. 
Overall, I liked my time there but the stress of the job ultimately was not worth the time, effort, or pay.  I’d say toysrus is a good place to start out at, as the experience I learned there has helped me adapt very well to my new job! (The amazing coworkers at my store location was also the biggest plus) If I could recommend one thing to make the place more enjoyable it would be to switch off cashiers and people at the front more regularly as it can become quite annoying to be up there so often. (I know many other coworkers felt the same way I did) Other than that I am super grateful for my time there as I met some amazing people and learned a lot about the retail space! 

Worked there for two years, and here is my over all thoughts.
Employees were usually really friendly and help when ever needed, some employees do just the minimum making the day longer than what it needs to be. Management was unorganized and unfriendly, at first they will show you their good side and slowly you'll end on their bad side no matter what you do. Tasks are given before the start of your shift which is nice and usually well thought out with a lot of flexibility depending on who is working and who has the right training. The work overall was good but still is tedious if your alone. Warehouse work was fun but really hard, unloading the truck is hard work because its not organized and on hotter days the truck becomes a sauna, also there usually is larger items like ride on toys and sand bags that need multiple people to take off of the truck making it even harder to unload the truck. Overall I wouldn't suggest working at Toys R Us for the soul reason of feeling like you could be replaced at any moment. For the time I worked there I felt like I was one of the better workers, working in almost all departments other than the baby side and out of no where I was placed on cash standing at my till for 8 hours straight not being able to walk around and help customers. I later put in my 2 weeks but left half way through my shift because of management taking advantage of me and telling me that I have no clue what I am doing even though my two years of experience with customer service, warehouse, stocking, bike building, and floor help in that store alone.

Overall I wouldn't suggest working there for multiple reasons but those are just a few. Without naming any names most of the managers aren't the greatest.

When you hear "toy store" you think its play all day. Every location is different, based on the Management team.  At some TRU locations many days were spent reacting to situations.  Even best laid plans were changed on the fly to deal with the issues on hand. Whether it was a late delivery, flyer execution not 100%, sick calls or  vendor issues, the Management team always found a solution. Some Managers more than others. The work load was often unbalanced in some stores between members of the Management team, due to delegation of tasks by the store Director or Assistant Director. The biggest lesson learned at TRU was to do the best you can, manage your time well, and teach something new to a member of your team.
At times the hardest part of the job, was not being able to fulfill the needs of the customers due to vendor restrictions on product, or the fact you were sold out..... The most enjoyable part of my job was training new staff. Taking fresh minds and teaching them customer service, merchandising, and how everything fits together; also, when "my hires" were promoted to higher positions or given more responsibility due to the training they received. When working in the baby department, the most enjoyable part of the job was going through the 9 months of pregnancy with new parents, and building that rapport/trust with them as they became  new TRU customers. Often we became friends with our baby customers, and were asked for by name when customers were in to shop.

I was hired on after the Christmas season, and working at Toys R Us was the perfect entry level, part-time job for a person like myself with no prior work experience. I learned how to work well under pressure in a fast-paced, (sometimes) high stress environment, and my coworkers and managers were all very laid back. Overall, I am thankful for the experiences I've had working at Toys R Us, but once you learn how to run the customer service desk, there is little room for advancement, hence why it is a great entry level job for students. 
Things could get quite stressful on days where things were busy, there were many (good) sales on at a time, and when we would have technical difficulties like registers and/or computer systems all being down or crashing at the same time. Retail can be a great place to interact with lots of different people on a regular basis, and it really helps if you have a positive attitude or you enjoy interacting with people. However, because there are so many people that you are interacting with on a regular basis, there are bound to be some frustrated customers who use you as the outlet to vent their frustrations. This is in every job of course, but this is especially prevalent during the Christmas/holiday season, in which many customers are already frustrated. It can get very stressful, very quickly. This may not be a good job for anyone who does not enjoy kids/babies, or someone who cannot handle when babies/kids cry, scream, and throw tantrums.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Sales associate 7 salaries reported	$16.43 per hour
Supervisor 2 salaries reported	$18.65 per hour
Department manager 6 salaries reported	$46,500 per year
Cashier 1 salary reported	$15.00 per hour
Stocking associate 3 salaries reported	$15.10 per hour

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