assistant store manager

sales associate

store manager

manager in training

responsable de magasin

Urban Barn

I worked there for a year and a half, the money I made was good when other salesman weren't stealing my commissions. The company does not care about its employees, it has incredible high numbers to reach, and even when you reach them you are asked to almost double your numbers. In a year and a half, we had 4 different managers, and 2 different assistant manager. Managers would have trouble staying more than 3 months due to the low pay for them and the amount of work and time asked. 
This is not just a job, its worse. You need to remember every product, every product warranty, every product care instructions. You often fight with your colleagues about sales, and the manager always has a favorite, so you often loose your sales. You NEED to keep a book with every client you ever met and detail everything you said or done with them, if you want to actually keep your sales. And when you are organised and sell well, your colleagues will dislike you and be even more sneaky, or try to start rumors like you are stealing people sales... It is a very toxic environment. 
The company does not adapt to the clients, it has a set of mind and sticks to it, so get ready to loose a lot of sales there too. 
Even if I was full time student, I was sometimes asked to come in days I was not even available. Every 2 to 3 week there was a problem with my schedule. They are really not flexible with it.
Remember you are asked to reach very high numbers? You also need to keep the shop spotless, and when I mean spotless, its literally everything. So you are a maid, and then a salesperson. You are also asked to do weird stuff like changing the lights that are 10 feet in the air, so do not be afraid of heights.
The costumer services are just awful, many times objects got lost or forgotten in transport and the company did not really care, we had to follow our different sales orders and make sure they came in time or message a set of different people to make sure it would. 
The management was a complete joke, as i said we had a lot of different managers, and none really stayed. Being a perfectionist, i always had something to do and i knew a lot of baselines of Urban Barn, but the other employees chose to ignore them and I was often stuck doing all the low work like cleaning the windows or redoing the beds. 
The salary was ok, until the minimum wage raised. The company did not want to pay me more, so with the number of tasks and the stress coming with this job I decided it was not worth it anymore and left, best decision I did. 
There are no real positive side, except commissions, but that is if nobody steals your sales, or if they give you decent hours, or if you have the hours nobody is in the store. 
Overall, I would stay away from this company, there is a lot more to say, but I do not have the time.

This job starts out decent until you realize that management is incompetent, salary and benefits are laughable and being rewarded for good work is virtually non existent.

If you have personal things going on in your life they don't matter. You are expected to be there regardless if you need some time off. The only exception would be if a family member died then you get 3 days but only if it was an immediate relative.

Management has no idea what is going on and mine in particular was super fake. She definitely made it a hostile work environment by making everyone uncomfortable when she was in a bad mood. I went a month without a single word from my store manager unless she came to talk to me and was condescending. Completely different story when the Regional Manager or Visual Merchandiser showed up at the store. She puts on such a good show that they had no idea what was really going on. Sales are all that matter and the day to day operations don't get any recognition.

If you were seen taking a 5 minute break you were in trouble. Everyone was expected to be doing something at all times and you'd get a talking to if you weren't.

The charity this company does is pathetic. With one store in Calgary making 4.5 million dollars ALONE you'd think they would be a little bit more generous with their charity. They donate "blankets" to  women's shelters. Which would be great, if the blankets would actually keep anyone warm. They are the size of blanket that would be ideal for a small child and cost $5. Who knows where the $5 goes. 

Coworkers for the most part are good. and the most enjoyable part of this job is going home.

Fast paced comission-based sales. It's retail so it's a lot of grunt work including cleaning bathrooms, messes customers leave, painting and reorganizing the store during floor sets, mopping, vaccuming, etc. Not a great work-life balance either, worked every weekend so it makes it hard to plan anything, especially if you have kids. 

Some of the employees are nice to work with but others can be really catty and there's a lot of infighting over sales and which customer belongs to which sales associate. 

Management is out to lunch most of the time. They're too concerned with numbers to really care about individual needs of employees or general moral of the store. 

It's hard to make money here unless you're good at sales. And you'll only make sales if you work prime shifts when it's busy (like weekends).

Raises are pitiful. In my last year there, I was "awarded" a 10 cent raise and was told it was one of the higher raises. 

Breaks are not mandatory unless you work a full 8+ hour shift and then you get a 30 min break and it's the only time you get to sit down. There's no lunch room either- you just sit in the back stock room and can fill up your water bottle in the bathroom (which is always super gross). There's no secure place to leave your bag or purse during your shift, just a coat rack that everyone uses. 

Assistant managers work on comission too so on top of management tasks, they're expected to meet a sales quota which, overall, fosters a crazy competative work culture. And if you're not in when your customer comes back to purchase, you sale usually gets taken by someone else and you don't get the comission. 


Typical day at work
A typical day at urban barn was mainly a lot of hands on work with customers, you never spent time behind the desk unless you were with a customer and they wanted to pay. It was great getting to spend most of your time with people, hands on.

What I learned:
I learned a lot about different fabrics and upholstery, different types of leathers and what the difference is, and all about the different types of wood and the pros and cons of each of these things. 

Management:
The actual manager was the most amazing person I could ever imagine working for. He was the kind of man who would "be disappointed" rather then "I'm angry with you", which ultimately I think hits home a lot more. He really cared about all of his employees. The assistant manager was the opposite. Never understanding and would make you feel awful about yourself whenever she had the opportunity.

My coworkers:
They were more like family then coworkers. They spread so much knowledge on to me right when I started and accepted me with open arms, I couldn't imagine better people to work with.

The hardest part of the job was either the commission base which lead to a lot of drama within the work place and over competitiveness, or the product knowledge. The product knowledge takes about 2 months to learn, so you end up asking your coworkers a lot of questions, which isn't easy for everyone.

The most enjoyable was like I said earlier, working with people all day hands on. You never are standing around doing nothing!

Average workload, nothing unreasonable for retail these days. A matter of luck if you end up in a store with a good team that knows plenty and helps each other or a bad team that is allowed to underperform and get away with slacking.

That said, the people around you really are the best support group you can have at this company. Don't count on HR being too effective with your issues beyond the bare minimum.

The rest of this review doesn't cover the usual workday averageness. Mainly cautions and gripes.

Regional management plays a large role in the Cons column. Way too hands on and micro-managing. Handle with care.

All about the numbers. You work on commission in sales and need to meet your goals; this is not a place to slack off if you want to make money off the low base wage. Be kind to your fellow salespeople and handle sharks lightly and with a smile.

There is a history of treating sub-management employees poorly when big changes happen. Not that nobody else tries this stuff but know your rights as an employee and make it known that you know. It may change how you're treated.

Despite all this, many people do try to make this a pleasant place to work. Recognize this and actively participate in it. Company culture doesn't change overnight and we all have our part to play in making that happen, even if we can't complete it while we're around.

If you are lucky enough to get a great team, it is a really great place to work. But beyond good coworkers, there is not much positive reinforcement to continue to work for the company. Originally I was told there would always be availability to move up/develop within the company which is why I took the job. And despite having regional managers that are responsible for reviewing their stores and teams, all they focus on is numbers. So, even if you do all the work to maintain the store and coach your staff and have great reviews from your team and managers, if you don't have the sales/numbers they want - they will not promote you. You are only a number to them. 

Even when inquiring for positions higher up in the company, I have had regional managers laugh at my employees even when they have great recommendation and say everyone wants that, with no professionalism or suggestions of how they can achieve their goal. 

It does not feel like a company who is interested in promoting hard workers internally. I have known a number of great employees who left the company due to poor management from the regional manager.

Also, proper communication from head office, customer service and warehouses are inefficient and leave you dealing with customers without answers and support most of the time.

A typical day consists of a morning meeting about what has to get done. Followed by four hours of work and then lunch followed by another four hours of work. If there is overtime management usually gives the workers a fifteen minute break at the seven hour mark.
I've learnt (without proper training and mostly through observation) how to help customers that pick-up, how to assemble furniture, and how to check a received container.
Management has been shadowy to a degree with new employees. I have noticed on many occasions that when I do ask a question I get ignored and when I persist they tell me something they want done. This to me is confusing so I drop everything and adhere to their command which after a couple of minutes doesn't help because they either tell me to do something else or get on my back on why the initial task wasn't done. When I remind them of their response they either walk-off or tell me to do it NOW (and then walk off).
The hardest part of the job is the unpredictability of the supervisor (it would be nice if he looked at people for a change) and the fact that due to the boss most of the 'veteran' employees like to act akin to this Supervisor.
I would have to say that the most enjoyable part of this job is learning new tasks to take with me (if I choose to go) to another employer and the paycheck.

Overall, I enjoyed my employment at Urban Barn and learned a lot about how to be a good commissioned salesperson, style and decor.   I also learned a lot about working together with a small staff.  What I did not enjoy was how un-user friendly SAP is, and that we were required to obtain so much information from the customer upon check out (eg. their email address).  With only one debit/credit machine, customers were often kept waiting for their transactions to be processed, particularly during the holiday season.  Also, Urban Barn likes to advertise their company as Canadian - however, much of the furniture and accessories are made off-shore, leaving some customers to feel misled.  Some of the tasks demanded of us were inappropriate to either how we were dressed, or even compromising our own safety - such as getting up on very high ladders (10 ft.+) to hang heavy and large mirrors and artwork, or patching, sanding and re-painting nail holes while dressed in dress clothes and shoes.  In the end I lost my full-time employment and benefits there because of the company restructuring to no longer include full-time employees with the exception of management staff.

This company may be successful in sales but the staff are miserable and are treated so poorly. Management are often gossiping and spend most of their time doing that than working! Associates are not allow to speak to one another and often told to task during busy times so that management can take the commission.

Had the work environment been better, the pay would have been worth it, but it wasn't. So many issues were never addressed when brought to the management's attention. Along with all this, the schedule for the following week was sometimes made on a Friday or Saturday! Some associates would receive a phone call from the manager to tell them that they'll be working on the following Sunday.

Management sometimes will take long extended breaks, numerous breaks or would come in late or leave early.

I was told that I would be trained within the first week and continuously for three months but I still have yet to complete my training. I would then get blamed and chastised in front of customers for not knowing how to do something as I was not trained!

I'm only working here to gain some money for the future but I don't think this place is worth the trouble. Management is terrible!

As a sales associate at Urban Barn, I have mixed feelings about the workplace. On one hand, the products offered are of good quality and design, which makes it easy to sell them to customers. However, the work environment can be quite stressful, especially during peak hours when the store gets crowded.

The management team could use some improvement in terms of communication and organization. There were times when the schedule was not properly communicated, causing confusion and frustration among the staff. Additionally, there was a lack of clear guidelines and expectations, which made it difficult to perform duties efficiently.

The pay and benefits package was average and not very competitive compared to other retail stores in the area. The workload was also quite demanding, which could be challenging for those who are not accustomed to fast-paced environments.

Overall, Urban Barn is an average workplace that could benefit from some improvements in management and communication. The products sold are of good quality, but the work environment can be stressful at times. If you're looking for a job in retail, it's worth considering, but there may be better options available.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Assistant store manager 27 salaries reported	$43,389 per year
Sales associate 96 salaries reported	$19.42 per hour
Store manager 54 salaries reported	$20.07 per hour
Manager in training 8 salaries reported	$51,750 per year
Responsable de magasin 26 salaries reported	$55,173 per year

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