assistant manager

retail assistant manager

sales lead

store manager

sales associate

ALDO Group

I started in July of this year (2019) on average we were working 5 days a week 10 hours a day a month into the job we started working 6 days at 10 hours and then I was offered overtime (sundays 12hr days) once it picked up I was working 7 days a week we were allowed to take our normal scheduled day off though if requested a day in advanced I would work in the put to store side most the time but sometimes the picking side of the warehouse the picking side was completely unorganized though sometimes whole pallets weren't at the location it was supposed to be and boxes from pallets would be scattered all around different surrounding locations  although twords the end of my time there they were working on fixing that management was a joke I had 3 blue vest (manger) at the time and only one of them knew common decency and respect the other two one only yelled at you the other had constant attitude but later on the attitude dropped and she became very nice but still had extreme moments of disrespect employee to employee contact was kinda bad as well I'm Hispanic bit I don't speak Spanish  well and that was frowned upon I guess by the other Hispanic lady's they all were kinda linked up and would always be rude about how you packed your boxes or would just shove your cart out of the way or just have attitude I kept to myself for the most part n I found myself kinda being harrassed by some employee I literally would get shoulder checked by one person and if I left to use the restroom another person would take my cart back to the section where they got loaded with product happened a couple times the job itself was alright though I got a lot of overtime and the hours added up well I would only recommend picking though even though it was disorganized it was way better than pts because you got to work alone I felt like I got more things done hitting your hourly rate is doable especially with accessories on your cart twords the end of my time there it completely died off I went from basically 70hrs a week to barely 32  because of that I left they really need to get someone in there though to teach the blue vest on the PTS side how to have common decency

Pros
- They match up to 50% of what you contribute to your HSA. Better than any other retail company I worked for. It's a high match. 
- Insurance plans deductible is about the same as any other retail company. Except they do provide an emergency hospital insurance and work place injury insurance, that will pay out immediately. 
- Headquarter in Canada cares, will requires everyone to take a survey twice a year to create a better working cultures. 
- IT team work fast to fix any systematic issues that goes down in the store. 
- District manager are always on call to help you. 
- Very diverse team and inclusion matters to Aldo. 

Cons
- People leave job because of bad management. That is true at Aldo. My current situation isn't bad. He just not modeling the way as a store manager. He still treating me like I am an ASM but my position was dissolved pre covid 19 due to company restructuring which led to my demotion as a sale lead and pay cut. Im getting pay less but still being ask to do the same thing. Why would he ask less of me when he know how highly capable I am. 
- Store manager is unfocused because of personal issues. I can empathize, but everyone goes through something. If we call can check ourself at the door I expect the same for him. Or if he needs a 2 week break, take it, and transfer in a temporary store manger. When we reopen, he wasn't there I was working with another store manager to reopen. The point is if you need a break, make the arrangement and take care of yourself. 
- The other ASM, whose position was higher than my original ASM position got recruited to another company, she left. Everyone on the team assumed I was gonna take over her position, then I found out he and the DM didn't want to give it to me because they want to explore other candidate that willing to take a lower pay. But they couldn't find anyone with my capability. 

Make sure you NEGOTIATE YOUR PAY PROPERLY. There are a lot of physical labour involve. You need to think about that! Then justify the rate you're asking for (manual labors + interpersonal selling skills).

As an associate, Assistant Manager, and then Store Manager I can say I've seen all facets. Maybe there is high potential for growth in the company, or maybe just high turnover leaving room for others to move up. Honestly couldn't tell you. 

Associate:
The work was not hard once you got the hang of it. Could be slightly repetitive but easy to pick up. Changing all of the promotions by hand, along with them being hand written was a little annoying. But as long as you know how to read the size on the box you literally have no weight on your shoulders. 

ASM:
Big upgrade from Associate as far as responsibility, but again, nothing too hard. keys to the store. Opening and closing procedures ( literally took me 20 minutes maybe for each). Deposit pick ups as well as a larger personal sales goal. Helping out SM with task in their absence and overseeing/directing any majors changes in store layout. (As ASM I was also put in charge of visuals like handbags and accessories) ASM occasionally joined conference calls too.

Store Manager:
Not much change in responsibility except the fact that everything that happens of course falls on the person in charge. Low sales, unfinished task, lack of staffing...its all on you lol. Encouraged to take initiative; say if one style is selling a lot... move it to the back to make people go through the store to get to them...Something not selling? move it to the front and its the first thing people see. stuff like that. Weekly conference calls helped to stay in the know as far as store direction and having the chance to communicate with all of the other managers in your district. 

But overall I would described it as a very free, SUPER relaxed work environment. A job i really like, and not to sound like I was irresponsible, but in any position I had I literally did whatever I wanted or felt like doing and whenever I felt like doing it hahaha. It was pretty fun. 

I was an Assistant Store Manager and majority of my daily duties only consisted of ensuring myself as well as the store met its sales goals. We were to check emails regularly and do orders while also selling during our shift. With only one other associate on duty whom was also competing with you for sales it was difficult to task unless you were the Store Manager where your personal sales didn't really matter. It felt like there was no difference between my position and the position of the sales associates in terms of how important sales were which made it difficult to learn anything new with the company in order to grow. Merchandising floor sets were done all in one night and you would be there until about 1am minimum with one other associate. Corporate was not very positive about supporting the stores they were full of negativity and majority of the time they only came to the stores to fire someone in upper management which I witnessed happened to my DM. Very unprofessional environment to work in overall. They would give us selling techniques to lie to the customers in order to make sales which I did not agree with at all. If you order shoes online through the website the company sends you shoes from the stores that have been tried on and possibly returned. We were told to clean them as good as new so the customer couldn't tell they were used. We would constantly get complaints about orders being very late and damaged. If you have a wedding and are trying to plan your wedding party by a specific date be careful because your shoes may not come in time and they may come all at different times and be damaged or mismatched. I witnessed that happen on multiple occasions.

During my time at ALDO I enjoyed working with my co-workers. I was able to take on more responsibility and train my team to work together and learn different selling tactics. As a sales manager you are responsible for maintaining your individual as well as the store's daily sales goals, ensuing supreme customer service, floor set organization and daily bank drop deposits, etc. While working in retail I learned to be patient with customers and always try to keep in mind that everyone has their own individual style and taste. a great sales tactic is to ask open ended questions. Instead of asking, "Is there anything I can help you with today?" I taught my sales team to change their question to, "What are you looking for today?" Try not to ask questions that can be answered, "No." It puts you in a little bit of an awkward position and basically ends the conversation with the customer. You want to keep them engaged and show that you are there to help, not just to make a sale. Working in the shoe industry forces the customers to ask for help. All of the inventory is in the stock room rather than throughout the store hanging on a bunch of racks. They are unable to help themselves to the products, which requires them to communicate with you. The most difficult part of working in retail in general is when you don't have the correct size the customer needs. You can persuade most customers to take a look at similar items, but even then sometimes the sizes are just not in stock. I enjoy training new employees. I prefer to allow them to work hands on rather than mind boggle them with a bunch of information. I have lots of patients and make them feel comfortable to ask questions until they get the hang of things. In order to gain respect you have to give respect.

I worked in retail for this company for 5 years and I saw a little bit of everything. Working at retail has its special challenges and issues, but I often felt like the company did not really care that much about their retail workers. I saw how unfair they were to excellent employees, and as a part-timer I felt like I had little to no recognition. I was one of the top sellers and even won Club Elite once and never received the price they promised, that is when I lost interest in my efforts. We were often treated as numbers instead of individuals. 
There were many fights concerning sales. You have to sell a lot in order to get hours, and the competition can be very tough for many, many co-workers quit quickly or left crying. 

However, during my last months in there the environment felt more relaxed, maybe because we were in the middle of the pandemic. Therefore, I’m talking from the experience I had years ago and I don’t know how it is to work there today.  I really hope future employees get to experience some improvements. 

Not everything was negative! I stayed there for so long because my managers and co-workers were the best and because of the flexibility. Of course I grew as a person in this job so I'm very thankful for that! But they definitely need to care more about their store employees. I enjoyed this job regardless of the negative aspects I mentioned and consider it a good job for those that need a temporal or part-time job. 

The pay is incredibly low.  At the time I was there, Store managers made about or less than a Sales Supervisor (entry level key holder) or Assistant Manager make at most retail companies.  There is no bonus incentive, or commission for sales team.  Plans are unrealistic because of the endless return policy and e-comm returns are counted against the store's volume.  There's a lot of operational responsibility that is a waste of time.  They do not do a great job of digging into individual business enough (demographic, climate, etc)  nor do they utilize location specific marketing or merchandising.  Store managers are puppets not business owners.  Field managers are shady business people.  They will not motivate or inspire you they lead by fear.  Very stressful environment with unrealistic deadlines and a lot of negative pressure.  Most people are unhappy.

There's an unspoken "get the job done" mentality so I've heard many stories of management working off the clock and or having their employees work off the clock unbeknownst the them. 

Upside:  for the most part everyone I encountered was very professional.  Would be reprimanded, fired or demoted for behavior I've seen take place in my current company.   The training process is great.  I learned how to sell and control KPIs through behaviors at this company which was not only a skill I transferred over to my current company but also lead to some awards and recognition.  Store managers were amazing, fair but tough.  I honestly would consider working here again if the pay wasn't so low.

When you first clock in, you are coached in by a manager. You're told your sales goals for that day. The more people in the mall, the higher the sales goals are. You must meet them by the end of your shift. You're also told about the sales going on that day so when you greet a customer as they're walking in, you can inform them about the sales.

I learned many things at this job. I gained my first retail experience. I learned how to be a sales person. I learned all the skills needed to maximize my sales goals. I also learned how to use a cashier, how to do store inventory, how to mark down items and enter discounts in the computer. Management was excellent. The managers I worked with were a lot of help. They helped me be the best sales person possible. Whenever I needed help on something, they were there to help. My co-workers were fun and hardworking. There was not anything hard about the job. Once I learned how everything worked, it was all easy. The most enjoyable part of the job I would have to say is when a customer thanked me for being very helpful. I love working with people and when they complement me on how well I helped them, it felt amazing. I know I worked for pay, but I also worked to get that 1 on 1 experience with customers. When I did everything possible to make a customer satisfied, I felt satisfied.

I was one of the managers and style ambassador. 
-Open and closed the store 
-Set daily income goals for management staff and associates 
-Assisted/Performed visual merchandising 
-Worked sales floor
-Tended to administrative work
-Assisted back of house with shipping and receiving product 
-Style Ambassador: Enforced trendy/seasonal appropriate dress code and upload pictures of exceptional styles to ALDO social media pages 
-Maintain store cleanliness 
-Operate/assist online orders 

*Staffing hours are based on volume of customers. If the week did not reach or surpass last years sales, then hours would be cut. So for sale associates you were looking at a minimum cut of 8 hours a week to 20 hours max. For managing, like minimum 18 hours to 30 maximum a week. So basically if you're full time, it's kind of like you become part for a bit and if you're part time then you're screwed.* 

We also have individual sales goals, but do not collect commission. If you struggle to meet a lot of your set goals, then your hours get cut.

Moving up is easy, but sometimes they will hire outside for convenience sake instead of promoting within. 

A majority of the people I worked with all had second jobs, too. 

Good job if you're in school, like to be in the fashion trends, and are really outgoing.  

BEING SALES ORIENTED IS A MUST! You will get trained on how to make a sale, but do not expect a full on day of training. You are just kind of expected to be skilled in sales.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Assistant manager 153 salaries reported	$20.42 per hour
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Store manager 66 salaries reported	$52,849 per year
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