design consultant

sales associate

stocking associate

retail store manager

merchandise leader

Ballard Designs

Management has no leadership skills. This company hired people to run a high-end furniture store with no experience in furniture. Instead of handling situations with a troubling employee, they would punish everyone. They treated employees like children and these individuals were professionals who had worked in corporate setting for years.  These managers did not even acknowledge employees when they came to work.  They upheld the design department over the sales team instead of creating a harmonious partnership. They cut hours, some people would have five hours on the schedule. They did not give schedules until two days before the start of the week, but expected you to give two week notice to take time off and did not approve it until days before-if that. Management failed to realize in order to make the numbers they are responsible for, they have to take care of their employees; especially when you have good, loyal people.  Unfortunately, there were issues of discrimination. One manager consistently profiled guest who did not look like her when they came into the studio.  She also pretended she could never understand what guest (from cultures different from hers) where saying when they were talking to her.  Bottom line, if you have professional back ground and looking for a part-time job to have a little extra money, stay away.  You nor your skills will not be appreciated.  If you are just trying to gain experience, untrustworthy, rude and manipulative, they will love you at the Charlotte, NC location-this is the job for you.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The furniture and decor is nice. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Ballard Designs is poorly managed, stressful environment with near impossible sales goals. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It is stressful, and demanding.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Normally, you are expected to clean the entire showroom before opening and attend the morning meeting to get the daily sales goal. Doors open most days at 10am.  Your lunch break is assigned at the morning meeting but that is flexible depending on customer traffic.  You aren’t allowed to have water, or anything for that matter, on the sales floor. Sometimes it’s difficult to get to the back room for water. Doors close at 6pm.  We are assigned tasks, such as trash or cleaning the restrooms.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part is the employee discount at 40% but I've seen better at other retailers.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The West Palm Beach location is not set up for designers to work productively.  Even parking and lunch breaks was a pain.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Not very professional.  With so few stores you can clearly see they are struggling to develop an appropriate work culture in the retail outlets, with the necessary systems and enablers to support the design and sales staff.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Working on client room designs while hoping not to be interrupted too often by people coming in for a one-off candle, book or pillow purchase.

I enjoyed my time working at Ballard most of the people I worked with with helpful even though they did not have good training.

Management was not clear about PTO or any of the benefits of the company only the assistant manager helped as she could.

No commission as a designer but there was always contention between designers and sales as the roles are not made clear.

No advancement opportunities you are basically stuck in that role and pay which is why alot of people leave.

Benefits were pretty good and the discount.
Ask about PTO apparently they don’t pay it out but don’t want you to use it while you work either.

A good place to start as a designer but nobody stays for long as you can get promoted from
Sales to designer so all that schooling is irrelevant.

The job is low stress, especially if you already have design experience. This was my third job after graduating college and has pay was better than the last two. I loved the team that I worked with. Everyone got along very well with one another. There is no commission pay, so everyone works together as a team. The other designers helped with training but I wish there was more of a formal protocol. The management team at this location is amazing. They accommodate to your needs and really care about their employees. Management does not bother you on your off days and never makes you stay late. They really respect your time, which I appreciate. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The store is a beautiful work environment, the customers are wonderful and the company offers great benefits including insurance, time off, store discount.  

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I can’t think of anything stressful about working here 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Everyone is expected to do their part in providing a great experience for customers as well as helping to meet daily company goals.  The Nashville store has a wonderful open culture and is supportive of its employees well being.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Morning meeting, open store and greet customers.   Maintain inventory on floor, provide great service.

What is the best part of working at the company?
You will meet some wonderful people and the store hours are great for retail. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The lack of organization and the inability to manage through issues by the executive leadership team. Their inability to manage the simplest problem makes your job that much harder and stressful. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The culture appears upbeat and optimistic and will remain that way as long as you stick to the company lines and canned responses, never challenge anyone, do not ask too many questions and do not point out any issues. This is a culture that thrives on the old saying, just get with the program.

The job is pretty easy nothing too complicated. Super flexible with schedules. The stock associate manager is kind of annoying and has some of the worst OCD I have ever experienced so be ready for that if you're applying to be a stock associate. Your co-workers can be pretty cool. There is no room for advancement so you'll be in the same place working there 1 year as you were working there 5+ years and your pay will be similar too which brings me to the next thing. The raises are just unacceptablely bad. So, again, a good job for a college student with the flexible schedling and such, but I wouldn't dream of trying to make a career out of this. 

I loved the team I worked with in the store and felt, for the most part, we were a cohesive group. All of the designers and salespeople worked well together. New consultants don’t get proper training and there is very little support from corporate to make sure designers are trained. My issue is with the home office. The current Director of Stores and the person who is over the designers are both clueless and unprofessional and only care about the sales numbers. What they don’t understand is if people are well trained, supported and genuinely feel appreciated for their hard work the numbers will follow. Very poor working environment. 

Design and architecture are my passions, so Ballard Design is an awesome environment for me.   We work hard, and some days are crazy and intense from a customer standpoint, but I love it.   I am an absolute people person, so the intensity and number of customers, bode well with my personality and skill set.   Management is great, we laugh all the time and they are flexible and understanding to employees personal needs and requests.  I would recommend Ballards to anyone if they are willing to work hard, enjoy design and the product itself, and want managers who are flexible, understanding and love to laugh.   No one takes them self too seriously.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Design consultant 12 salaries reported	$23.03 per hour
Sales associate 5 salaries reported	$15.92 per hour
Stocking associate 1 salary reported	$15.50 per hour
Retail store manager 6 salaries reported	$85,333 per year
Merchandise leader 2 salaries reported	$22.50 per hour

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