assistant store manager

retail assistant manager

store manager

stockroom manager

assistant manager

Boot Barn

What is the best part of working at the company?
Networking with customers, the discount, the commission, and a few of the managers make the job manageable.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stress doesn’t come from dealing with the customers, it’s from dealing with the management. The head manager is nice but she clearly is stressed out, and it’s not fair of her to take it out on the employees, whether she realizes that’s what she’s doing or not I don’t know. Everything went downhill once one of the full time key holders was hired after a beloved key holder left. The newer one is nice, but it feels fake and like they try too hard to be the head manager and it feels like they’re micromanaging everyone, which is stressful when the head manager is already micromanaging and giving unnecessary feedback. Constructive criticism can be a good thing, but it’s more like pointing out what you could have done as if you didn’t already do it, which is annoying when you try to explain you did do what they’re suggesting and they just continue with the criticism. Everyone is always on their phones and that makes it hard to gauge whether a colleague greeted a customer or not, especially when so many people get scheduled in the same department. You don’t want to overwhelm the customers but you don’t want to completely ignore them either because then you get a passive aggressive talking to. It gets hard to greet people when employees passive aggressively fight over customers because they want to reach their numbers and gain commission. I believe the reason coworkers do this is because of the stress the management puts on them to reach their goals. There used to be friendly competition and collaboration, meaning you would try to beat the other person by upselling (not stealing) or you would work together with a colleague to provide good service and differing opinions (customers love it when you and others truly care about them and their opinions), and it truly felt like a comfortable atmosphere where you were excited to go to work and bond with your colleagues. Now people just steal sales by cashing customers out under their name, there’s petty drama all the time, praises get sung to the favorites while nobody else gets recognition, and it all ruins the incentive to gaf about the job. New hires make way more than those who have worked there for several years, and the raises make no sense. I loved this job, but now that I’m gone I feel so free. I miss my coworkers but the good ones left a long time ago because they couldn’t do it anymore.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It used to be fun and playful but still in a professional manner. Now it’s dreadful and mentally exhausting.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Clock in, go over goals, get assigned a task or project, help customers, take designated breaks, check to see if you’ve met your goals, and clock out.

The western wear store I worked at was bought out by Boot Barn, and everything went completely downhill. Instead of caring about customers and employees, BB only cares about making money and trampling over anyone in their way. The upper management was completely evil and two-faced in that they constantly told us employees/lower managers that they were not planning to shut our store down, and then we would hear through the grapevine that they were lying to us outright. Now, I understand their reasoning for shutting the store down. I understand not wanting to cause a bunch of employees to jump ship, so it makes sense to keep that info from us. But after repeatedly reassuring us that our jobs were safe, we received an email exchange between district managers which confirmed the shutting down rumors. The funny thing is we weren't SUPPOSED to get the email, but our store's email address was accidentally included in the "send to" box. 
Also regarding employees, upper management expects you to practically live and breathe the job. They get mad if you are unable to come in to work on your day off, even if you requested that day off, they want you to drop everything and come to work. It doesn't matter to them if you have things going on or important plans. So if you have a busy lifestyle, this job may not be for you. 
Now let's talk about their customer service, or lack of. Rather than giving good deals in the store or regularly sending out coupons, they have this "B Rewarded" program. It's a point system where if you spend money, you get points that add up. You get a point for every dollar you spend. When you get 250 points, you get a $15 dollar credit to spend within 60 days or it expires. That is the equivalent of a 6% coupon for every $250 you spend. Big whoop. 
The company has a reputation of treating customers VERY poorly even though they boast about their excellent customer service. HA. 
Basically this store is monopolizing the western wear market, buying out mom and pop shops, overpricing products, paying employees less than they deserve, and caring only about becoming "America's largest western and work store!"
Bottom line, don't work at Boot Barn if you care about people more than money. And if you do decide to work there, watch your back. Every single manager I've met has been corrupt and many gladly sabotaged other people's jobs in order to make themselves appear better.

I first must say that every store is different and every management team is different so this review is for the west coast territories But, The Company as a whole does not care about it's employees, period. The corporate office needs at least double the staffing to support this growing business. The very high turnover rate in the HR and payroll department trickles down to unsatisfactory care for their employees in the stores.This is Very frustrating for management of the stores and for district management. I personally felt that if you are a hard worker in this company, and your hard work is noticed, you will only be used and not compensated in any positive way. Do not take this job with hopes of advancement or a career. Every single manager that I have come in contact with on a personal level is less than satisfied with their job, which is sad to say. 

A typical day for any position in the stores:
Walk in, name tag on and be prepared for work before you clock in. Check the plan of the day (ours was located in the front of the store behind the cash rap) make a notation of your individual and the store sales goals, your department for the day as well as your tasks for the day, your assigned lunch time and break times, and whether or not you have an assigned time at the cash rap. Report to your manager on duty or the department manager and ask if there are any task specifically they need you to work on. Assist customers in your section and add on to every sale (If you are helping a customer with boots, offer boot care, socks, ect) Between Customers you are expected to merchandise your section, greet each customer warmly, keep track of the time to take your lunch and breaks in a timely manner, ect. Very easy part time job for sales associates! Depending on your managers you can love your job or hate it. Base pay for sales associates is minimum wage with the opportunity to earn spiffs which change monthly and vary depending on the individuals sales. Boot care, socks, and most add on's are usually .50 cents each and depending on your personal sales and the individual store traffic spiffs can either positively affect your paycheck or have no affect. Add on's like this and signing up customers for the Rewards program as well as your overall numbers are tracked by the company and more than likely by your management team. it's easy to keep these numbers up.

If you're looking for a part-time job and want to reap the rewards ( discount ) that Boot Barn has to offer then it is the place for you. However, if you're looking for a well balanced company that offers a stable job and career advancement, well I'd say keep looking. I was brought on as an  " inventory control specialist " interviewed first by the DM and then the store manager and ASM where I would be working. As an inventory control specialist you receive all incoming product, ship what needs to be shipped, and pretty much tag, price, and sort all the clothing. You generally do this alone with no help and are " timed " by some ridiculous measurment system which affects bonuses. The job itself can be stressful but is mostly boring, repetitive work in a small space where other employees come to complain or slack off instead of helping. My biggest issue was that if any issue was encountered in inventory, it had to go through a whole host of people before it was resolved including the District Manager. Every day you submitted a stack of papers to be reviewed by the store manager and signed, which due to them being HOURLY ( horrible structure and use of time ) meant they had to work around their schedule to sign off, so sometimes you were left waiting for weeks to get a giant stack of papers back that there was no need for. I get having the store manager oversee your work or getting immediate approval if there are inventory adjustments,  but everything? It is a waste. In most store it seems there is only one inventory control specialist and they get the best hours ( fixed schedule, usually not full time but some are, and always an 8-4 or 8-5. ) But for all they put on the shoulders of that position, there is a decidedly saddening waste of time and lack of trust involved. Only management are allowed to put security tags on boots because they've been given background checks. Yet given how slow the stores usually are one or two sales floor or cashiers could easily half the time of the inventory control job by tagging them, giving inventory control more time to ensure correct product. Basically, their corporate has a bad business model that affects the company negatively as I see it and from some stories it seems others share that view.

there’s a lot to say about boot barn. i’ve been here about 4 years and the first 2.5-3 years were so great!!! i started out as a sales partner, got promoted to a key holder, then became an ASM before everything went down hill. my former store manger was great at keeping us in the loop of all things happening within the company & why we do the things we do. we had the best DM always pushing us to do better. it was such a fun place to be & i enjoyed learning about the business side of the company, as well as customer side of it. we were a huge family, always on our A game & always working together, learning how we can be better than yesterday. fast forward, we get realigned & get a new DM… which also meant we get a new SM because ours had received a promotion. no big deal. me & my other ASM thought we had everything under control until that new DM of ours came in & told us how we were doing everything wrong, we didn’t deserve to be leaders of our store, and what horrible managers we were. he continued to bring in all kinds of help from other stores within our district trying to “help us run our store” and that ended up leading to over half of our staff walking out. i finally threw in the towel & stepped down back to a sales partner & looked for another full time job to pay my bills. the stress & the hatefulness was no longer worth it. i love working with the company, seeing all the opportunities the company offers, dressing up & helping so many people find a whole new life within western wear. that’s why i’ve stuck around. 

although i have so many things i love about the company, there’s a few down falls too. the company doesn’t care about your personal life at all. & you’re extremely lucky if you find a SM who does care & is willing to accommodate to you. boot barn is incredibly money hungry that they will do anything & everything to bring customers in, but won’t pay their employees what they deserve, won’t give the store the hours needed to have ample staffing, and are open on all the holidays (except christmas day) that you should be spending with your family rather than focusing on making the company millions of dollars. 
at the end of the day, you win some & you lose some. not every job is perfect. & sometimes it’s the luck of the draw. i stayed because of the memories & the friendships i made, and later realized, that at some point it was time for me to move on. pick your battles wisely

There is new management and only a couple of lasting employees. The turn around rate is very high. Some people complain about management, but they are the ones that don't want to work, stock, or even show up on time. It seems as though they hire candidates that are all show and no work. There's a few lazy individuals that will stock boots of every size on one shelf, put pants that have fallen off of the rack and then hide them somewhere and others will just try and take all of the sales instead of working and helping customers.
Employees are also paid with incentives, which means that you will have individuals that will steal your sell (commissions). It is competitive. I am all about competitions, but in the healthy format. 

I am an EMT and unfortunately this place pays me a little more than an EMT would get out here. It is sad beyond belief to say that. 

This job is excellent for students! I am a college student (Online), a new mom, and a part-time employee at Boot Barn. This place is great to earn an extra income and still have a life. 

Inventory needs more employees to help out with the substantial amount of inventory we receive, however they don't feel they need more than two employees doing the job. Ha yeah right. I try my best to help out, but I am an associate and not an inventory specialist. Which means they keep us on the floor instead. 

Also, beware of employees calling off for whatever reason they choose without any consequences. I have had to work by myself with one manager on duty for the entire store many times. Be prepared to be thrown out on the floor too with little training. The training is all on apps from an iPad. Be sure to be a quick learner and a team player, otherwise you will be singled out by other employees. ( I have never had this issue, but people do talk here.) It's like high school. Point blank.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Coworkers, employee discount , customers. The worst part was their inability to train you correctly and when they’re done using you all up after 15 years, they spit on you and say goodbye you’re fired.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The management team is always facing challenges related to workload and training. Additionally, the organization struggles with employee retention, as many workers are not offered benefits, and part-time hiring practices lead to inconsistent scheduling. While there are further issues to address, I would prefer to keep this initial feedback concise.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The current work environment has become increasingly contentious, with individuals frequently attempting to claim sales made by their colleagues. This competition is driven by the possibility of earning additional compensation for selling specific products. Such behavior undermines teamwork and fosters an atmosphere of mistrust and conflict among employees.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Due to my departure from the organization, I can no longer describe a typical day in that environment. My final period at the company was characterized by significant discomfort, necessitating hip surgery. Compounding this, I experienced the sudden loss of my husband, with whom I shared 28 years of marriage, due to leukemia. This profound loss left me heartbroken and struggling to cope. I intended to apply for disability; however, the organization required my presence to assist in management roles, despite compensating me as a keyholder, a position that constitutes low-level management.

A typical day involved being summoned to a designated room multiple times to address complaints regarding my behavior from coworkers, who asserted that I was not fulfilling my job responsibilities. After several days of this treatment, the organization informed me of my demotion from a management role to a sales associate position. This transition occurred within the span of 3 months, culminating in my eventual dismissal from the company.

I was part of the crew that helped to get the Uniontown location open. That process was a lot of fun and made a great impression on me. Everything that happened after opening day, however, really left me scratching my head.

I wasn’t trained to do my job. Nor was any other associate. Only the store manager received one-on-one training with an established Boot Bart employee. As inventory control specialist, I learned my job by emailing other associates within the company who shared my title and a bare bones guidebook someone was kind enough to print out for me.

To make matters more frustrating, all employees are held to some pretty lofty metrics (for me, inventory received and processed; for associates, sales, credit card sign up, email sign up, etc.). This would all be well and good had we received the proper training and acquired the knowledge needed to attain these goals.

I was not provided the means to successfully accomplish my job. And that’s a shame, because it’s truly a decent job on paper. I had awesome shifts (M-F, 8-4), got to keep to myself in the warehouse, and had a lot of really sweet coworkers. But I digress - as soon as you’d get to know a coworker, they were gone. Turnover was high in the handful of months I spent there.

I don’t blame the store managers for the tumultuous experience, but rather the company as a whole. Upper management is archaic, disorganized, and out of touch. They talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk. For example, stores had an opportunity to win a $100 gift card to fill the break room fridge. Our store won! But we never received the gift card. When I gave my two weeks notice, my district manager suggested to make my position full time in order to keep me at Boot Barn. I happily told him I’d think about it. He said he’d have an official offer in 2 days. Then it was 5 days. Then it was 9. Ultimately, he never responded to me.

Boot Barn sets you up for failure, then reprimands you for not succeeding. It’s one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had. And there’s no good reason for that other than this backwards company and their double standards. Unless you love a deep discount on western wear, DO NOT work at Boot Barn.

Boot Barn is a great way to gain experience working in retail. The hours as a part time sales associate are very reasonable while in school as well as working with the management to ensure only working certain days. The discount is great however the pay is not. $8 an hour is what the store I worked at starts you at as a sales associate and that didn't even pay all of my bills mind you I was 18 living at home. Because of this shortly after I started, I had to get another job just to pay my bills while in school. 
My yearly goal was exceeded every year I worked by $30,000 plus and my compensation for it was $0.15 - $0.30 cents per hour. My final pay before I left hadn't even reached $9 yet I worked just 4 months short of 4 years... For the amount of revenue that is brought in on a daily basis, Boot Barn should without a doubt pay their employees more than they do. 
The help comes and goes very frequently which is not good for the look of the company, the customers,  nor for the employees. In almost 4 years I have watched over 60-80 people come and go. I have witnessed good employees who have had time invested into the company get turned down when applying for a higher position to someone coming in from the outside who has lesser experience. Like any job who you work with makes things highly enjoyable or extremely exhausting and for awhile I loved working for Boot Barn and I loved the people I worked with. However when you're there for a little bit you see the inside on how things are ran and how good employees are treated and/or compensated for their job well done and it's honestly pathetic. For any job the saying still stands - "if you take care of your employee's, they will take care of you" and from an insider perspective just short of 4 years - Boot Barn needs to do a MUCH BETTER job at taking care of their employees who take care of them on a daily basis meeting their goals and taking care of their customers!

I had worked at Boot Barn for a while now and had multiple positions within the store. When I first started I had great training from my manage. I felt knowledgeable and prepared. When I moved to my next position I was sent to a different store to get proper training. Within the first 3 years of my time with Boot Barn it was great. Fast forward to the present, there is so much drama and grudges among the management and staff. It is now a hostile work environment. The store manager and district manager give nothing but negative feedback to us employees. There is nothing positive within the store. Many new team members have came on and within the first few days they were told that they are fit for the job and they need to look somewhere else for employment. We need our management to have the proper training to train us as sales partners. The store manager does not even know the team member's names except for the management staff. If you do not comply with what the store manager wants, your hours are cut and you are not put on the schedule. The store manager cannot even put in the correct availability for the team. 
If there is a project you have worked on and you have completed it the store manager takes all the credit and does not give you a thank you  or appreciation for your work. 
Overall, Boot Barn does have great benefits but when it comes to working in the store, there is a lot of stress brought on by the store manager to try to live up the the standards, and it's never good enough, which forces you to try to look for another job or go into work and be criticized everyday. It does take a tole on your mental health. The sales partners there and a few managers are very nice and helpful, but there is no proper training in the store. the store need a new store manager who will work with the team and make it feel like a enjoyable place to work and make it feel like a family again. 

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