retail sales associate

assistant store manager

retail store manager

store manager

seasonal retail sales associate

Buff-City-Soap-Franchise

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working here was some of the most amazing people I got to meet in training. Making products was also so fun!

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stressful part of the job was that while in the interview process you will be told one thing. As soon as you start the job everything will change and be used against you to terminate you. The company is run by HR and they have twisted it to cause the staff to fear speaking out. You will feel discrimination if you don't fit into the predetermined molds they have for you. The claimed that work life balance matters is a total lie. The mangers at the top have the favorite employees and stores and if you are not in that category you will be treated as less then. Your stores will not get supplies to meet the high demands of production requirements that are daily and you will be left to figure it out. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment was toxic, run by HR and use to control the staff. You have older people that don't help and take their time to get you into systems they need to be accessible to function in your job or young teens that may be super helpful or in there own worlds and not wanting to work. You will be watched and judge by the HR team that has so much time to only watch and listen to what staff say in the store not addressing any of the functional issues. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You are expected to have fully open availability even if you do not. You need to be available at all times you come in make stuff that may or may not sell in time or will get waisted out which will work against you making you lose the bonuses promised to you when you are unable to keep up with unrealistic goals. Helping local stores is not recommend you are expected to go out of your way to not help them. Even if you meet all these expectations and exceeds sales goals you are still terminated for having your own options.

I worked in the St. Louis district since the stores opened, it started off great, then slowly started to go downhill. They cut down on labor, changed employee discount without much notice. Upper management favored certain stores/employees and consistently worked in certain stores while completely ignoring others.
The company only allows one person to work the stores in the morning, so there’s usually only 3-4 people on staff, sometimes less. Most days you’re completely by yourself for 3-4 hours, sometimes longer. So you’re required to not only complete production tasks alone, but also have to help guests as well. If you’re in a store that does online orders, you’re expected to take care of those by yourself as well. 
It’s extremely hard to take PTO due to lack of staffing, you’re also required to work bath bomb parties of 10+ kids with 2 people, even while the store is open. 
Upper management ignores complaints from employees and blames issues on outside factors, such as your home life, instead of listening to what the issues are. 
They underpay all staff and over work everyone, especially around the holidays. PTO for full time employees and management isn’t even 8 hours a month, and you’re required to use PTO if you get sick or injured. Managers aren’t allowed to use less than 8 hours of PTO, so you can’t use PTO for half days. Managers are required to work 40 hours a week and are not paid for overtime work. You only get a raise once a year and it usually isn’t more than 0.25-0.50 for part time and full time employees. 
The job is not worth it and the company/upper management sees every employee as being replaceable, which is why the company has such a high turnover rate. There is also very little room for advancement, even if they tell you otherwise. They’re filled with empty promises and lies. The insurance and benefits offered by the company are a total joke, they changed insurance companies so that it would be cheaper for them, and insurance became worse for employees due to this. 

What You Do
• Greet customers
• Make requested products
• Assist customers with product questions
• Help maintain store organization and cleanliness

Pros
• Customers are usually happy and enjoyable to interact with
• Tasks are straightforward and easy to learn
• Great first job for teenagers or people entering the workforce
• 50% employee discount
• Fun and creative work environment

Cons
• Management issues negatively impact the workplace experience
• Poor planning and communication can create unnecessary stress for employees
• Employee concerns are often not addressed effectively
• High turnover among new hires
• Limited opportunities for growth and development
• Workplace conflicts are not always handled professionally
• Safety concerns can arise when proper procedures and supervision are not consistently followed while working with products that contain lye and other potentially hazardous ingredients

Overall
This can be a fun and rewarding first job with simple tasks, friendly customers, and a great employee discount. However, management issues make it difficult for employees to grow and succeed long term. Looking at other reviews, many of the concerns I experienced appear to be recurring themes. With stronger leadership, better communication, and greater accountability, this could be a much better place to work.

I worked here until it meshed with my higher paying job.   Wrote my schedule down 3 times and still they schedule me during my other job hours.  Wonder why I can't come in.  Plus I had gallbladder surgery I don't mind the work but when your not off of DR's orders lifting more than 10 pounds was really hard.  Company would email my schedule final was when I can't do these hours because of my other job.  They just let me go nothing.   The reviews are legit when they dispose people like garbage.  When they pay you minimum wage people need more than one job.   They need to be understanding of that.  Anyone who does this job at minimum wage is giving them a gift when they are raking in the big bucks on their products.  They think half off of their products is a gift.  But again if your trying to live off of minimum wage you can't afford their products.   Nextly,   People would ask whats in their soaps.  They are not forthcoming.  There are synthetics.  OK what kind?   Seriously deceptive especially for people who have allergies.  They must be transluscent to their customers.    My coworkers were great a lot of fun too.  The big push is to be on the floor pushing the products.   Pits a environment of stepping on people's toes.    

The most enjoyable parts of the job were interacting with customers and making cool products like bath bombs, body scrubs, shower oil, etc. Unfortunately, you don't get paid enough to keep up with the high demand for production and sales goals on top of being understaffed.

Training is brief and not thorough - sink or swim.

The hardest part was the high turnover rate due to poor management. The GM stays in the office 90% of the time and does not honor any scheduling limitations agreed to during your interview, no matter how small. The GM was frequently disrespectful, unappreciative, and often allowed their own personal struggles to influence their decisions and moods at work. Upper management was made aware of these issues by multiple coworkers throughout my employment, but their response was to encourage employees to ignore it and continue to work as hard as possible to meet company goals.

Overall the work experience was a blast. I often enjoyed the work I was given but it soon turned into myself being exploited by people higher up the chain. I was told many times there is room for advancement and a pay increase but that never came. My promised pay increase was suppose to happen after my product knowledge was tested. That test was suppose to be a single meeting about 15 minutes long, but it extended all through 4 weeks. In the beginning I applied for part time, I got the hours I asked for (which was around 20 a week) but after a few months my hours slowly dwindled into single digits a week. Each time I brought attention to the subject, they told me I would get more hours, but those hours never came. It’s almost like they were afraid of confrontation. Overall a good and fun place to work but for a short period of time. 

Regional managers do not care about their employees and seem to want the business to fail.  They expect more with less. They want skeleton crew to produce products, greet customers and work the register which makes the companies expectations unrealistic.  Company constantly watches through security system which is creepy.  Hours are horrible.  You'd be lucky to get 10 hours a week. Quick turn around of staff due to management. Staff are so fed up they just no show and quit. Local manager is great but the company micromanages them. 

The job itself was fun and fast paced, and the people you work with are wonderful for the most part.  I loved the creativity that went into making the products, and the products were great too (if a bit overpriced).  The biggest problem is management.  They push work onto untrained employees, ignore scheduling conflicts, and make you feel guilty for confronting them about it.  Management also retaliates and cuts hours if you do not comply to what they want.  What was at first a fun and exciting new experience quickly became toxic and hostile.

Worst management possible, both at the local and district level. The store and company are run so, so poorly that it makes it hard (and very frustrating) to work there. Management is so bad that employees get fed up, complain all day, no-show, and look for other jobs. Also, as someone else in these reviews said, you are 100% being watched through security cameras. With how this company is run, you would think they are trying to fail. Buff City seems fun and has amazing products, but in reality it is a horrible, disastrous work environment. 

New stores hire a lot of part time employees and work them to help set up the store and open. Soon after they cut most people’s hours down to 15 hours or less. Usually only one day a week or up to 10 hours. The only security is if you are in management or one of the few full time spots. Retail environments totally depend on management for how enjoyable the experience is. But the company as a whole promotes a very bottom line mentality and demands a lot of work to get done with low labor costs. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail sales associate 142 salaries reported	$13.07 per hour
Assistant store manager 37 salaries reported	$15.57 per hour
Retail store manager 13 salaries reported	$43,692 per year
Store manager 8 salaries reported	$43,750 per year
Seasonal retail sales associate 2 salaries reported	$11.00 per hour

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