retail sales associate

seasonal retail sales associate

assistant store manager

brand ambassador

retail team leader

Canada Goose

Disclaimer: This is my first retail job and I had no other experience with retail other than with this brand. I got lucky it was high end retail instead of some janky low end discount brand store where I would hate my life every second. 

When the season starts it is busy as busy can get. But when their is not much need for outerwear it can get very slow. Once you get to know the product their is not much else to work on or exceed at. Their is room for improvement when it comes to selling. Management can be hot and cold with empty promises and team leads taking their jobs a little too seriously with micro-managing and blatant favoritism. But I can say that I feel that they have our back at the end of the day when it comes to dealing with unnecessary behaviors from both coworkers and customers! 
The most enjoyable part of the job are surprisingly the customers. I'm always hearing about how retail is one of the most terrible places to work because of the people you deal with. But these breeds of customers come from all around the world and you get to know various things about them. You get the occasional self-important snooty indivduals, E.g. "im in a rush" characters who think I'm going to bend over backwards for them.  I tell them to go and come back because either way rush or not I still have to get jackets on them and i'm not falling for that anyways. They F right off and it weeds out the ones who are not going to buy anyways. 

Conclusion: At the time of me writing this review I am currently employed with the company, however I will re-negotiate my pay when my contract ends to be a little more competitive. If their is even a doubt of hesitation to oblige I will be looking for other employment, as it is not worth my time and energy to be paid slightly above minimum wage without any commission.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Great team, clean and sleek looking environment, very generous employee discount and great place to start in high-end luxury retail. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
What the store looks like pre-peak season versus during peak season and during the holiday season, increase in foot traffic and long lines wrapped around the store. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is spacious and minimalist-looking, product is easy to navigate after learning about the product, everyone was treated well and breaks were all given strategically throughout the day so no one missed their break or took it too late. Management also provided breakfast and lunch for the whole team when there was budget, and often facilitated exercises and role-play to help employees understand how to approach a guest and educate them on product knowledge. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It depends if it’s pre-peak season, it’s normally quiet and dead at the mall during the week. But if it’s a weekend, there is an increase in foot traffic and a higher chance that customers will be buying product instead of browsing. Peak season is extremely busy and can be chaotic around the holidays with returns and exchanges but the managers maintained the store well and controlled volume of customers in the store by holding a line outside of the store.

Very friendly sales and operations staff at the Short Hills location. The managers like to micro-manage too often. There appeared to be too many assistant managers hired. You have to lead by example. The scheduling and work-life balance is lacking. The seasonal employees need better incentive benefits and are just used to drive the store's numbers. For an example, at the end of each month, if the store meets goal the entire team receives a bonus except the seasonal employees. Some of the top sellers are seasonal. High sales numbers are considered not important even though it's difficult to accomplish. Canada Goose thrives off of UPT (units per transaction) instead of gross sales. I enjoyed the diverse group of clients and their stories. Learning the client's journey and connecting is very interesting. It's good to know the store experience comes first which we enhance for each client. The most difficult part of the job is averaging near a 2.0 UPT. The corporate buyers didn't execute allocating the store the accurate fulfillment of product because their market projections were off. This would make things difficult for the staff to sell from a lacking inventory. Our Brand Ambassadors would have to become more creative by offering suggestive selling, which sometimes led to returns.

On a usual day, I would wake up at 5am and head to work at 5:30. We would arrive at the headquarters, be given walkie talkies and load into trucks. We would then drive out to our requested spot, have a word with the owner, and set up the trap on their lawn. If the geese were in the water, we would have a few of our members hop into kayaks and try to drive the geese up on shore. Meanwhile, the rest of us would continue to work on setting up the trap. When we gave the 'all clear' to the boys in kayaks, they would then drive the geese into the trap while the rest of us stood outside the trap to make sure none of them escaped. Then the boys would get out of the kayaks and slowly walk the geese back into the net and cage and close the door. We would quickly undo the trap and one person would go into the netted cage to grab the geese and hand them to the others. One by one, we empty the geese of the cage and into crates on the truck. After all of them are in the crates, we take down the trap completely, and go find the owner for our payment for goose extraction. After the day is all done, we return to headquarters, and let the geese out of the crates into a bigger pen. 
The only things I really learned from the job is for one, don't get in a goose's face because they hiss. I also learned the aspect of teamwork and how important communication can be.

A day at work consists of a "Takeoff", which is a plan of where you will be stationed for work for the day, your goal (changes daily according to proj. traffic), and your break if your shift allows for one (unpaid).
I have learned so far how to be courteous with guests, provide feedback to myself and my peers, as well as extensive product knowledge. 
Management is not great at this particular location, with there being inconsistencies and micromanagement at any given time.
Culture is fine at the workplace with lots of motivation from peers.
Hardest part of the job is dealing with mgmt breathing down your neck about guests.
Most enjoyable part of the job is meeting clients and hearing backstories. 
Brand ambassadors are like family not sharks, since there is no commission. We all work together to make our goal to make a bonus, 120% to goal is $1,000 USD, taxed down to $544, or 100% to goal which is much less. 
If you are someone who wants to grow within retail , this is your next step towards the ladder, but growth within the company is non-existent if you aren't hired directly to the role.

New and emerging in the retail space, you’d expect there to be some hiccups and kinks, but Canada Goose has a lot to work on. The store was often surrounded by fur protesters; Everyday was a nightmare for employees. The treatment of the employees was awful. Management was inexperienced and has no idea what they are doing. Employees are treated as field hands and not valued. Limited time to break and lunches were often pushed back by hours. Sometimes you’d find yourself taking a lunch break 2 hrs before your shift was over. Inventory was often low and scarce- which made it hard to achieve sales goals at times. Shipments would arrive days late and faulty. There is ignorance and a disconnection in regards to culture and race. This was the worst work experience of my life. 

I learned a lot that will carry me to my next job. There is a lot to learn from this job about working with clients and a loyal customer base. However the management and unprofessional attitude of the team is deplorable. There were issues with guilt, gossip and speaking poorly about past employees. As well as others in the mall where the store is located. Multiple past employees have made complaints about needs not being met or simply ignored. The managers are unprepared and often quarrel amongst themselves. On multiple occasions brand ambassadors were put to blame over issues that were directly caused by managers misuse of time/resources.

The company has a lot to hover management wise. Allocation for product is questionable and without clear creative direction, you deal with a lot more misses than hits. 

There is no commission and little reward besides a discount.

The morale is based off of people you work with and around you. Being located in the mall also means dealing with guests you’d never really get in a storefront location. Besides that, there’s a heavy emphasis on someone leaving a negative review, no matter what factor, if you’ve exceeded goals - you’ll get 2 minutes of praise with 10 minutes of criticism or derision. 

Work there for the product, make your connects, & try to manage your managers.

I’m a seasonal Brand Experience Ambassador (sales) this year and am enjoying the job very much. Canada Goose products are best in class, most customers already know this and come in ready to buy. My colleagues are fun and professional and the managers in this location look out for you during your shift, making sure you have everything you need to succeed. It can be stressful at times due to holiday pressures. Hourly pay is good for retail. Highly recommended.

Physically demanding..., walking and running around all day long on cement floors (5th Ave. POP-UP store for over 2 years/UNFINISHED STORE). The nature of the beast is high and low year-round, since you're mostly selling outerwear. They are the farthest from an ethical company, they do not value experience or their best employees (they punish them instead), and their manager turnover is UNACCEPTABLE, from the top of the company down to the managers of their highest grossing stores. 

One word, INCONSISTENT.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail sales associate 27 salaries reported	$22.97 per hour
Seasonal retail sales associate 19 salaries reported	$21.51 per hour
Assistant store manager 14 salaries reported	$88,607 per year
Brand ambassador 4 salaries reported	$22.25 per hour
Retail team leader 2 salaries reported	$33.50 per hour

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