merchandiser

truck driver

sales associate

warehouse associate

sales representative

Columbia Distributing Company

A typical day of work includes: showing up at the first store and finding out everyone shows up 30 minutes later than the scheduled start time and they don't get written up. You do 90% of the work while the temp workers they hired struggle to get any work done. ( they had to hire temp workers because it is so horribly understaffed and the turnaround is insane) The lowest level workers are forced to train new hires even though they had a few salary positions at the company before that were dedicated to training new hires. The money from those salaries were not allocated to the merchandisers who are required to train. They make you drive over an hour away from your route to go help out another area and don't pay for the mileage and time back to your area. An example of this would be if I worked in the Kent area, they would make me drive to Capitol Hill to help that route and then you have to clock out when you are finished there, even if it took you an hour further from your home... They will make everyone working out of the Kent facility go and help out Capitol Hill route where the starting pay is $1 more per hour then what they are getting paid, (no they are not given or even offered this additional pay to help) What I learned from this company is to never do more than what is expected of you, they expect you to work 60 cases per hour (up 10 from last year by the way) and when you go above and beyond that they send you off to other routes where people are struggling to even do half of that. You can ask for a raise but will be quickly denied, the only raise I got while working there was for $0.25 as a yearly raise which doesn't even cover inflation. My direct supervisor told me while I was working there he didn't make enough money to get financing for dental work. This company keeps all profits for the shareholders and executives while the lowest level workers have to work harder every year and not even get a raise to cover inflation... The workplace culture here is not great, Columbia distributes both beer and non alcoholic drinks, working the beer is objectively easier, on every route you work with there will be someone who refuses to work anything other than beer, so the rest of the team on the route is left with harder work, (all the beer is usually in one section, the NA is scattered all over stores and in coolers) The sales team is supposed to send out notes for the merchandisers to set up displays in stores and 9/10 they dont send or leave notes. A lot of the time they show up to work hungover and sometimes they don't even get their orders in. All they have to do is show up at a handful of stores before 4pm and get their orders and notes in, the company allows them to start at any time just as long as they get their orders in by 4pm, which recently they have been struggling to even do that. The company has a very odd program where they encourage you to go out and drink on your days off and they will pay for your uber/lyft ride back home as long as you have the receipt. When I first applied the company stated they offered bonuses/incentives on their job listings, which it still says that, I asked the manager above my direct supervisor about this and they said they stopped offering bonuses/incentives 2 years ago. I eventually put in my 2 weeks after putting up with all of this for 9 months, and to top it all off their "Payroll" department lost my wages and check for my last 2 weeks and I had to keep calling their office and texting my old supervisor for 6 days straight just to get my check... they had to mail a new one from their office in Wilsonville, Oregon, I didn't get an apology from the company for the error. All I have to say is just get it together Columbia...

Each location has it's pro's/con's not all warehouse locations are the same. Having the opportunity to work for multiple managers and locations was a blessing and a curse. You can tell a good location by how long employees have been there. Typically the worst locations have very high turnover with employees around for <5 yrs. The company itself is a great one to work for but management and overall leadership makes it challenging. Columbia takes a glass half full approach, if you don't have half the skills, stability or confidence you will never make it here. They expect you to fill the other half of the  glass on day 1. Starting off there is very little to no training as everyone is so busy with their own work depending on what team your'e on. DEI is a joke one day you have a meeting on work/life balance and mental health. The next day managers are on your back telling you to work harder, longer hours, get it done no matter what it takes. Many higher ups are blinded in the real world on what's attainable and what's not as far as goals and programs are built. Numbers are built on a chaotic random number generator it seems. It's impossible to carry an ever-growing portfolio and not be built into  beer/spirits/na sales sectors across all channels of trade. Meetings are scheduled in the blink of an eye that hold little to no work productivity. Managers scramble and throw blame if numbers are not achieved at the end of the month. The goal post is forever moving up and down, one month is sell X number of product the same mont leadership emails a report to double up on X number of sales or the "whole sales team" doesn't get paid.  Communication is overall the biggest skill lacking from higher ups where gaps get filled in by lower management. Ton's of nepotism, political pawns, two-face leaders hoping to justify their jobs by moving up the totem-pole canceling whoever gets in their way. Being forced to guilt trip your accounts along with tactical mind games to get the customer to purchase by the end of the month leaves a sleazy taste in your mouth. The amount of stress this job leads too is never ending. The pay to stress ratio does not equate. You will wake up and constantly ask yourself is it worth it? You will also never feel comfortable here if you speak your mind to the wrong person it could be your last day.

The pro's you'll learn more on your own visiting accounts, talking to people everyday building relationships in your territory. You'll grow your palate as their endless amounts of beverages to try. You could gain access to a few sports games, concerts events that you never had the chance to before. You will do everything in your power to beat the competition giving you and a competitive edge. You will also gain extremely good customer service skills, talking with and managing your accounts day to day fixing problems on the fly. You will meet great people along the way, small business owners, mend friendships and know the best places to shop/dine in your spare time.

Columbia isn't all bad a vast majority relies on leadership and having open communication between teams. The beverage industry is always in flux, people change, relationships change, brands change. The biggest advice I have is if you can't adapt/change and grow you will fail at this job. 



I was excited to have this job at first. The pay was okay, the benefits were somewhat decent, but the person I met with before I officially started the job was nice. I was given four company shirts as a uniform and a hat. I didn't know that I was also supposed to receive a lanyard with my name and photo as well. I found that out eight months in when my supervisor asked why I never wore it. 

My supervisors were never there when I needed them but they for sure were there if any part of my job was lacking. I had a very close friend of mine and my grief did effect my work. I still did my job entirely, but I was a bit slower. Thankfully I worked a position that wasn't incredibly time sensitive. When I mentioned it to my supervisor, they said that they'd get someone in contact with my to help manage grief. I got one phone call from them but I wasn't able to answer the phone soon enough. I called back multiple times only to be met with, "We will see what we can do for you." Six months after hearing that, nothing came from it.

The hardest part of the job wasn't the work itself, but rather the people that gave me tasks. If I didn't do something to their expectations, which they never really expressed, then they'd be very vocal about it. If I did manage to either meet or exceed their silent expectations, however, I didn't hear anything about it. I don't need appraisal, but some acknowledgement for a job well done would've been nice even once.

I never heard of any opportunities for advancement that I was considered for even though I did apply for them and had the proper qualifications. When I asked why I wasn't even considered, my supervisors said they needed me in the position I held at the time. I was in a entry level position and witnessed new hires being given higher jobs even though they were hired later than I was. They didn't have the qualifications or experience that I had, yet they were being promoted very quickly.

I smelled alcohol on my supervisor's breath on a frequent basis. Normally I couldn't care less about that, but their breath frequently smelled like a bottle of tequila being opened right under my nose. They also were driving more often than not, and I know the difference between mouthwash and hard liquor. Anytime I put in a complaint about it, I got the same answer of, "We will look into it."

I had heard of a high turnover rate for the position that I went in for and I couldn't see why at the time. After working in it for even a month, I could see exactly why. HR doesn't take action, my supervisors were harsh and never there to help their employees, they actively withheld time sensitive information until the last minute, and there was no hope for advancement if they didn't like you for whatever reason.

From a merchandiser to a driver, they helped support me to move up. Kept up with safety and training meetings. Good coworker atmosphere. Teamwork. It’s hard work but it’s work that all endure. There’s an understanding or brotherhood vibe. 
Typical day: show up, gather clip board/paperwork/handheld/printer then you print out your route. Print out invoices. Organize invoices the way youll run your route. Get your handtruck, find your truck. Pre trip/ check load /check gas. Head out. 
De  pop ending if you’re on an end loader or side loader, some stops may not be open yet, but usually youll have a note about what stops open at what time when you’re orginizing the route in the morning. Otherwise you'll just have go do another stop then come back. Or call the account if possible. Endloaders will have a trailer full of pallets that are preloaded and marked for each stop. They should be mostly in order with the way the route is run. You may have to move some sometimes. Youll dock at grocery store, unload, prep boards to be scanned, and hope the receiver is ready when you are. Market stops, you will unload pallet with electric pallet jack,  down stack, check it in. Sometimes you'll also work the product if there’s no merchandiser. 
Side loaders deliver mostly to bars/restaurants and markets. I personally enjoyed this position because customers are more happy to see you vs the Fred Meyer’s who isn’t excited to have 10 boards to check in. But at least you won’t be working the 10 boards. More waiting around with end loader route vs side loader. Unless side loader is waiting on a stop to open. Another task that drivers have is collecting empties. The costumers get a discount from the company. You record all transactions on the handheld.
When you finish your route, you'll head back to warehouse, unload truck, wait for warehouse guy to check your returns and empties, then you go to driver room to count money and print invoices. Once you get the ok from volt/office , you’re done. 

A typical day at work would consist of getting to the firs grocery store at 6:30am and starting right away. Depending on the day of the week you would have to either stock the companies products from what you already had stored in the back or you would have to take in the new inventory that had gotten there that morning and stock the store. I would typically have 3 to 5 stores per day. I would regularly skip lunch in order to be able to get the job done and be able to go home at a decent time. 

I learned a lot about merchandising obviously and how to do it properly and make sure the customer has the best experience and putting the product out that the customer wants. I also learned a lot about trying to target the customer in terms of marketing and trying to get the customer to buy the product. I also learned how to make cool displays to help the marketers. 

Management was pretty good for the most part. My lead Manager John Quidachay was a awesome guy and really nice. I didn't believe his assistant managers had the same mind set about the job as he did but overall they everyone was good. 

The co workers were really nice most of the time. It was tough for me at times because I was the youngest person on the team most of the time. But I usually got along with everyone and I just had the mind set of getting the job down. 

The hardest part of the job was probably having to be at work so early. Most of the stores i worked at were about half an hour away from my house so I would have to wake up at 5:30am to get to work. But my body adjusted after awhile and it wasn't that big of a deal. 

I think the most enjoyable part of the job was the fact that if I worked as hard as I could each and every day I could get off work early. Knowing that in the back of my head while working was cool and it made me work that much harder and I still did a great job.

Only gave it 1 star because I couldn't give it 0! If you've ever wondered what it is like to be treated like a worthless soul of a human being you should get a barcode stamped on the back of your head and go work for Columbia! If you ever wanted to be a robot this is your company! They are the hardest worked in the industry with no compensation to show for it. It doesn't matter what department you are in. Driving, Merchandising, Night Warehouse. They will run you into the ground, use and abuse you. It's great for a first job because 1. You don't know any better! And 2. You can use that experience to go work for a far superior company who appreciates their employees and wants them to succeed and seek out better opportunities with their company. This company will hire you with no experience because they only care about numbers. They love every opportunity to clear out veterans who have been loyal and stuck around because it means they can go get a young, fresh, dumb body with low pay and no vacation to fill the role. Columbia Distributing has lazy leadership and management that doesn't really like to promote from within because then they would actually have to do their jobs and find other people to fill those positions. They protect each other and their way of life. Not sure how they get away with it. If you are halfway good at your job and show up everyday you will not be appreciated but you will be overworked to pick up the slack of everyone else. If you are halfway good at what you do you will be stuck. In the last 20 years 1 driver has been promoted to sales. Thats because he was 50 years old. Good Luck!

Overall not the worst job. Very labor intensive. Alot of pressure to get finished fast even if it means neglecting a client. Pay is not as good as other companies and though you get increases regularly they are small and after awhile you feel like they just want you to go so they can bring in entry level people. Turnover is very high as a result of the pay. If the company would come in line with other companies they'd probably retain better. Leadership isn't optimal. I don't feel I get support from main manager as it seems the priority is the area his office is. The team lead is not cut out for the job. Has no clue how to be a leader and seems to enjoy getting mouthy more then leading. Get pulled to other areas often. I've been puting in 59 hours or more a week and am feeling burned out. Great benefits. Generous time off plan if you are ever able to use it. Some milage reimbursement but is really nothing due to the wear and tear on your vehicle. Alot of products. Maybe to many. It's hard to keep track of the different coming and going of different items. Get to know the line well cause you will be asked by customers for recommendations. In conclusion if your looking for a job that will get you in shape pay a almost living wage and keep you busy this is it. If your looking for a career? Maybe another is the way because I feel advancement is not really gonna happen unless you know someone or you just get lucky. You can be a exemplary employee and never feel like your noticed or appreciated. Not the worst job but definitely not the best . And it slows in winter. You will feel like your barely getting by due to cuts in hours during the slow season. 

I have very mixed feeling about working here. There are times where I love my job and times I go home and try to weigh the pros and cons of staying. I love my co workers, route, actual job,  and most of my customers. The problem with Columbia is the office and management not the actual job you do. The company allows toxic management who try to run things through threats and intimidation. Micromanagement is king at Columbia. Some management have made comments that they don't care about things like being able to pick up children on time as dictated by divorce decree. Also that their product is more important than you are and that small accounts are not important and they don't care if accounts are happy. Not all the managers are horrible but enough create a toxic environment that it's difficult to envision dealing with the situation long term. I consistently get good marks in quarterly reviews by my management so I feel it's not a case of me being a bad employee. If I were able to do my job and never step foot in the warehouse I would be much happier and have better things to say.  Columbia's record speaks for itself any company that has such a high turnover rate has some serious issues.  In the Pacific Northwest you hear almost constant commercials on the radio advertising that Columbia distributing is now hiring. They are always hiring because they cannot get people to stay there is definitely a reason for that. All in all when a better employment opportunity presents itself I will happily turn in my notice.

Working 4 10's was awesome, although you are often working very very hard to complete your route in 10 hours and it can be draining. Not enough help was provided at large accounts, and definitely not enough help in the summer when routes become heavy. Sometimes you deal with unreasonably picky accounts, they don't treat you well and they expect you to go above and beyond to keep their cooler organized and stocked when they are often a mess when you arrive. Customers are always right in the company's eyes even when they are clearly in the wrong. You have almost no communication with CD salesman so there's no coordination between you guys at accounts, and they often leave the organizing and stocking for you when they are supposed to aid in that when placing the orders for the accounts prior to your deliveries. The salesman are also treated better by the company and get rewards that are not available to the drivers even though drivers work just as hard if not harder. When I was there, the warehouse had a revolving door of workers who picked your orders and loaded your truck. This caused you to wait on them often, which puts you behind in your route when accounts expect you at certain times and could cause you to wait behind other vendors since you were late. Orders were also full of mistakes alot of the time. Lastly, it's a culture of drinking. Might seem fun, but can definitely turn bad if you're not disciplined in your own life. 

I feel the need to echo what some other folks said to really drive it home that you get taken advantage of here in every way. Their performance expectations are unattainable. They focus on speed rather than quality of work. You will work an unthinkable amount of overtime and be burnt out (both physically and mentally) within months. Managers here created a fear culture so that you are constantly feeling that your job is threatened, while also being reminded that you’re just another body and can be replaced. They will ask for honest, feedback and reprimand you for giving it. They will make visits to your stores (sometimes several times a week) to make sure you’re not standing around or talking to other vendors. The merchandising team is constantly understaffed and it seems like they keep it that way intentionally. Why pay 30 people to do a job (that requires that amount or more) when they can “make it work” with 10?? During my time here, all but maybe 3 of the merchandisers that had been there for 2+ years were laid off on the same day, unexpectedly, with no explanation. Your training here is considered to be “peer-to-peer” training. This means that employees that have been there for a few months are required to train new hires (without getting compensated for doing so) which leads to inconsistency/inefficiency in procedures and processes. I would love to say a pro of working here was the mileage reimbursement, but there were times I was sent 15-20 miles outside of town to work and then I had to clock out and drive home without mileage reimbursement. I just really don’t wish this work environment on anyone. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Merchandiser 342 salaries reported	$20.06 per hour
Truck driver 96 salaries reported	$29.50 per hour
Sales associate 92 salaries reported	$22.12 per hour
Warehouse associate 78 salaries reported	$20.58 per hour
Sales representative 109 salaries reported	$51,260 per year

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