truck driver

retail sales associate

sales associate

order picker

stocking associate

Designer Brands Inc.

before i start let me say i have worked at dsw for over a year and a half and am still working here now, just trying hard to find a better job.

so at this job you start out and you see its kind of chill with the dress code and most responsibilities. you just have to walk the floor and be positive with customers and help them with whatever. its when you are there for a month or so and get started on the register when you see how the job takes a turn from being chill to being another store that pushes their rewards card on every single customer. not only that but when you have someone who isnt a rewards member you are supposed to call out over the headset to everyone afterwards whether you signed them up or not. at this job you talk about the rewards program 90% of the time and it sucks. the pressure they put on you is unbelievable. when i went to the store manager and another assistant manager to talk to them about how im feeling pressured they just dismissed me and told me that its like a teacher preparing you for a test and that they need to do what they are doing. 

whenever you leave dsw you cant just clock out and go, nope whenever you want to leave the store you have to get a manager to walk up to the front door with you and do whats called a "bag check" where they basically inspect you to make sure you arent stealing anything before you can leave. every single time you leave. also you will print stickers for shoes often, but when you arent printing them managers make sure to lock them up away from customers and sales associates. they do this because they think employees or customers will print fake barcodes for shoes. dsw has NO trust in their employees and seems to be suspicious of everyone. 

one of the things aside from the rewards program i hate most is closing, if you close you never know when you are going to leave. Ive never seen a store that closes like dsw. fist off, there are usually 2 associates and 1 manager closing, occasionally more or less. so 3 people closing right. that leaves the manager to count off of the registers and close up that part and the 2 associates to do whatever. before i go into that when dsw closes they are not allowed to tell any customers we close soon or even after we close. its only 15 minutes after we have closed that the manager can go around to customers and tell them they can keep shopping but we are closed. so that sucks, but after the customers finally leave they want the whole store to be spotless. you have to recover the whole store, put all of the shoes back, clean the bathrooms, and vacuum most of the store. this usually takes about an hour and if you didnt do a good enough job they make you stay later and clean it. dsw closes at 9 and leaving "on time" is at 10. sometimes you leave early, sometimes you leave late, but you never really know when you will leave when you close. and it all depends on the managers judgement.

also on that note, they have an "extension program" that is optional, but if you dont opt in for it they probably wont hire you. so this extension program is basically an extra 2 hours to your shift. so this means ANY shift you have you could end up staying an extra 2 hours and you never know until the day of your shift and they have until one hour before you leave your shift to tell you. if you work at dsw make sure you dont like to plan things out because its impossible. 

one time the district manager was visiting and i told her about how i didnt like how we had to call out whether we signed someone up or not. she said this was not a policy and we werent supposed to do this and she would talk to our store manager. I was so happy, for the rest of the day we didnt have to call out about or non-rewards member transactions. well on my next shift i talked to the store manager in the office, she was upset that i had talked to the district manager instead of her. in face all of the managers had talks with me and we displeased with me for the next little while. the district manager never ended up contacting our store manager and things immediately went back to how they were.

all in all, the work time at dsw is not as bad as i make it out to be, the rewards program is truly terrible though. not in itself but how they force it on you. closing and leaving sucks but if you want a chill job and dont care about pushing a card on someone go for it. 

as a last note you start at a wage of 8 - 8.50 an hour and dont ever expect a raise. I was told i started at 8.50 when i started but after a year when i got a .25 raise they said i was being paid 8.25 and got a raise up to 8.50 so i got a raise to what i thought i was being paid the whole time. I have the original paper that said i was going to start at 8.50. dsw is not the best company to work for.

I unfortunately did not have a good time working at DSW, I felt very unstable due to the lack of hours, and the constant cutting of hours. To give an example, I've only worked 8 hours at MOST in a week and I was there for three months. I'd always start off at around 12 - 15 hours to begin with in the week, then suddenly the manager will call and say we cut two of your shifts. 

Management (specifically for DeKalb), is bad because, the General Manager of the store doesn't know a lot of the more technical stuff such as charge/ sends, the assistant manager was recently hired last in the beginning of August and if he doesn't know what do, he gets easily intimidate, and both will blame you for not learning this before you ask them. The General Manager at the start you'll notice that she loves to let you know who's done what and why she didn't like it (gossip behind their back) but, if she ever gets more quiet, that means she now talking about you. The only one in management team that knew every procedure, and was very kind was the full time Sales Manager. When I saw her there I knew it was going to be a good shift, but she wasn't there all the time. There is a part time Sales Manager there who is also well knowledge, but very hard to work with because she lacks in teaching you her skills, and will try to get you in a pyramid scheme selling multi - vitamins. 

Work place culture can be very nice and relaxing if you are with a great manager. Your co-workers are really nice and helpful, but they will foreshadow what could be your future when they tell you that you are the six person they've trained, and the month hasn't ended. The dress code is great cause you can wear basically what you want as long as you look cute, and able to walk up to. There is also a gossip problem, but in all honesty it's usually the general manager. The music they play is very current, which was probably my favorite cause I got to listen to Ariana Grande while organizing cute shoes.

As of the hardest part of the job, I will truly say that, the work of a DSW associate IS NOT THAT HARD, but it can be if you don't know what your doing and the manager of the shift doesn't either. Which leads to why I don't work there now, unfortunately for a good period of time the only manager's available were the General and the Assistant. Neither had the patience or knowledge to train me, and got really frustrated with me when I had to ask for help. So one day the General Manager pulled me to the side because the Assistant manager couldn't help me with charge/sends the other day, and without asking for an explanation or what happened they just said, "I'm letting you go soon, cause I'm tired of teaching you things you did in training." (Which are videos on an I-pad) Later on, they kept cutting all my hours to just a shift a week, then called and said they are letting me go, but in their reason, it was for a lack of hours. I work with them till the ending of August of 2019, and they're still posting up for help wanted. Interesting...

OK, I'm going to try my best to review every of my overall experience working for this company.

As my second retail job, I did what it took to learn from my first retail job and become better. Working here at DSW for the first 3 months, I tried my hardest and from an 'outer perspective', this company seemed like a great place to work! Hence-the good customer service, treating your customers like royalty.

Little did I know it was the opposite getting treated, while working for DSW.

For my first two weeks working there, I realized that I was not promised the hours I had applied to work here. I wanted to work 45 hours per week, as much as I could handle but only to be given 15 to 18 hours per week. Could I have asked to get more hours?- Yes! I sure did but no changes were ever made.
As with any work industry out there, you will be judged and treated based on your performances. I have encountered my coworkers who have trouble working there (including myself) and having trouble properly accomplishing our duties but we were only left to be criticized and yelled at for by every mistake we make.
- FYI: Getting yelled at on the walkie talkie is no fun and makes you look bad not only upon yourself but also by your coworkers, overall.
It goes to show that, no one is willing to help you, especially if you're not favored or liked (and YES, there are favoritism within this company staff and at my DSW area) and there is no room for growth as expected.
Collaboration?- this is not what you call collaboration.

I figured I learn on my own and train as much as what I learn while working for the Designer Shoe Warehouse, and the judging and criticizing still continues on.

If management does not like you or favors you, you will get the least hours scheduled; something you cannot afford to work and make a living.
I almost got fired for coming late due to low gas and transportation and that is due to the poor pay and hours scheduled that my management gave me. It makes you feel like you are in a rut at work, not only by management but also by all your coworkers overall.

How can you be America's favorite place to work, if you are not only getting bullied by coworkers but also by management? - Not promised the personal growth and hours, plus it is a waste to work here if, all this is causing you to work poor hours and pay?

I just hope the overall company gets a piece of their minds/ego and that there, goes leaning towards the poor management and coworkers treating the employees, such as myself, unequally.

I hope this business goes out one day, when people realize how working here is like making you want to attempt suicide for all the problems mentioned above.

A typical day of work depends on what shift you have. Openers vacuum store and closing people depend on what role you were given by managers that day. There is cleaning bathrooms/break room, vacuuming back of store, cleaning mirrors, doing trash, and possibly restocking clearance or doing other put backs. Sometimes we have to stay late and check every column of shoes for any mixups. 

This is a fast paced job. People don't know that associates are not only responsible for the floors appearance and register tasks but also checking in and packaging online orders and in store pick ups. Associates are often in charge of greeting, registers, packaging in store orders/marking clearance, and restocking/floor work all at the same time. Shift's often have extensions so you don't know when your shift will end till a manager sends you home. 

Hardest part of the job is throughout the day managers will give you multiple tasks and no matter how long those tasks are supposed to take, certain managers will push you to finish as fast as possible even if it's not a task that needs to be done that day. Certain managers give you the work they don't want to do themselves. Sometimes manager is at the register and you can't mess up or get a "no" from a customer for a rewards sign up because that person will point it out and behave like it is your fault even when you do everything in your power to try and meet store guidelines. You can have retail experience but I would consider listening to lectures as a job requirement. Certain managers take pride in giving long lectures over tiny mistakes and then pretend to be your friend. You get called out if you forget to greet a customer (doesn't matter if you are focused on a customer at the register or if you're working on a task) or recite the script for talking to customers. It's hard to say I enjoy the job when they become stricter and are not afraid to throw you under the bus when the boss is around.

Ultimately, I learned how to initiate better conversation with customers and to understand and help them find what they were looking for. I enjoy helping, talking to customers and making their day better. It's just management that is unbearable and makes me stress about going to work each day.

I hated working at DSW. I worked incredibly long hours and was subject to the "extended hours" program. When I was first hired I noted on my paperwork that I did not want to be in the program but was later guilt-tripped into it by the store manager. The extended hours program meant that I would be scheduled to work a shift from, say, 9-4, with the extended hours being from 2-4. This meant that if we were slow, I would go home at 2 and be done for the day. If we were busy, I would have to work until 4. It was frustrating not knowing when I got to work how long I would be there. This made it difficult to make plans and have a life outside of working. When I finally asked my manager to be removed from the extended hours program, she made me feel like I was being inconsiderate and a pain (which is ridiculous). 

We called our customers "shoe lovers" and were trained to do a variety of jobs around the store (which I liked). I learned to work on the register, stocking shoes, customer service, online orders, etc. 

The management was not my favorite. As I previously said, my manager made me feel like a bad person on numerous occasions because I wanted to get out of the extended hours program. The Managers would also fix the schedule so that one person would have to work two shifts a day, which was against store policy. I was scheduled from 9-11 am with extended hours from 2-6pm. This meant I had to go work for two hours, drive all the way back home, and turn around and go back just a few hours later. You'd think if something were against company policy, the managers wouldn't do it, but they found a way around the system. 

I liked my coworkers and the employee discount was pretty great. I liked most of my managers, too, but had a hard time getting over the guilt-tripping and rule breaking. I was hired on as seasonal help but chose to leave before the "season" was over because it was such an unpleasant place to work. The turnover rate of employees was awful, too.They would hire at least 6 people at a time and within a few weeks they would all be gone (from quitting, not being fired). 

I would not recommend working at DSW. If you do apply and are hired DO NOT join the "extended hours program". It is not a requirement and you should not be forced into it. You will regret it and will have a miserable time trying to get out of it.

Typical day at work: Come in and get belittled by management as well as customers (Since Day 1).

What I learned?  Learned to be a cashier, even though I applied for a stockroom associate position (completely disregarded my resume, probably never read it).  Other than that, NOTHING new if you have worked in retail.

Management:  Terrible, needs training in leadership(they lack this completely).  Holding a few pairs of shoes in their office instead of letting consumers have a chance of buying it.  And then telling associates they aren't allowed to do that as well (which is fine by me, but don't get hypocritical).  And one thing needs to be pointed out, if you have a problem with an associate, take them to a private room and speak with them, don't have your outbursts in the middle of the store in front of EVERYONE (so unprofessional!). Just shows how deranged certain people can be (and have been getting away with it for years).

Workplace culture: Perhaps if the workplace culture within this company was positive, they would see more results and drive in our team members.  However, because Corporate likes to cut corners, not pay good workers a decent rate, even cut off the most dedicated workers that have been there for years.  They simply just don't care.  Yes I am connecting the two.  There is no incentive to work there.  Only management gets the perks, the associates get practically nothing for all their hard work.  It's all a farce, complete absurdity.  

Hardest part of the job: Keeping up with the micromanagement, they only give you one break if you're lucky(They had me working over 6 hours at many times without any regard), and instead of being constructive, they will criticize and belittle you.  I'm not one for negative reinforcement, and I tell you, that is not the way.  But this one in particular as an example is by far the worst I have seen in my experience working the retail industry.

People will always claim favoritism.  In this case, it absolutely plays out that way.  The hardest workers don't get recognized, only the ones who like to socialize in the middle of the store as a group in front of consumers when they should be working every single minute starting the moment they clock in.  There was nothing enjoyable about this job, plain and simple. And I'm glad I left such a horrible place.

I was hired immediately which was great, job was a seasonal position. My only issue is that they had me work in clearance the whole 90 day period that consisted of mainly closing, a few days early morning before opening 6AM-11AM or 6AM-9AM and only three-four shifts during the day from 2PM-6PM or 4PM-8PM.  I told them I needed maximum 30hrs/week but I only got between 8-16hrs if they didn’t decide to change my schedule last minute (cut off hours). They didn’t train me on cashwrap (cashiering), didn’t train me on proper closing with working on the floor (men’s, women’s and kids).  I was strictly clearance. I was trained on collecting trash, holding items for customers and cleaning the bathrooms lol. They didn’t care if someone stole shoes from our store, even though they knew who the culprits were. We would have the same 3-5!people come in every other day and were successful in stealing our products. They said they’re about communication which is doubtful, considering they didn’t let me know what needed to be worked on with communicating with customers, and the manager didn’t even tell me they were letting me go after my 3 month trial , an MOD (manager on duty) did, but luckily no disappointment came from it which I guess they were expecting,  I am currently looking for a better job anyways. They wanted me to promote the DSW VIP even though I was always in clearance, never working cashier to really get a feel and become used to asking people about our program and during the days I worked they always had me doing multiple tasks at once so I couldn’t just stop what I was doing to ask about our program, I only had time to help look for a specific shoe check and answer phone calls. In my position with communicating to “shoe-lovers” I was only being asked about the prices on our shoes depending on color coded stickers. It would be random to answer questions like those and then try to proceed to promote DSW VIP when they’re gonna ask if they can use their extra $10 on the same day as they sign up which they can’t, and they’ll decline signing up.

Maybe it was just the location I worked at but, I probably wouldn’t work here again honestly. Unless it’s in a different city and with better shoe selections.

Please do not go by the positive reviews of this Company. The positive reviews are coming from the higher management or mid level management that get pad very well. They are giving you bells and whistles that are all lies. This is by far the worst Company to ever work for and I will tell you why. Like one of the other reports stated that 90% of the time you are trying to get people to sign up for the DSW rewards membership. You get no commission for it and are among your colleagues to challenge each other like a race or something because your names are on the board. They want every employee to haggle customers and force them to sign up. Second, you are to organize the shoes, put shoes back and sign up rewards. This is only a part time position. Only supervisors and managers get full time. The turnover rate is extremely high. They work you to death. This is a good wok out if anybody want to lose weight because you're always moving which is not a bad thing, but you have to deal with helping customers, moving the hotel looking dolly, moving boxes, shifting shoe boxes around etc. Discount is great on the shoes but forget about benefits and full time work. This is the worst company to ever work for. All they care about is their stock market and how much revenue they can make.

Where I worked at we had to wear nice clothes with their shoes. Which means, we had to wear nice slacks or khakis which most of the time they will get either dirty or torn up when you get low pay.

Do not work for this Company if you have an opportunity for a real job and have a degree. Only work for this Company if you are in high school and just looking for extra income on the side or don't have a degree. This is not a good place to put on your resume.

This review is the truth. This is every DSW. Remember, do not go by the fake reviews. They are told to post their reviews or the Managers that get paid a good salary to support the reviews. Believe me, this is the worst place to ever to work for and that's the truth. You are working hard so the CEO can get richer by the stock market and no health benefits, full time, or vacation pay is available for you.

If you're into killing a few brain cells every day, this is the place for you.  No advancement whatsoever if you start out as part-time (and you will), very little training, very little responsibility that requires anyone to use any cognitive assets.  Management is, with few exceptions, inconsistent, changes their mind every week, is not supported by the District Manager (Michigan), is hammered to produce nearly impossible results using part-time people who are untrained, unmotivated, poorly compensated and bored.  This is a company who touts themselves as "America's Favorite Place to Work" - while being on the far opposite end of it; the company does nothing for their employees that would have this catchy phrase be even close to true.  If there are any disputes with customers, you, as the employee, will be thrown full-body under the bus and likely let go, while the complainant enjoys some kind of discount or freebie.  Employees are thought of as a dime a dozen, and are treated like disposable tissues.  My coworkers were wonderful people as a whole, and they are what kept me motivated to be there every day, and what made it possible to endure hours of patrolling the aisles, straightening boxes, throwing out mounds of garbage that customers leave everywhere, and putting up with some of the rudest, most arrogant customers in retail.  Company policies are based on what the customer whines about, not on what is logical, practical or works for both the company AND the customer.

Don't get me wrong I still love DSW and not because of the shoes its because of the environment/atmosphere that was created here. I did become upset with DSW causing me to leave before my resignation notice was supposed to be put into effect. I will still start with the things that I enjoyed/Love about DSW. I enjoyed the free refreshments; water, hot coca and coffee are placed in the lunch room with vending machines for convenience. I worked 40 hours a week and sat in a chair for those hours, I learned fast and took myself out of nesting before I was supposed to because I wanted to do what I was actually going to be doing the remaining time I was there. I loved that too and had no complaints. I enjoyed small interactions with my coworkers but stayed focused. I loved the employee sale in November items were 5$! (Pairs for shoes, purses ect). I was not the biggest fan of the newest update to the scoring system. This scoring system became more extensive and difficult to follow up with. I was concerned because I was meeting my expectations and exceeding the company's expectations for a call center representative. When it was changed and more requirements where added I felt as if I wasn't doing as well as I actually was. I am sure that the people who weren't doing so well felt discouraged. I didn't like that wen Id as a question to multiple people I would get different answers so how am I supposed to do my job properly and to company standards. I was going through a rough time in my life where my mother was becoming sick, father was leaving my life and we were getting evicted, I felt as if nothing was staying consistent.If this were changed I would come back. My manger was late delivering my scores and company was late delivering news sometimes not delivering us new at all.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Truck driver 354 salaries reported	$1,000 per week
Retail sales associate 2 salaries reported	$10.50 per hour
Sales associate 5 salaries reported	$11.00 per hour
Order picker 18 salaries reported	$26.31 per hour
Stocking associate 8 salaries reported	$14.88 per hour

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