retail assistant manager

assistant store manager

sales associate

sales support representative

goods-in manager

Dry Goods

I would work the register, help people into fitting rooms, and ask people if they need help finding anything. 

You have to make a certain amount in sales every hour you work each month to keep your employment. Absolutely terrible management. I was given terrible hours during the summer because all the seasonal workers got first priority over getting more hours, which I felt was unfair. I would work on Monday for 4 hours in the morning when no ones in the mall shopping and then not work again until the following Monday so, I found making sales difficult. Whenever I was working with more than 2 people making sales was very difficult, so most of the time when the store was not busy, I would get sent home early or told not to come in today. At the end of the month, you get evaluated on how much sales your making, if you have not met your sales goal by the end of the month you get your hours cut by a lot and you get written up. After getting written up you are told that you have one month and if you don't meet the sales goal requirement by the end of the next month you will be terminated. If you don't make the sales your boss needs you to make, even when you're still doing your job your boss isn't going to care for you and will treat you terribly. I felt my boss basically just kept finding words and phrases to tell me just how bad I am at this instead of trying to help me improve. I very much felt as if I was being pushed out of my employment. Also, at the end of your shift you get an evaluation sticker of the day chosen by your manager, like I'm sorry but this is not elementary school were not children. Even if I did my job and helped people my boss would still give me a bad evaluation at the end of my shift just because she doesn't like me. One time I had told my boss in advance that I had a doctor's appointment the following week and that I might be running only 5-10 minutes late to work. My boss was not okay with my being 5-10 minutes late, so my boss recommended I ask someone to take the shift. It felt like they were pressuring me to cancel my appointment just to make the shift on time. Working here made me feel like I was working at a car dealership because the sales goals were always so unreasonable and unrealistic for such a small clothing store. I felt all of my co-workers would fight over sales or steal sales form others without them knowing. Overall, this job was way more stressful than I felt it needed to be. I really hope the store gets a new manager soon it needs better management. 

This is hard for me because I truly love my job, but I honestly feel that the company as a whole does not appreciate its workers at all. I love the clothes and the way the store runs for the most part. I love sectioning clothes by color, creating faceouts, etc. My coworkers and managers are mostly fine. However, the job is extremely unflexible. You HAVE to be able to close Fridays and Saturdays, and you HAVE to be able to work at least five hours on Sundays. If you clock in one minute late, it counts as a tardy. There are frequent reviews on your job performance to the point that I feel it is redundant. I think that performance reviews are useful, but it is so frequent I feel that it is unhelpful. There are very few employees at each store to the point that if you need a shift covered, you most likely will not get it covered. I feel that it is hard to advance in the company. When the district manager asked my manager if I'd be interested in a key holder position, my manager said no without even consulting me. Management is hypocritical. They will get on you for the littlest of things and make it a big deal. Then they will go in the back and spend most of the shift on social media on their phone. They will go in the back with other managers and socialize and chat and leave you alone on the floor to do everything by yourself. The base pay is low because you get commission, but the commission rate is extremely low. The employee discount is ridiculously low to the point that it's barely worth even having the employee discount in the first place. You can work your butt off at this job and feel completely unvalued as an employee by both your staff and the company.

As far as companies to work for in the retail business, Dry Goods is a place I would recommend. There are no sign changes, large banners, and confusing marketing to change every other day. They also have no visual or planograms, giving each store the ability to create their own appeal. Most stores have a large management team, sometimes having two full-time assistant managers and multiple keyholders- again, I think this varies from store to store based on needs. Like most retail stores, part-time sales associates don't receive a ton of hours because the bulk of them are given to management. Dry Good stresses customer service and most of their stores work on a commission bases. They also review their employees frequently- every four weeks to be exact. Sales goals are easy to reach, but Credit Card goals are a different story, as there is hardly an incentive for customers to sign up for a Dry Good's credit card. On paper, Dry Goods is a good place to work, though I think there are too many "cooks in the kitchen" from a management perspective, which makes it hard for employees and creates favoritism. Though they offer full-time employees benefits, their family benefit plan is outrageously expensive, and there is no option for you to cover just you and a spouse-which means if you need to cover your spouse, you have to enroll in the family plan meant for married couples with children. Overall, I think it's a good place to work, but like any company, there are things that can improve on. 

If you’re considering working here, especially in retail management or full-time, think twice. This was one of the most discouraging work environments I’ve ever been in.  

Customer complaints were frequent — about rude looks, poor service, and uncomfortable experiences — but upper management didn’t lift a finger to make improvements. 

The dress code was ridiculous and outdated. You couldn’t wear tennis shoes unless the store sold them (which were ugly and uncomfortable to stand in for 8+ hours which none of corporate would know because they hide in the back the few times they are seen). Crop tops — even ones that fully covered your torso — were banned if they didn’t stay down when raising your arms. No colored hair unless it was a “natural-looking” color. No small nose rings. No phones or Apple Watches — they had to be locked away the entire shift!!!

Meanwhile, corporate controlled the thermostat and we were t allowed to change it.  It felt like a sweatshop, and even customers complained. We were significantly understaffed, especially on weekends, and the store couldn’t handle the volume of returns or merchandise. Racks were overloaded, and there was no real support. 

The only bright spot was the team — amazing coworkers who all shared the same frustration. We were treated like we were in a strict school, not a retail job. We are trauma bonded.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for a place to grow, express yourself, or even just be respected — this isn’t it. Retail shouldn’t feel this oppressive.

I worked here as a retail store manager, and overall, it was not a positive experience.

Training was very limited — I received only a few days covering basic operations. I was encouraged to reach out with questions, but later received mixed feedback about asking for help versus being expected to work independently. This created confusion around expectations, especially in a management role.

There was also a lack of consistency in how policies were applied. Expectations and guidelines were not always clearly communicated, and similar situations were handled differently depending on the circumstances. This made it difficult to manage staff fairly and confidently.

Staffing and scheduling were ongoing challenges. Strong employees were difficult to retain due to hour reductions and strict policy enforcement, even when they were reliable and supportive team members.

Overall, this role lacked the structure, communication, and consistency needed to support both management and staff effectively. I would recommend asking detailed questions about training, expectations, and management support before accepting a position.

I've had a great experience working here! My coworkers are nice and welcoming and management is very good. Interview process was very simple, and training was done well. 

Monthly reviews and performance expectations are clear and easy to understand, and you can move up positions if over 18. However in some stores, it can be very slow business and that can affect the hours you are scheduled.

Being a sales associate is a very simple and fun job: you work the cash register, organize and clean the store, and do customer service. Sometimes you answer the phone as well. 

The dress code is pretty strict: you can't wear shorts, short skirts, tank tops, have "unnaturally" dyed hair, or most facial piercings other than ears and side of nose. 

If you are LGBTQ+, there is a non-discrimination policy which is good. The company does encourage you to report any harassment. I have not experienced any sort of issues but obviously that will depend on coworkers! 

Overall, it's a very nice store to work at in my opinion, but I am in a lower position so I cannot speak for those who are in managerial positions.


Dry goods is absolutely the worst retail job I have worked at. first of all the company uses systems that were around in like 2005 to 2010, making it feel like we are completely behind everyone else and have to do everything with three more steps than all of our competitors. Second of all they offer no vacation pay their store managers don’t get sick time or overtime or vacation time. And the pay is not worth the emotional term oil that I got from working here. Additionally, the discount is only 20% off with one week at the end of the month giving an additional 20% “Incentive“ discount. The dress code is extremely strict even though we sell crop tops and shorts, we can’t wear them. Overall the von maur company is awful and i recommend not working there. in terms of my personal experience, I had a manager that had no idea what she was doing and then would get frustrated when I would try and help and show her how to do something. Hiring someone that has never worked in the clothing, retail space and expecting them to learn with no training structure is ridiculous .

A typical day consists of: greeting customers, folding/ re-hanging items, attending to customers needs, providing fitting rooms, ringing out customers, organizing displays and sale room. 
I have learned that there is always things to be done and you should never be standing around watching. Find a customer to help, clean and organize but never do nothing. 
The co-workers are great, all the girls get along and help each other out. Other associates are productive and eager to help out customers and their fellow employees. 
The hardest part of the job are having slow days at the mall or being short staffed. Making the goals are always important but can be challenging when customers are scarce. Making sure that fitting rooms get cleaned and clothes are put back out on the main floor.
Overall, the day is enjoyable because of the people you get to work with. All the employees are caring and respectful. Learning about the new trends coming up and helping that customer find the perfect outfit is great!

The location I worked at was significantly understaffed, making it difficult to keep up with the high volume of customers. Weekends were especially overwhelming, with an excessive number of returns and clothing racks struggling to support the weight of the merchandise. 

 Corporate controls the thermostat so it feels like a sweat shop even the customers complain. We had to follow a strict dress code that didn’t even allow showing shoulders—even though the store sold crop tops and clothes with alcohol logos. We couldn’t have our phones or Apple Watches out because apparently we might ‘steal’ the product designs—like no one’s ever heard of Google or noticed that half the stuff’s already mass-produced in China. 

The coworkers were awesome, but we all agreed that the old dinosaur policy wasn’t something we wanted to stick with for these jobs. The whole store quit in less than a week, and one girl only lasted two days before leaving.
 


Going into this job I really liked it the people were nice and i enjoyed working retail and then eventually the whole team ended up leaving and i was promoted to asm, i had little to no training and was the only management in my store since everyone had left and was just kind of thrown into it with no help and if i asked for help i was deamed as an inconvenience. the higher up management is very poor there are so many rules that don't make sense and it's very easy to get written up for small things. management is very passive aggressive  which leads to a hostile work environment since you never know if you're doing the right thing when their around. there is also an excessive amount of corporate visits at least once a week even though they live out of state. good work environment because of the people but very poor management through corporate i feel as if i was taken advantage of in the work place. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail assistant manager 207 salaries reported	$16.22 per hour
Assistant store manager 209 salaries reported	$19.25 per hour
Sales associate 201 salaries reported	$14.41 per hour
Sales support representative 93 salaries reported	$14.55 per hour
Goods-in manager 27 salaries reported	$50,889 per year

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