retail supervisor

retail assistant manager

sales associate

assistant store manager

store manager

Fjallraven

I was initially very eager to be part of the Fjallraven team, but not all workplace environments are what they appear to be. When onboarded, managers rushed me through the job training. I never felt prepared to do anything, and it wasn't from a lack of preparation on my end as an employee. I'd ask reasonable and realistic follow-up questions and clarifications and they would get annoyed and act as if this was a severe act of incompetence (all my past retail managers would get annoyed if you DIDN'T ask them questions if you needed to). They expected employees to handle everything on their own. Some basic retail systems of the store, such as the Point of Sales, are so draconian and needlessly complex that it took me months to be allowed to complete a transaction (I had years of prior experience ringing people up behind a register from multiple businesses) Any confusion was a result of my "incompetence," never for their lack of effective communication. Managers made things much harder and more complicated than they needed to be, and would constantly plan over the other managers and get upset when you were carrying out a task that one of the other managers told you to complete. There was such a lack of communication that I truly ditched all prior expectations of what a functioning retail store should look like. The workplace culture was pretty cliquey and if the managers favored you (AKA you had no prior retail experience and had no idea that the way the store is run is not in fact normal) then you'd have an ever so slightly better workplace experience. Oh, and don't get me started on the lack of diversity and customer profiling. If a customer who entered the store appeared anything short of rich and/or white, the managers would discourage you from interacting with them and "wasting the opportunity" to sell them something they probably couldn't afford or possibly be interested in, when you could be paying attention to a customer who fit the racial and economic profile. I learned never to assume anything about a customer from my entire career, and managers would say to our faces, "assume." I also learned I was underpaid by almost a full dollar per hour compared to my other employees, simply because I asked what the hourly wage would be during onboarding, and they had me guess. Managers were some of the most judgemental, passive-aggressive, and short-sighted people I've ever worked alongside. They would bend over backwards to dodge accountablilty and pin any shortcomings on their employees instead. 

Working here was alright at first and I was very excited to join a unique company. I soon realized that despite its warm and inviting exterior Fjällräven was indeed just the same as every other retail experience, if not worse. Higher up management/HQ was a disaster to work with and they were very inconsiderate. Store managers were great to your face and then would cut your hours and refuse your raise behind your back. Communication was never great as I had to reach out to managers to have a real conversation about what was bothersome to me or what was concerning me. Regional management was rude and often not involved. During my time here we were promised good raises, seeing as we can afford to sell 600-1k value jackets we can surely avoid to pay more than minimum wage. But then, raises in the range of less than a dollar were given out. Time to work/shifts were assured to be in demand and you could always get time if you needed it, but then hours were cut to unlivable standards. There were times where I had to work a second job just to scrape by due to my schedule being completely off. 
Overall, would definitely not recommend. Training is minimal and expectations are ridiculous in comparison to pay and treatment from the company. They want people who are “extremely excited to work every day” and “know the product entirely” but then pay you minimum wage for most of your time there and don’t provide any time to work. My only good takeaway were my coworkers as we all became friends quickly. 

What I Liked:
I worked at this location for a little under 2 years. The Manager & ASM were wonderful and accommodating, as well as easy to work with. The schedule was incredibly flexible and I had no issues with requesting time off. The job itself was very straightforward and simple enough, and I always felt supported by the team in daily tasks. I liked to think I was doing well, and received positive feedback for each of the 3 reviews I completed (with no raise ever given, may I note) over the course of my time there. Day to day could be slower in the winter, but decently paced in the spring/summer. Clientele were for the most part great, and the product is awesome for anyone who has a passion for outdoor living/trekking.
Why I Left:
About 3-4 months ago we discussed hiring a new employee at a much higher wage than my own- at the exact same Superisor position. I was understandably upset to learn this, and was promised that my pay would be raised to match this new hire. After 4 months of dragging their feet, upper management flat out rejected the raise. As you can imagine, this prompted my departure.

So, if you are looking for a great place to work and pay does not matter to you, give it a shot. Otherwise, I encourage you to look elsewhere. There is little to no growth within this company, and as previously stated you will likely NEVER see a pay raise despite how much time you put into it. 

Very high tech hiking gear, which is cool. My coworkers were nice. They do trips once a year for store managers. However, I was the acting store manager for 3 months with the promise I would become the SM at the end of my 90 days. I now know they only did that because they hired me on without also hiring on a new SM(both SM and AM were leaving at the same time). Told me after 3 months that I couldn’t be promoted because the store “didn’t have enough wins,” when in reality we had 3 people working at our location(yes..that’s all), I was not able to hire anyone myself, our stock room was the worst I’ve ever seen a stock room look(previous management screwed it up), and I had no formal training outside of a little PowerPoint. The DM rarely came to help and rarely was able to answer my questions. My 2 other coworkers were my subordinates who had to help me learn how to do AM things all while still only making $17. Overall a very unorganized, uncommunicative company. 

The brand itself along with its mission is amazing, you want to believe that you’re making a difference when it comes to sustainability and inspiring others to "walk with nature".  They wish they were Patagonia.

North American leadership is awful – core reason there are so many issues with Fenix Outdoor brands in general. There is hardly any career growth, and if you do receive more responsibility or a “title change”, good luck receiving any decent compensation for it. High turnover rate with employees. If you’re okay making the same salary year after year, don’t expect a cost of living annual raise or to even receive a decent bump for good performance. Remote flexibility used to be a perk but you are now required to show up to the office 4 days/week to an office culture that is non existent. 

Advice to Upper Management: Clean house and invest in leadership willing to invest in the team.

I worked at Fjallraven for over a year in Vancouver, Canada, and had a terrible experience from day one. Despite being hired as an Inventory Supervisor my job was changed without consent and I faced regular hostile interactions with the Area Manager who also acted at any time as the Store Manager of at least 2 locations and did not hire replacements, instead forcing these duties and expectations onto the rest of us, who did not receive any appropriate remuneration. The work life balance was good only for the area manager as the rest of us had to work late, early, and weekends to accomodate his lifestyle. I love the brand and everything it stands for, but the way Fjallraven is run in West Canada is totally inappropriate.

I worked as a store associate and then a supervisor. The job is fairly easy, although you definitely get some argumentative customers. The clothes are pretty cool for the most part, but the job doesn't pay enough for workers to afford them. Our store manager was great but the upper management / US corporate division is pretty much a joke (not very responsive, not good at tailoring plans to different locations, bad inventory allocation, etc.) They also laid off all of their part-time workers in a 5-minute Zoom call during the pandemic, which strikes me as unprofessional. 

Fjällräven in the United States is starkly different from its sister companies overseas. Fjällräven  offers a great product and follows its brand philosophy  well. A great work environment with fantastic products is heavily overshadowed by weak management and poor pay. They often expect more of their employees than the pay them for and almost never hire from within. Overall a good company, just not to work for.

Not a livable wage but works as a second income for two-income households if you want to take advantage of a discount on great outdoor product. Local management is awesome but their hands are often tied by higher-ups, as is typical with most companies. 

The management is really racist and unprofessional. Staff is also horrible. I should have reported my boss to HR but I didn’t realize my rights until after I left. It’s not a cool place. I love the products just not the work environment. The health and dental is also not fully covered; it’s actually really expensive. They do not pay enough for a store supervisor position also.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail supervisor 31 salaries reported	$20.51 per hour
Retail assistant manager 3 salaries reported	$23.92 per hour
Sales associate 3 salaries reported	$18.17 per hour
Assistant store manager 7 salaries reported	$22.95 per hour
Store manager 4 salaries reported	$66,500 per year

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