retail assistant manager

sales associate

store manager

pet groomer

assistant manager

HOLLYWOOD FEED

HOLLYWOOD FEED, LLC was an amazing company to work for. The day-to-day experiences of meeting customers' beloved pets and assisting them with nutritional and training advice, by far, made it one of the most enjoyable jobs I've ever worked. The company trained their associates thoroughly via seminars and online modules, and management was very patient while a new associate acclimated to the influx of information.

Pay was fair and raises were clearly discussed and offered. Employee benefits were beyond generous and encouraged the employees to gain personal experience with the products by taking them home to their own pets. We were also allowed to bring our canine companions to work with us (so long as we complied with corporate-mandated rules which, again, were exceedingly fair). Open communication was highly encouraged, and the majority of the employees (both local and at the corporate office) were friendly and seemed always ready to answer questions!

To work for Hollywood Feed, however, is to wear many hats. As was explained to me when I was hired: "everyone does everything". Employees were expected to act as retail associates, day-stockers, janitors, display designers, clerical organizers, event coordinators, social media managers -- the list goes on. Stores are run with a limited crew and, consequently, it leaves little margin for error. If one crew member is not pulling their weight, the responsibility shifts heavily onto the others. Management also had the added responsibility of placing vendor orders, monitoring and adjusting inventory, and managing weekly reports.

Because of this, there is a high probability of burn-out -- which was iterated to me by multiple associates. As an assistant manager, I was working 47+ hours per week -- and I was expected to, as I was sometimes told, "fill in the gaps". At times, this could push my weekly hours to 55+. The compensation was fair, but it left little time for balancing a home life. It was especially hard given that the very pet ownership that made me a strong associate ate up a significant amount of leisure time. If you're single -- with no support system at home and multiple pets -- you could find yourself burning the candle at both ends. Alternatively, if you had an abundance of time and were looking to commit your life to a job, hours were readily available.

Regional managers seemed stretched even thinner -- which is what ultimately led to my regretful departure. When conflict arose within the store due to inadequate leadership, the situation was not able to be given the attention it deserved (in my opinion). The corporate office was very open to communication, but situations such as these were left in the hands of the regional managers. This allowed questionable behavior to flourish with little to no oversight, and morale suffered within the team. Before this situation, it was one of the best places I had ever worked. The tone of the store, however, ultimately relies upon the fortune of gathering a team that works cooperatively together -- without strife or conflict. If conflict arises, there's no guarantee anyone will have the time to address it thoroughly.

Overall, I loved my job! But for the change in the store dynamic, I would likely still be there! If you can commit the hours and land a good team, it's an exceptional place to work.

I love meeting all the dogs that come in and I love the employee discount. The pay starts at $14/hour. Sometimes this job takes up my entire day but I am almost always home by 7:30pm. You can say goodbye to your weekends though. Store employees are responsible for unloading/putting away stock from truck deliveries while the store is open. Don’t bother applying without a driver license, as you will need to drive the delivery vehicle. Overall not a bad gig if you don’t mind the heavy lifting.

The return policy is actually pretty great and makes every return transaction relatively seamless. I really thought it would be a pain but it really helps me as an associate when I don’t need a receipt, or a manager, or have to try to figure out if it’s “okay” to return something. 

What I don’t like is my coworkers’ extremely negative attitudes towards vets and vet advice. I often hear “vets get kickbacks from the food they sell” (sounds like they are describing making a profit, which is what HF does as well?) and “Everything they know about the food they sell comes straight from the vendors” but all of our “education” is provided directly from the vendors or other people in the company. I have also heard “vets don’t know anything about pet nutrition” multiple times from other employees and that statement is just absurd. I have been warned against telling customers with sick pets to take them to see a vet. Employees literally think they know better than veterinarians with decades of experience after taking a few hours of “classes”, which again, are provided directly through the vendors. Not a fan of this culture at all. 

And if you think you want to work here because you love pets, but only have cats then think again. Corporate seems to think there is no market for cats and so the selection of products for cats is embarrassingly small. This place is for dogs, and cats are completely secondary. 

I have also been verbally lectured for doing a process the correct way, and was told to do it the wrong way from then on. I’m being 100% serious, I was told by management I had actually done something the right way, it’s just not the way they prefer. The store manager seems to have some ongoing conflict with other store managers and the regional manager which can sometimes affect everyone else’s day or mood. Another manager regularly arrives late and leaves the door locked/lights off for longer than they are supposed to so customers can’t come in. 

Overall, it’s not bad, and the worst part is definitely dealing with the other employees.

The insurance they provide could be better. It feels near impossible to grow within the company. You could work there for YEARS and they won’t promote you. They give their managers a raise almost quarterly but don’t care about the rest of the team. Nepotism is absolutely RAMPANT in this company and it is sickening. Corporate does not care about their storefront employees. It almost feels like they are their own little clique and if you aren’t in corporate they don’t care about you and you are replaceable and do not matter to them. HR is an absolute disaster and Pay is not fair. They pay their employees that have worked there 5+ years the same amount they pay an employee just starting out with the company. Corporate expects your team and your store to do the impossible, without offering help or resources even when it is asked of them. The stores are always understaffed and corporate expects you to do something about it but won’t let you hire more people. They won’t provide stores with extra hours to distribute and then get upset with you that there aren’t enough people in the store. They make you count the drawers with the doors unlocked because no matter how late you have to stay to get things done if you are in the store, you are open. They have no regard for your well being or safety.  They have an absolutely ridiculous “do right by the customer” policy which essentially just tells you that you and your opinions don’t matter and you have to sacrifice yourself for the customers. Managers and assistant managers are expected to work 50+ hours a week and then get a mouthful from upper management and corporate about going over hours and working too much overtime.  You can NEVER win and you can never be good enough. There is no work life balance, they expect your entire life and world to revolve around them and then make it clear that it’s a problem when you don’t. Corporate and regional managers pick favorites and if you work at a less profitable store they make it very apparent that you do not matter as much to them. Almost everything about working here was downright awful.  

I worked for Hollywood Feed for 7 years and it has growns a lot. It is a physical job now more than what it use to be due to them adding deliveries so you'll be carrying a lot of heavy items up several flights of apartment stairs. The people is the corporate office can be aggravating to deal with, a lot of them act better than you or there is so much miss communication or more lack of communication. They won't admit to the lack of communication between them selves and with the stores. 
Most stores in the DFW area have 4-5 associates so it's a very small staff, I had 4. On typical days there is only 3 people for the day except for the slow days 2. This could leave you in the store multiple hours by yourself if you have a lot of deliveries. It will be hard to go to the bathroom or juggle multiple customers that need your sole attention.l or even close by yourself which is a rule your not supposed too. If you raise your concern about this it get dismissed, not all stores are in great locations but that also doesn't mean higher end locations can't get robbed. 
So the other issue with the staffing and deliveries comes to a lot of the time 1 person putting truck or the frozen delivery away.  Truck days can have anywhere from 1 pallet to 7 depending on your location multiple times a week. A lot of the "truck" schedule is not on time so you could plan plenty of people that day and it show on a day you have 2, it's inconsistent and most of the time not communicated to the stores. 
Managers work will be life. 11.5 - 10 hour shifts. Supposed to have Sundays off. 
Assistant manager- 45 hrs a week
3rd key- 40hrs
Associates- 40 and under 
I enjoyed seeing my regular customers and their pets and truly helping them figure out the best diet. You will encounter customers "I read it on the internet" or "My vet says" this is a holistic/natural pet store so a lot of vets will not agree with what you'll sell. Having rescue groups come in and doing events with them. The job does have perks. 

For the record, my immediate managers have both been wonderful & supportive. My regional manager is virtually useless and has actively impeded my promotion before for petty, personal reasons. 

The company culture is a cult. If I could give it zero stars for that, I would. It’s a company that’s trying to grow too fast without the proper tools or qualified people in certain roles. Is it nice that almost everyone in corporate has come from a store? Sure. Does that mean that they’re qualified for the roles they’ve been placed in? No! Having come from a corporate company before, it is glaringly obvious what these people are lacking and watching them course correct to industry standards in real time is both funny & horrifying. I can’t even blame them because the people who put them in these positions set them up to fail, and because they’ve only worked for HF, they genuinely seem to have no idea how royally they’ve been screwed over. 

On a store level: if you have a car, it’s awful. You’ll be in the store alone for hours at a time with absolutely no backup, unless you’re at a HIGH volume store. You can only hire beyond a skeleton crew once your store is making $9k+ a day consistently. Your store consistently makes the top 5 highest profit stores every day? You might still be by yourself for hours. If you don’t have a car, it isn’t terrible? The pay is decent, certain perks are good (unfortunately, the discount can’t be beat) and your immediate coworkers are probably good people. 

Pay does meant expectations for what they expect you to do. When you love what your doing, they take advantage of that. 
There is no such thing as work life balance. If you want to protect your team so you remain staffed that means your giving up your days off, vacation time, and/or dealing with text and emails all day on your days off and not compensated.  No,  communication between corporate, only thru DM and they say what corporate wants to hear,  to make themselves look good.   Huge disconnect between what the reality of your day to day operations is and corporate's expectations. They will tell you to ask for help but will never show up / or offer to help.  The training they provide is literally throwing you to the wolves and expecting you to reach goals. 

The "we are a different breed" values they created are not valid. They don't value their / your  team. HWF treats individuals as if they are replaceable. and the truth is, they are,  but that doesn't hurt anyone but HWF.  Managers / employees stood with HWF during a pandemic and not because the company was deserving, it was because a lot of them actually loved what they did. When other retailers gave out bonuses for sticking with the a company, HWF demanded more and added more. We did get two raises during the pandemic, but it was only to keep up with other retailers.  If you like eating lunch, you get to do that standing up, on the clock, if you clock out, as a manager you have to make that time up. 15 minute breaks are hide in the bathroom and hope the store doesn't burn down. 


I had the pleasure of working in the corporate office down the hall from the owner and CEO of Hollywood Feed, and I have to say that he is a wonderful boss, mentor, businessman, family man, and community member. He truly cares about people's pets, it is not just about making money for him, and it is obvious in every decision he makes. He gives back to the community in innovative and genuinely helpful ways, and he values and respects every one of his employees. Even though I was a lower level employee that only worked there a short time, he not only knew my name, but would stop by my cubicle to ask about how things were going with me.  Though I was not there long enough for him to become a mentor to me, I watched him work with and mentor the employees around me, and it was truly inspiring to see. He trusts his employees and values their opinions. This company values customer service above all, and goes to great lengths to ensure a reliably remarkable customer experience. They provide in depth training and continuing education to produce employees who have a solid understanding of animal (particularly dog) anatomy and health. They also provide nice benefits, higher than average pay for the industry, and LOTS of opportunity for advancement. I would have loved to advance my career with them, and only left the company because I moved to a city where they do not yet have stores. However, because of my experience working there, I am a customer for life (I order online now!). Overall I would highly recommend working for Hollywood Feed.

Hollywood Feed pretends to be a company that has been family-owned for more than fifty years. In reality, they were procured in 2006, and their promise to "do what's right by the customer, the employee, and the company," often falls short of the middle category. Hollywood Feed's retail store employees are some of the best people you'll ever meet, with a genuine passion for helping animals live better lives, but they are treated like dirt by upper management. Corporate places unrealistic expectations on stores, causing high turnover when there shouldn't be. When I joined the company in 2023, I thought I might stay here for a decade. I am disappointed to see a business that prides itself on appearing locally-owned become more and more robotic. If I could give advice to current management, I would say to focus on employee retention over opening new stores, and stop compromising on the values that were supposed to be steadfast. Commit to clear and transparent communication with your employees about warehouse issues, product sourcing, and tariffs, so that we can actually explain to customers with candidacy and honesty why their dog food hasn't been here for weeks. Reduce delivery radiuses or cutoff's so that employees aren't delivering dog food at 11pm at night. 

When I started this job, it was very nice at first. Then down the line I noticed certain things: Your store can be very cliquey, in a "you can't sit with us" kinda vibe. You think that you fit in, but it turns out that they talk behind your back, don't tell you if you did something that upsets them, and try to get you fired.

If you aren't liked, your former team will constantly make fun of you and keep saying how much they hated them. To me, personally, that's not a healthy work environment, that is the equivalent to middle/high school gossiping. 

Upper management (regional/corporate) are also very cliquey. If they don't like you or if you're someone who stands up for yourself, you might as well kiss your job goodbye. 

You are also EXPECTED to eat, sleep, breathe, and bleed Hollywood Feed, inside and outside of work. Some regionals will expect you to have social media and repost all posts that Hollywood Feed makes. On top of that, they expect constant perfection, but do not provide adequate support to meet the perfection standards. 

All in all, this is not the worst job in the world, however your team and management can make or break your experience. 

I worked at Hollywood Feed for three years. Started as a sales associate and moved my way up to assistant manager. The training in this company is like no other. You get so much nutrition training. You create long lasting customer relationships that keep them coming back. This job is a very purposeful and rewarding job, you don't only get to help customers, you're also helping out their animal at home. The employees that work here are the best and you create such a great relationship with everyone that you work with. I will never forget what this company did for me and taught me. This is not a typical retail boring job. As they say in their slogan that they are a "different breed" they truly are in the best way possible. You go above and beyond for your customers. Now for the best, the managers. My store manager became family to me and our regional manager is phenomenal. Just be sure to be the best at what you do and prove yourself and the company will give it back to you. Even up to Hollywood Feed's corporate office, nothing but amazing people.They care for you.  Nothing bad to say. Love my Hollywood Feed family. I still can't believe I do not work there anymore, I call them from time to time to tell them I wish I could pick up the store and bring it to Florida with me. LOL. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail assistant manager 7 salaries reported	$16.54 per hour
Sales associate 6 salaries reported	$15.75 per hour
Store manager 1 salary reported	$33.50 per hour
Pet groomer 5 salaries reported	$31.10 per hour
Assistant manager 6 salaries reported	$19.50 per hour

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