craftsman

e-commerce specialist

customer service representative

team member

merchandising associate

Herschend-Family-Entertainment

A typical day in the life of a buyer 

I would meet with vendors 3 out of 5 days a week, studying market trends, collaborating with each vendor to develop conceptual buys that met our financial / budgeted goals.  I.E. turns, margins, mark downs, exit strategies for new retail programs.

Seasonally: I would plan for two national events; National Kids Festival and the Blue Grass and BBQ event, I would also assist in planning the Fall events.  All events were held in a separate venue that offered, food, entertainment, and retail merchandise that complimented a centralized theme.  All events were created to enhance the overall guest experience.

We would develop floor plans within each retail venue that supported the new merchandise floor sets that were predetermined at our annual planning meetings.

I would attend 4 market trips per year to procure merchandise programs that supported all of our annual events as well as for the retail stores.  

As a buyer you must continually re-invent yourself and your retail venues to constantly stay on top of market trends; through constant antithetical reporting systems. It is imperative that you understand the overall business model, guest demographic as well as seasonality to ensure success.

It is then equally important that you relay and communicate thoroughly to your support staff for a well-executed plan.  It is also imperative to stay on top of each shipment to ensure "On time deliveries", 

Weekly I would meet with our accounting department reviewing invoices for accountability from our vendor partners.

I have committed over 32 years as a purchasing agent for soft-lines as well as hard-lines and have learned is that if you fail to plan you are in essence planning to fail.   

Excellence starts from the top and filters down; my ideal management team is one that is like a fine tuned orchestra. Each person contributes to the whole as a TEAM.
The smallest of mistakes due to the lack of communication will become the most obvious.  You work hard together in completing a common goal as a team and you reap the rewards as a team.  

The hardest part of the job for me is confrontation

The most enjoyable part of the job is when an actual task comes to fruition.  I love seeing the new merchandise on the retail floor; I love seeing the expressions on the guest that come into shop and I especially love when the guest come back year after year because your business model has been a success.

First day on the job, (after attending orientation where the company stresses how it follows the teachings of Jesus Christ) my trainer used the Lord's name in vain in casual conversation and it went downhill from there. I was subjected to a bizarre 15 diatribe (on a trivial matter while in training) by this person's supervisor after bringing this up to human resources. I was told by a long time employee that people being chewed out is a common occurrence for this near minimum wage, part-time, seasonal job that is supposed to be a fun job for the summer. As a true creative professional, I was "preached" to by young "trainers" who have no experience or professional training in the creative arena. Management appears to be intoxicated with yielding power over trainees... a strong indicator of lack of self esteem and self confidence. After being hired, you find out that they work near-minimum wage employees for three consecutive 14 hour days without allowing them to sit without a note from their doctor. In short, a pathetic experience and I would not recommend working here unless you are a glutton for disrespect and unwarranted emotional abuse by rank amateur trainers and supervisors who lack management experience.

A typical day on the job for me starts with me and two other team members doing most of the opening duties as the manager and the other morning shift employees are chatting about how the three of us don't do anything/are not as good at working as they are, Struggling to adhere to the evershifting rules and attitudes towards them (One day we were told not to do X to make the guest happy, the next we were scolded for not doing X. This happens frequently.) Constantly having the manager tell us how he does it so much better and tell me that I just have an attitude for ignoring his wise teachings. (I would go to lunch, he'd take over my duties, I'd come back and it's worse off than when I was there. Me and the other three employees who actually worked were constantly amazed at how it would get worse and he'd still think he was the better employee.)

I learned Communication is key to any relationship, especially professional ones.

Management is very much a feudal system, where each shop/restaurant/team was ruled by the managers with all too much freedom to run their places as they saw fit. The few good ones work with their teams and are kind and listen and communicate, the vast majority rule with an iron fist and a very 'my way or the highway' attitude. It's so bad some of the managers argue and fuss with their own superiors and eachother.

Working with and learning about the animals there was great and my actual coworkers were awesome while I was there. However, the communication between supervisors/management and those working in the farmyard was very lacking most of the time. We didn't always get supplies we needed in a timely manner and often had to wait a while to get things that we needed repaired. Supervisors would end up not stopping by many times when they said they would. We also weren't taken seriously multiple times when bringing up concerns about specific animals in our care. We were left without a lead keeper for over six months and since it took a long time to get a hold of supervisors (and many times we would not get a response) we would be left to take care of problems by ourselves. Many times it honestly felt like they did not care about the people working in this area. Even with two people on one shift, one person would always end up alone at certain times while trying to watch large groups of guests inside the contact yard. Having to stay out (mostly standing) in the summer heat or during winter for eight hours did not help. The pay was also very underwhelming for the amount of stress and physical labor that was put in during every shift. I honestly hope it's gotten a lot better since I was there.

I would ride the bus out to Darien Lake Monday-Saturday to work between the hours of 10:00am and 4:00pm, operating a different game each day I was there. The games I operated at Darien Lake were: Chuck-A-Luck, Milk Cans (which is no longer there), Go Fish, Fire Fighter, Mini Bowling and Whac-a-Mole, with Whac-a-Mole being my all-time favorite game to operate. Even though I was only there for five weeks, I learned so much working at Darien Lake , I reapplied to go work there again this summer, but unfortunately, due to the lack of transportation, I was unable to. The management there at Darien Lake was amazing. Everyone was wonderful to work with and I had such a blast working with everyone there last year. Recently, I returned to Darien Lake, this time as a guest and I saw a few of my co-workers from last year. They were so happy to see me return, even though it was as a guest and not as a co-worker. The hardest part of working at Darien Lake was that the only games that I worked that was a little hard to get many winners were Milk Cans and Mini Bowling. The most enjoyable part of working at Darien Lake was being recognized in the park's newsletter as employee of the week for calling guests to play Whac-a-Mole and Fire Fighter.

Typical day would wake up bright and early to leave late at night sometimes and it be a repeated cycle with no personal time outside of work. I learned if you’re not the same color then no one cares about you. Once had a team member yell at me in front of 3 supervisors threatening to kick my butt and cussing at me but not a one did anything because they buddy buddy with them. I was a high school student at the time and I had to make a decision to go to work or put my dog down on a Friday afternoon. I choose my dog and the next day they are writing me up cause I did not call out in the appropriate time. Say they are wild at heart but no one cares about their job and there is no excitement to work there. Hardest part was dealing with team members that had beef with you and trying to call for support for a supervisor or bathroom breaks. Most enjoyable was seeing kids happy and enjoying themselves. 

I worked in the Foods department inside Marketplace restaurant near the trolley train that drives around the property of stone mountain park. I learned how to pic up a 100+pound of ice over my head and dump it into a big ice bin even when customers were all lined up outside the restaurant. Definitely not the way to go.lol. However its a pretty cool place to work, the folks that work there are very cool and easy going. I never had a altercation there with anyone.  The pay is not that good though. Start at whatever the minimum wage is but room for growth there all the time. The benefits are free passes to the park two tickets a month. blah. and discounted rooms on hotels within the park thats a pretty good perk. 2 free parking pass as well. and another for family but they will have to pay for entrance if they do not have that sticker. Too much work and definitely not enough pay

The job should be fun. Afterall, it's an amusement park!  The problem is the general manager, as well as my director who is over sales and marketing.  Very disorganized is an understatement!  My job relies on commission.  However, due to poor planning and excessive turnover, which is due to poor management, you have to do many other things taking you away from your primary duties.  I'm not talking about pitching in to help out or being a team player and assisting others.  I'm talking instead of calling on exisiting customers or prospecting for new business, you are working at the ticket counter or making chicken nuggets!  Everything is disorganized and a knee jerk reaction to every other poor decision and lack of planning.  If the general manager likes you, you can do whatever and being a shining star.  If she doesn't, run for the hills.

HFE purchased the Harlem Globetrotters around 2015. I worked as apart of the road staff that supported the show from '15 to '20. The road staff and teams were fun to work with the majority of the time, but anyone who has worked in entertainment or touring can tell you there are days you get sick of one another (like any job). 
No real support from the front office or management. Responses to problems on the road were often met with frustration and anger rather than assistance. Most of the front office were former road staff who had no real training, education, or experience in their current role. 
Pay and per diem compared to the rest of the industry is laughable and leads to high turnover. All staff are paid roughly the same salary regardless of experience. 
Travel is fun but you sacrifice sleep to see anything because of the short time spent in each location (1 night per city. 7 Cities per week)

Overall, Herschend Family Entertainment was a great company to work for. I worked at Stone Mountain Park as an Entertainment Usher and Park Ambassador. There were several great benefits, such as entry to the park and access to the entertainment shows for free, participation in the Share It Forward program, discounts to other HFE parks around the country, discounts to other park services such as hotel stays and campground rentals. I loved the management team in the Entertainment department, as well as my coworkers. The training process was great and it really prepared me for the job. You do have to audition to get the job, like a performer, but as long as you are genuinely friendly and enthusiastic to help guests, it is not a difficult process.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Craftsman 1 salary reported	$21.50 per hour
E-commerce specialist 2 salaries reported	$55,000 per year
Customer service representative 3 salaries reported	$15.50 per hour
Team member 2 salaries reported	$16.35 per hour
Merchandising associate 1 salary reported	$18.50 per hour

Working at Herschend Family Entertainment: Company Overview and Reviews

Herschend Family Entertainment

Herschend Family Entertainment Ratings

Popular jobs at Herschend Family Entertainment

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected