backroom associate

retail assistant manager

cashier

loss prevention director

stockroom manager

HomeSense

My time with HomeSense was short, due to unforeseen circumstances but I assure you I was uncertain about how I felt working for the Moorestown location throughout my entire duration. 

It is a fast-paced environment which I appreciated. There was always SOMETHING to do (coming from someone who’s been in supervisory and management positions prior to working here) so keeping myself busy between customers was easy. I, myself am a motivated self starter, and would always find opportunities to learn new things to aid in my knowledge throughout the entire store. I can’t say the same for everyone else. For being a short term and newer employee, I taught several part time employees that had been there longer than myself how to maintain and operate within their departments. 

When you’re on the sales floor, coverage and overlap can be scarce, especially during peak hours and weekends. Specified individuals who are team players that show initiative are usually scheduled in “big ticket” (rug operations, bulk furniture, chandelier handling, and loading and unloading customer vehicles). Oftentimes the individuals in this area would be expected to aid several customers at a time, with little help from others from other departments. I witnessed on numerous occasions, when I needed extra hands for help (for example, I’d have a customer want me to take down 2-4 rugs they planned to purchase and then there would be a request from another customer or several because they couldn’t find anyone else), I would receive little to no response on the walkie. I was not the only individual to experience this. So my workload alone was stressful. Some employees were known to waltz around the building with their earpiece off because they didn’t want to be bothered.

I’m not one to bash others, however management members clashed with each other and were never on the same page. They also adhered to rumors rather than talking directly to the employee in question. One manager micromanaged. One manager would insert themselves in particular operations instead of letting coordinator roles use/build their supervisory skills. There was only one manager that consistently communicated on the walkie to ensure things ran smoothly across the board.

There is favoritism in the building. There were discrepancies between associates who called out frequently and never written up for it; and those who had actual situational emergencies that lost their job because the absences were unapproved/unexcused even after management stated “I’ll get coverage for you, don’t worry about it.”

The company itself does have perks for its employees. There is tuition assistance and an employee discount for all employees; health insurance and dental for FT employees/ after 1 year of service PTO and sick time would kick in (a drawback if you ask me...what if an emergency happened prior to your first year anniversary?); there were employee appreciation cards that would be received upon noticed excellent performance, that had scratch off incentives on it for chances to win gift cards (the ASM was the only one who gave them out, unfortunately). Occasionally if performance was outstanding the ASM would reward the employees with Starbucks or another type of reward. Monthly or so, one of the managers would throw a pizza or ice cream party for overall store performance within the company.

Working for the TJX companies can work for some but not all. They expect complete flexibility 7 days a week. Management at the store I worked was pretty terrible because they chose who they wanted to respect and who they didn’t. They also loved to gossip about other employees and seriously were the source of the majority of the drama in the workplace. I was the furniture coordinator of the Westlake, OH Homesense. I enjoyed my job description, but with that description made me responsible for almost anything and everything, NOT just the furniture department. Which would have been fine with me if the pay would have matched up with the work I was expected to do on a daily basis. Corporate visited often and they required all coordinators to work overtime and overnight all because management wanted their jobs to be protected. Funny thing is, all they did in corporate preparation was walk around and order people around without barely lifting a muscle. The treatment received during preparation for a corporate visitation was absolutely horrendous. Another negative thing about the company was TJX credit cards. Management would gaslight any and every employee to get people to apply for them when there was literally NO benefit for us if we got somebody to apply. They got their bonuses at the end of the year if we met our app pen while we received a chocolate bar. TJX cards have permanently wrecked my brain because of the abuse received from the higher ups of our applications were low or we didn’t have an application for the day. One a day was the rule. We asked everyone BUT PEOPLE JUST SAID NO. No means no. It was so terrible.

Anyway, I can say there were so many good moments in my experience with TJX, but a lot of times it felt like the bad outweighed the good. 

so running the front end is a lot of upkeep but not impossible if you are on top of it and keep on top of it but remember it's retail and you are just another disposable cog in the machine and management is not afraid to remind u of that. the day to day is tedious and when u go above and beyond it's not rewarded but expected. so u end up tired all the time for having to do a lot of store upkeep and customer service all while being expected to up sell and upsell credit cards that u get nothing for sometimes a small 10 buck gift card. management never wants to be helpful always in the office with excuses as to why they can't help you or how they expected you to handle it but again going above and beyond is expected of you not rewarded. the environment is not really fun and enjoyable one after a while the "team" idea is there for loose cooperative encouragement and at the end of it all, they don't care how it gets done so long as it's done and the customers are loving the store. management can be petty with who gets away with latenesses and who doesn't write up people who take 2 hours to get to work and goes above any beyond every day but giving passes to students in some cases. if u need a job maybe part-time then this place is a breeze issue u only need to see 20hrs a week for a quick and "small" check but i wouldn't recommend this to full-time or for anyone who wants to try to move up in the company. It's a waste of time and by the end of it all never really wanna go back. especially since the pay is so poor too
id recommend this to high school students mostly 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The managers and coworkers are generally very nice people and the people who stay there have a good work ethic.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Due to the headquarters cutting hours, you will not always be given regular hours and can  have different start times throughout the month.  This makes it difficult to schedule and time manage since you are always experiencing different issues depending on when you travel. Also working 5 or 6 hours with one 15  minute break is not enough time for eating or drinking.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The corporate headquarters is very demanding and naturally expects a lot to be accomplished with minimal staff which puts a lot of pressure on the managers and associates. I didn’t particularly like the mentality of the corporate staff…always expecting a lot and being very strict about certain rules….which meant that no matter how hard you worked if you didn’t adhere to every rule, it would go against you….bottom line… this is a retail job that requires you to be running around and on your feet a lot…they really can’t afford to be losing employees for small issues….also they expect you to be asking for donations for particular charities and this can last up to 3 weeks….it gets very tedious always asking people for money!

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You will always be expected to stay busy….too much chit chat is frowned upon because there is usually a lot to do.

A typical work day at my job includes me clocking into work, grabbing a walkie-talkie, and going up to the register. Once I’m at the front of the store, I turn on the registers and connect them to the digi. I will make sure the bags are stocked at each register and everything is in order. Once the store opens, I make the first announcement encouraging customers to sign up for our store credit card and sharing the benefits. Once I get a customer, I ask if they found everything needed and ask if they are using their store card and if not, I will share the benefits of signing up for the store’s credit card. I will then scan, wrap, and bag their items and then accept their form of payment: cash, card, or check. I believe I have learned how to work on a digital register. I have also learned how to enter the customers’ information into the computer when it applies to the credit card. The management at the job works well with the employees and answers any and all questions asked. The workplace culture is diverse. Race and sexuality does not matter there. The hardest part of the job for me is standing for long hours of the day and also getting customers to sign up for the store’s credit card. The most enjoyable [art of the job is seeing what’s new that comes in stock.

They are LGBTQ+-friendly; they don't discriminate based on gender, as you'll often find females working there and lots of diversity. On your job app, it would tell you which station you'll be working at beforehand, so when you come in, you'll clock in from the back rooms on a kiosk and immediately get to work. If your HomeSense has a rug or furniture section that will be the most difficult to maintain, as it's a lot of heavy lifting and you're more likely to get covered in packaging remains or carpet fuzz. The easiest job would be a cashier or a sales floor stocker. I enjoyed stocking the sales floor or working in the warehouse to unpack merchandise. Because you could never get bored during those jobs, as there is always something to fix. There's also little to no customer interaction working in the warehouse.  On the sales floor, as a stocker, you'd also work as a shopping assistant, asking around to satisfy customer needs and trying to bring interest to the store's membership cards, making attempts to get sign-ups. HomeSense is a newer branch in the TJX brand, but the layout is very similar to that of HomeGoods. So you'd get the same experience.

From my own personal experience working with Homesense, the associates and management were somewhat relaxed and easy to get along with, yet the work itself was unreasonably demanding at times especially when taking into account the pay. The reason for that is primarily because of the lack of associates; many times were us associates required to perform task after task without much assistance as there are only so few of us, and it was clear that the lack of manpower along with numerous disagreements between management and their associates caused much distress among the associates.

Personally, I enjoyed working here due to my overall relaxed demeanor. I am capable of working at a heightened pace when required and know when it is possible to relax even the slightest amount, not to mention that interacting with customers was somewhat enjoyable when I was not being flooded with requests. The nature of retail jobs in general require their associates to constantly be on the move, both interacting with customers and performing their own personal tasks. It is ultimately up to you to determine whether or not such work is worth the generally low pay that comes with it.

When I started working here in 2020 it was a great first job to have. I consistently received what I would consider good hours, we were decently staffed, and we would get bonuses every few months. Now I feel like corporate is so disconnected from it’s stores it refuses to acknowledge how much has changed. I have nearly open availability and I am hardly scheduled even 10 hours a week now, and when I am in, the store is so overstocked and so messy because the prices of our products have risen exponentially, and people aren’t willing to pay the price so our inventory does nothing but pile up. Instead of making the necessary changes by adding more hours to the stores’ budgets, cutting back on how much inventory is coming in, and lowering the prices of the existing inventory to make it sellable, they consistently find a way to blame the employees and lower level management. Our store’s team is so burnt out and morale is low, but corporate just keeps beating the same drum.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Amazing work colleagues. Great team atmosphere. Very supportive management team. Feel valued. Exciting products. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
At peak times, eg Christmas it can be extremely busy in store & can be stressful around till areas trying to serve quickly, but others always willing to help. Difficult customers can be a challenge. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It’s a very happy and inclusive culture. All staff members are equally valued. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Lots of variety from serving customers, helping with enquiries, replenishing stocks, maintaining shelves so they look presentable and easy to shop. Assisting other team members. Liaising with other stores on customer enquiries.

I typically run register and help with assorted tasks such as rugs, customer calls, customer service for finding items, and occasional flow/go backs.

Unfortunately I find myself needing a price check nearly every shift, whether for myself of a coworker due to sticker errors. 

Overall it’s an amazing place to work if you’re looking for a first job or a decent retail environment. Haven’t experienced the holidays yet, but that should be fun lol

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Backroom associate 3 salaries reported	$13.71 per hour
Retail assistant manager 6 salaries reported	$17.63 per hour
Cashier 9 salaries reported	$15.46 per hour
Loss prevention director 6 salaries reported	$16.25 per hour
Stockroom manager 18 salaries reported	$16.86 per hour

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