food & beverage supervisor

pet groomer

assistant store manager

food service team member

supervisor

Krisers Natural Pet

When I started at Kriser's, everything seemed great. I was excited to learn the natural pet industry and get to know my coworkers, the customers, and their pets.

Shortly after that, the cracks started to show. Kriser's was sold a few years ago and is now owned by a parent company (IPP), which, in turn, is owned by 2 parent companies (TPG Growth and TPG Capital). Both TPG Growth and TPG Capital have a history of buying up pet stores around the world and making every attempt to run them into the ground as soon as possible and by any means necessary as long as it's within the law.

Corporate has done so many things that show none of them are fit to actually run a company. They constantly change their minds, bring in products that are not natural (like doggy nail polish), and do everything they can to make those working in their stores have a hard time doing their jobs. Corporate hasn't paid their bills in months, making our vendors not want to send products out like they should, which leaves our shelves looking bare in some spots.

During the pandemic, I've been helping out at various stores, including my home store. One thing I've noticed is that out of the 17 or so stores in my area, only 2 are actually following company policy on things like grooming schedules and many stores are very disorganized because each store is doing whatever they want. We're all supposed to be doing the same things and following the same rules and policies. Recently, I've seen some other things that disturb me at the store level. Management at many of the stores and corporate seem to think it's acceptable for customers to verbally abuse the employees. When employees politely ask the abusive customer to stop, management yells at the employee and threatens them with warnings, write-ups, and termination of employment. It's only when a customer gets physically abusive that the customer is asked to leave. During my time, one employee got assaulted by an abusive customer and was pressured into not pressing charges because it might damage the company's reputation. I've also witnessed management at some stores asking employees to be less than honest with customers and always say "yes," even if it's a situation where we unfortunately have to say "no." For example, if a product is discontinued, some of the store managers and corporate want employees to tell the customer we can get a product for them, even if we can't, just to "make a sale." If there's no product to sell, there's no sale. It violates company values and policies and puts employees in a hard spot of getting yelled at, written up, or terminated. Many employees feel like they have no voice to speak up because if they do, their job will be threatened.

I've seen corporate and management be hostile towards some customers. For example, I found out that one customer was bullied into pulling her review off of Yelp and threatened with legal action because it wasn't 5 stars. Every business is going to have an off day where they give less than 5 star service. Management and corporate has also been trying to get employees to pressure customers into leaving online reviews. A customer shouldn't feel forced or pressured into leaving an online review. They should want to leave a review because they made the choice to.

I've seen so many amazing people come and go during my time at Kriser's. Some left due to the pandemic, but some were let go or quit because of how they were treated. I've seen so many customers leave because Kriser's is too expensive for them or they've been so mistreated by corporate or store management. I've witnessed managers who don't know how to manage or won't manage for various reasons.Things are so bad, many of my coworkers and I don't know how much longer we'll be with Kriser's.

While working here, I’ve met some amazing coworkers, customers, and pets, but some things have been steadily declining during my time with Kriser’s.

Kriser’s is owned by Independent Pet Partners (IPP). IPP’s corporate has done everything they can to drive the stores they own crazy. They take forever to get someone out to do repairs because they want the repairs done as cheaply as possible. They’re stingy on raises and complain when minimum wage goes up. They discontinue products without bringing in a suitable replacement or giving much heads up that it’s being discontinued. They constantly change policies and procedures often without thinking of how it’ll effect the stores. They raise their grooming prices, claiming it’s because we’re the best and we need to keep our prices in line with our competition, but the truth is they’ve driven out a lot of our best grooming staff and our prices are on the higher end in some markets.

At the store level, some people are lovely, but there are a lot who should have been shown the door a long time ago. A lot of the best people working for Kriser’s keep leaving because of how we’re being treated. Some stores I’ve been to have been lovely and really brought out the best in everyone working there. Other stores bordered on becoming a hotline and toxic work environment. At the stores who aren’t great, if the employees complain to the appropriate channels to try and get things resolved, they get treated worse or demoralized even more. 

Overall, it feels like being on the Titanic. The company has hit its “iceberg,” things are starting to not look as lovely as they once did, and those that see what’s really going on are getting out while they still can. I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to stay with Kriser’s. When I leave, I know I’ll feel bad for whoever decent is left behind.

How much you like your job SEVERELY depends on the store you work at and the people you work with. I had the pleasure of working at one of the more relaxed locations and forming strong bonds with my coworkers. Unfortunately, that didn’t always help when we were always understaffed. Each store should have at LEAST three people working at all times. You are expected to do the job of three people at once, after all, for minimum wage as a SUPERVISOR. Supervisor positions should always pay at least a dollar higher per hour than minimum wage to begin with. When you have to deal with self-wash stations, grooming customers and appointments, online orders and fulfillment, receiving shipment, stocking, AND cleaning the store, there is very little time to do everything and you certainly don’t get paid enough for it. If you have prior experience as a supervisor with higher pay, you MAY be able to negotiate, but not for much. 

They market themselves as a natural, small-business pet store but I rarely see them selling items from local sellers, nor do they function like a small business should. It is very hard to get people in corporate to take you seriously. 

I felt extremely looked down upon at the end of my time working there. I felt isolated and unwanted, which is a major reason as to why I left, despite my added effort and involvement in the store. 

I learned a lot working at Krisers, but most of it came from my own dedicated research, not necessarily training. Though I do remember that in one of the training modules they DID send out, they used AI-generated images that were honestly laughable. Not one of the team’s most shining moments..

Kriser's has always had an outstanding culture and truly takes an interest in training their staff to help pet owners make the best choices for the animals. I have worked for many different retail stores, other pet businesses and have owned my own business, and working as a manager for Kriser's is easily the best job I have had, hands down. There is a real emphasis on building relationships with other team members as well as with our customers and you get a ton of support from the higher ups at the head office if you just ask for it. Kriser's has recently gone through some changes that former employees appear to be highlighting negatively in the reviews I am seeing on here and other similar sites. Any company that wants to grow and be successful has to make changes at some point in order to get to the next level and stay competitive and often times that comes with a great deal of change. Employees need to have faith that changes being made from higher levels in the business are being done so to make the company better and help it grow and thrive. I would still recommend Kriser's to anyone looking to become part of the growing natural pet movement and even with new challenges we face, I am happy to be a part of the team that makes this company exceptional.

When I started with the company things had seemed pretty smooth, but it did not take long for me to see all the issues. I love the idea of a "healthier" box store for dog and cat foods, unfortunately with poor management such wonderful ideas cant go very far. Early in employment I became aware of and witnessed constant change in corporate employees, product and company values.  It went from a "healthier" alternative to slowly becoming Petco. Its honestly hard to decide who is more at fault, management or corporate, but a once wonderful place to work turned in to an absolute nightmare. Between being over worked and next to zero communication within the company, it became a difficult and toxic work enviorment. Whenever an issue, small or large, was brought to the attention of a superior it was always ignored. Yes,as a store employee(not groomer) there is opportunity to grow, but with the work load increase and minimal financial increase, in my opinion it isnt worth it. As a groomer it is my passion to care for animals,my duty to ensure their safety and well being, and it is not something to be taken lightly. BUT unfortunately through the years this company has placed $$$ in front of honest and true care of animals. 

Kriser's Natural Pet is an extremely fast paced work environment. One must have extensive knowledge of animal nutrition, medical conditions, and supplements. You must be quick to pick up the information on all products. Customer service skills are a must, as well as selling skills. I believe cross-selling is more fruitful then up selling. The job is also very labor intensive. 

In November of 2016, Kriser's Natural Pet acquired the original store, Wylie Wagg. It was a small chain of 5 stores. Kriser's Natural Pet spans across the country. The hardest part of the job has been the lack of upper management skills. There is a lack of communication, particularly with the buyers. This has caused several stressful situations. Yet, within my store I have a large appreciation for my manager, assistant manager, as well as my coworkers.

The most enjoyable part of the jobs is forming warm relationships with our regular customers and their dog or cat. It provides each of us much happiness. Many of our customers have been coming for several years, and we often consider it a family environment.

All the bad things said are true. Time off? Impossible. New this year..we lose all vacation time earned on dec 31st. Use it or lose it. Want a day off? Be prepared to call other stores to see if you can find someone to cover your shift.  Otherwise your 1 other employee will be working open to close alone. Which happens all the time and is expected.  You work alone constantly. Pt timers making barely minimum wage expected to open and close alone, receive merchandise, have all the same knowledge as everyone else.  
Quality of products have gone downhill.  We now sell food with corn and treats from China.  
 How was covid handled? We were told by the regional in Texas "we aren't the mask police. We won't be enforcing it." That kinda sums up how you'll be treated here. They will say otherwise.. talk about caring for their employees. There will be zero action behind it. Don't believe their lies.  In the past month 4 chicago managers and an area manager have left.  More want to. Look elsewhere. 


I do not recommend working here or any Independent Pet Partner owned company. The pay is very low for the amount of work & long hours you will be expected to work. I have taken the onboarding training at least 6 times. The latest training took 19 hours. Complete waste of precious time. New tasks that are busy work & meaningless will be thrown at you daily. Then the tasks will be changed, & then changed again. You can't keep up. No extra hours are given to the team to get the never-ending, utterly unnecessary tasks done, & the stress at the store is unbelievably high because you feel like there is no support from upper management & are asked to add more & more & more every single day. The top talent is leaving because of the chaos coming from HQ.

I worked for this company for 6 months before I quit. I was moved around between 3 locations. My grooming schedule was over booked every single day with dogs that are just incapable of being booked on the same day. (I have 10 years grooming experience.) With the schedule being over booked, that means no time for lunch breaks or getting out on time. Management doesn’t listen or care about your concerns when you speak up. I’ve contacted HR about issues I was having and I would not hear back from someone until about a week after contact. After working at 3 locations I haven’t heard any employee who actually enjoys working for this company. Everyone constantly complains to each other about what’s going on in management. Grooming salons are filthy and don’t have the proper equipment to get the job done correctly. Never saw anyone from corporate come in the stores and make sure everything was kosher. THIS COMPANY DOESNT CARE ABOUT ITS EMPLOYEES. DO NOT RECOMMEND. 

This job has helpful products for any of your pets needs. However, when you advance and become a assistant manager, you get no formal training and are thrown in with way too many expectations. Due to the manager being so busy most of the time and without proper training, they get frustrated with your performance. Thus, reaching out to corporate telling them you are not doing a great job. Corporate comes in to the store and tells you that this is a warning about your performance. When you get zero training on how to even help the manager out, this is very discouraging. It also does not help that if you do one wrong thing, the manager will gossip about you inside the groom room and they will all come out there and essentially, bully you. This place is a toxic work environment that induced so much anxiety that I turned in my keys and left that same day. No need to give a two weeks notice and be somewhere so unbearable and horrible to work. 

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