reset merchandiser

grocery associate

retail merchandiser

replenishment associate

night team member

PL Marketing

What is the best part of working at the company?
Supervisors were fair and my job doing resets didn't involve tons of human interaction.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Always pressure to do more than humanly possible.  Constant heavy lifting of unknown number of pounds...from 50-70 sometimes but you don't know until you're already lifting the crate.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
it's simple and low-key, except there's just tons of work (literally) and NO shortcuts.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I did retail resets early in the morning to stay out of the way of grocery shopping customers.  It was like playing Rubik's cube with groceries as fast as possible.  Tough on hands and wrists and back and knees; lots of repetitive 1 lb endurance lifting (thousands of items a day); very heavy lifting of unknown weight of identical looking storage crates with mystery contents.  Lots of squatting, bending, and kneeling with knee pads necessary.  Finding and taking out closeout products was fun.  Constant pressure from store to put out new product into the "holes" created on shelves; yet, they don't keep it well-organized, so you can't find it.  Many times, it doesn't come in on time or trickles in.  Then, there is pressure each week to have a certain number of resets done; there's no way around it; no shortcuts at all.  Physical product MUST be moved and reorganized and there's no fast way to do it.  I mean, you must work consistently, but you also cannot make mistakes.  Efficient technique of finding closeout items and shifting items in the Rubik's cube takes a certain type of brain.  It took me several weeks to learn to do it in a timely manner; with several different types of people explaining to me the quickest way to do it.  Possibly it would be easier for people who are mechanically inclined?  And analytical/math-oriented?  Good with patterns?  After I found a routine I began to enjoy finding the patterns like solving a puzzle.  It was also nice to not have to deal with a boss in the store.  You only have to communicate with your supervisor about once a week.  You only had to talk to customers to say "excuse my mess" or if they asked you to help locate something, which is super common in the afternoon.  You have to talk to store management occasionally and keep them in the loop on how projects are going.  Overall, I enjoyed my time there.

Kompass resets products in Kroger owned stores.  I don't recommend this job for someone inexperienced at reset work.  There is a pretty good 1-2 week training period, but it can't cover all possible aspects of the job, a lot of it is experience.  If you are hired for Kompass you are assigned to 1 store no travel required. Some larger stores have 2 people, smaller stores need just one, so you'll probably work alone most of the time.  Remodel and Surge do work as teams and they travel, usually just 1 store a day/night.
At Kompass we use planograms and shelf strips to determine proper placement of items.  You are on your feet all day, up and down from the floor, up and down step stools.  Lots of exercise, can be strenuous. You get a list of resets to be done that week, you plan your own schedule.  As long as everything gets done on time there's no issue.  Some weeks are light, some are heavy.  While you don't actually work for Kroger, you do deal with Kroger employees a lot.  Each store is different, some easy going, some harder to get along with.  Up to you to build and maintain good store rapport.  I've worked for several different merchandising companies and so far this is by far the best.  No worries about getting laid off or running out of work.  But it is not a consistent 40 hr week.  Depends on the size of the store.

Primarily, the occupation allows for a desired balance between work and rest, flexibility, in that there are never weekend schedules and annual holidays are recognized by the company. Also, depending on your efficiency, a part-time merchandiser can complete five days worth a labor in lesser time than projected and be dismissed for the remainder of that week if not wanting extra tasks to achieve a higher bi-weekly pay (like a full-time employee). Part-time employees have recently been given PTO, as well. The responsibilities to excel in the profession are simple to understand, but still become a strain upon your body. You will work on your feet constantly rather than staying seated, and some tasks require heavier lifting than what might be expected. To be employed alongside a colleague helps share the weekly duties (if at a larger store), but to work alone means that everything involved is your responsibility (usually at smaller stores). However, the current management is outstandingly helpful when needed and remarkably considerate at all times. My only grievances are that I have experienced a steady decline in my youth due to the physical demands of the job, something of which I’ve been trying to avoid, and store employees not with the marketing company might trash, disorganize, and / or obstruct your work station, AND it has become a frustrating nuisance to bear that repeated playlist of everyday songs that sound throughout the store. For me, it distracts from keeping a clear mind.

What is the best part of working at the company?
For me, the best part was the flexible schedule.  I’m an early riser, and PLM allows you to go in as early as you want as long as you are clocked in at least before 8:00 AM.   No more lying awake, waiting for the alarm so I could get up and get started!  I just got up and went as soon as I was ready.  You get so much more accomplished in the early hours before the store opens!

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The only stressful thing about the job really has nothing to do with PLM!   If the store you’re resetting isn’t keeping up the standards, it adds a lot of time to your reset.  And PLM allows only a certain amount of time per reset.  So it can get tricky.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Great!  The benefits are top notch, the management is supportive, and the other resetters working in other stores are helpful if you have questions about a set.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Go to your assigned store (the schedule telling you where you’ll be working is emailed a week in advance), find the location in the store where the reset materials are kept, get your POG and everything you’ll need, then head to the area to be reset.  And then get to work!

A typical day would be knowing your schedule and what you have to get done for the day or that week. Knowing what to do on that specific day will let you know how long you will have to stay and complete each set. I have learned plenty of things while working at P.L Marketing such as planogram work and organization. As far as management you have a direct supervisor that creates your schedule/time. But mostly, you work freely with other team members at times. So basically at times a manager will not always be present.But you do have to deal with the store managers at the store you are working in directly. The hardest part of the job is making time for each set you have to complete and knowing how to correctly read your planogram. Maybe once in a while you have to move shelves and work in cold conditions such as freezer and refrigerated sections. The most enjoyable part of the job is being able to control your schedule and times you are available. This job is not a typical 9-5 job where you are required to be there. You basically let your manager know what you can and cannot work and your schedule would be made from what you tell them. But if you and have the time to do so you can make the job into an 9-5 or maybe even longer if you choose.

They started out as a good work life balance ,but went to overnights .Their benefits are not that good .They do not train their associates ,and put a lot of pressure on associates to finish their sets .They have a staffing agency provide temporary help ,but if they do well they do not get hired .There is a contract that doesn't allow the company to retain good people .The leads have no people skills and constantly ride you to finish .The morale is terrible and a lot of associates quit due to the overnight shift .They also make you use your paid time off if you can't maintain you 37 and a half hours .The really only enjoyable part of the job is getting to know the associates .The hardest part is that the job is very physical .You have to lift shelves and move heavy product around .The managers have no people skills and are unorganized and don't communicate to each other very well .A typical day is us standing around until they give us a set to do and dodging customers to get done until the store closes .There is no integrity only a desire to finish as managers don't pitch in and their seems to be controversy always swirling around the company .I would not refer anyone to work here poorly ran company .

My typical day at work was when I first arrived at Kroger, the first thing I did was ask to you their phone so that I could get clocked in. After that I would locate where all our folders that had the planograms that needed to be done that week and I would pick a few of them to get me started for that day. I would make sure I had everything I needed to complete that day. After that I would go in the back room to locate our red cart and making sure it had a step ladder on there. I would push the cart close to the end of the isle but still out of customers ways and also the cart let customers know that a merchandiser was working that isle. Then I would take the planograms out of the folder and first thing I would look at were the discountinue items that will no longer be on the shelves and I would go ahead and take them off the shelves. Aftwars that then I would take the pricing strips out of the shelves and replacing them with the new ones. Ones I got all the new strips in then I would start placing products where they belong.  Once I was done with that then I would place the sales tag where they go. Once I completed that I would clean my area up and go put up any back stock and damage items in the back room where they go. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Being able to work alone at my own pace. Upper management was kind and understanding of my condition and accommodated me. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The person who was my supervisor was the most stressful and burdensome part, but the job is relatively easy and pleasant.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Busy. Customers in the grocery store will ask YOU where items are so be prepared to know the store. The grocery store (Kroger) employees are usually fun and helpful. You spend much time with them because you are in their environment.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I would get started at 6a(I'm an early riser) Study my planogram, get cart for putting in items I take off the shelf, a ladder, locate my aisle and start to work on taking items off the shelf according to the planogram. I would dust the shelves and sometimes replace broken shelves (that was hard). Sometimes a planogram took as little as :15minutes, sometimes 8.5 hours, my 1st time working on spices! All supplies were provided by the company. One thing: don't stand on the crates! Find a ladder.

Immediate management is good and does the best it can to support you. Upper management does whatever Kroger tells them to do with no pushback. Kind of hard to do when they're the company's lone client. The pay isn't great. This is more of a job for a single person. But even single, still feel the need to work side jobs to supplement the income. Little to no upward movement unless you want to move to a different city and even then not sure if the pay increase is worth it. Unless you manage to get in good with upper management, you're not likely to get promoted anyways. Most coworkers are ok to work with, but there can be some drama with those who don't care for each other. And it's usually petty HS type drama. Like everything else, you do have coworkers who are lazy. Work nights Sun-Wed or Mon-Thurs. It does help with the store being closed so customers aren't in the way, but still not the biggest fan of it.

The first week or two the management and my trainer seemed extremely helpful and nice but the longer I worked there the true colors of our job culture started showing. From my manager putting me down for not understanding "simple tasks I just learned how to do the weeks prior". To my trainer micromanaging everything I was doing so we didn't get yelled at. I knew it wasn't what I first intended, and the job became more and more difficult and riddled with tasks that I had never done with little to no training. If I had one word of advice it would be you'd better have thick skin. You have to be willing to make mistakes and learn how to do a task you've never done before or been trained to do and get put down for it. Because the manager I had was one of the rudest people I've ever met and did nothing to understand why, or how things were operating in our work environment. She was known to belittle her employees.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Reset merchandiser 3 salaries reported	$14.33 per hour
Grocery associate 1 salary reported	$14.00 per hour
Retail merchandiser 51 salaries reported	$12.80 per hour
Replenishment associate 8 salaries reported	$13.44 per hour
Night team member 23 salaries reported	$15.50 per hour

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