retail assistant manager

sales associate

store manager

seasonal associate

assistant store manager

Perfumania

I've been with Perfumania for over two years and I've absolutely loved my time with the company. The growth potential is great; I was promoted from keyholder to assistant store manager within less than a year, and was offered the opportunity to manage my own store a few months after that. As with any job, your work experience depends on the caliber of your co-workers, and I've been lucky enough to have a really great team around me. The store manager is good about hiring quality people and remaining approachable; he'll regularly ask for your input regarding how the store is run. 

Compensation is okay for what is expected of you. The pay is base + commission; base pay is dependent on your position and is usually a decent rate for keyholders and associates. You can make up for a low base with commission, but only if (and that's a big if) there are good promotions and there's a steady stream of traffic coming through the store. Slow times can be rough; everybody makes money around the holidays.

A lot of changes in the corporate office have made working for the company difficult lately. Promotions, marketing, and inventory processing all depend on the person who is managing the department at corporate; a lot of staff changes have made for a lot of instability. As a result, the stores are not doing as well as they were when I first started. 

Overall, I've enjoyed my time with the company and would definitely recommend working here.

The first 2 weeks of starting my job was great, but soon after that it completely changed. The store manager who hired me quickly and unexpected left the company, which left me to take over the store in her absence, which by the way was unknowingly already a mess, but the blame was quickly passed on to me. Being that I was freshly new to the job and being that it was my first time in a management position, it was quite overwhelming. Being the independent, people pleasing, hard worker that I am; I buckled down and took on the responsibility w/o hesitation. With the information and procedures previously learned in my first 2 weeks, I anxiously and quickly learned as I went along each working day. Even though I was never really adequately trained I think I did alright, considering the circumstances. I eventually built up the confidence that I could actually take the store on permanently, after successfully surviving  the holidays and being one of the top 20 stores in my region in sells. There was NO positive reinforcement, praise or acknowledgment from higher up management and when I asked about the position and what was to be done in the future, I was quickly shut down and ignored and then backdoored, by the GM who hired a new SM and asked me to train the individual. I felt it was an insult, so therefore it was my time to go as well. Overall... WORST COMPANY EVER! Even thou it was both a good and bad experience, I look at the experience in a positive light b/c it has definitely taught me a few things and I still take it along w/ me in my work and life journey.

When I first started at Perfumania, I loved my job! I truly felt that I was meant to be working there. That I had found my dream job. And I knew that there was going to be opportunity for me to advance my career. My direct managers reassured me that they wanted to see me grow, and as I knew the focus of the company was shifting from stores to web, I knew it looked good for me! 

Then after the bankruptcy, Corporate managers came in to "fix" things.  They stripped everything I loved about my job away from me. Many of my bosses and coworkers quit over it. Any opportunity I had for growth was now gone. Their micromanagement of my department and my job made it clear they were trying to push me out. I knew they wanted me gone to replace my daily tasks with entry-level positions, and management positions. No more room for the mid-level worker looking to advance her career. I did my job well.  They took away paid lunch breaks, overtime, and several other benefits employees used to enjoy. They started outsourcing tasks and paying other services rather than their own dedicated employees.

I went above and beyond for that company. I worked from home all hours of the night unpaid! And still they fired me. No one told me why. No one cared or contacted me. They told all my "friends" I had worked with for years to no longer talk to me. 

They did this to me after I explained to my direct boss that I had depression and while I was dealing with my father dying of cancer. How heartless and cruel can a company be?

A typical day at Perfumania included coming in cleaning up anything the night shift missed, fixing the shelves and setting up displays before opening up the store. I would generally greet each customer who walked in with a smile and a "Hi how are you?" then help them with anything they needed helped with. When the store would slow down around lunch I would go around and clean up any sample strips  straighten up the shelves for second rush. I learned a lot of things working for Perfumania, how to maintain professionalism, how to tell different types of perfumes and colognes apart from the key tones in them. My co-workers were always very friendly and easy to get along with , we were like a family and worked as such. The management at Perfumania maintained a professional attitude towards their employees never favored anyone always pulled them aside when they needed to talk to someone and not talk to them on the sales floor. The hardest part of my job was my first few days learning and reading all I needed to learn about my new job. Once I learned everything I had it memorized and it was no problem to tell a customer "Well I suggest for you a ginger or a spicy fragrance." The most enjoyable part was meeting new people daily and seeing the same faces come back in every week because they received such great customer service.

I actually enjoyed working for this company.  The coworkers were fantastic in the Corporate office.  I found out after that recruiters shied people away from this company because of the constant turnover.  Employees did not feel appreciated at times by certain management.  Their systems I were using were antiquated, but they were upgrading at the time of my departure.  Our department was barely included in the system upgrade process, but we all agreed the company chose the wrong system that was best for the company needs.  People were misled why they were hired.  Certain skills employees possessed were ignored during times where these individuals would have made a difference with their input.  I never saw so much turnover in a company, whether the company's or the employee's decision.  This company had so much potential, and there were employees who did extremely well there in certain fields, but the expectations on the second floor was widely known to be very high with very little in return.  It seemed certain management were not on the same page at times too.  It was sad because the place had great employees that could have taken to another level.

Every organizations success starts at the top. The senior team MUST offer, develop and build a culture that engages and values the employees before all other interest! This team was the opposite of this. It was the ONLY reason the company's employees had/have poor moral, no engagement, the feeling of being unappreciative, fear of job lose and fear of their senior management team. This fostered negativity throughout the employee base which equates to slow (or no) progress and forward moving success within the organization.
This senior team was unapproachable, invisible and the wort par of it, they are unwilling to recognize this, change it and make this change starting wit themselves! Unfortunately this resulted in such poor employee performance that it trickled to the outside stores throughout the country and therefore, poor marketing, poor sales and the eventual sake of the company and lose of jobs. This ALL could have been prevented by the senior team taking a look at their own behaviors within the employee engagement area and non of this would have happened.

 I have been with the company for three years as a manager. I have had three individuals from my sales staff move up the ranks very quickly. They all started as a part time sales associate, and all three have their own stores in the area now. 

If your willing to follow simple sales practices and maintain a positive attitude, you will absolutely love your job, wallet will be happy, and most of all ADVANCEMENT if you desire.

I would say on slow months we don't get our bonuses. Unfortunately it has been a slow 4 months. This will lead to desperation if you are a single income household. But with any management position this should motivate you to motivate your staff to take advantage of the foot traffic you have, and maximize profitability.

You will need sales acumen as well as a desire to learn and teach. This position is a constant training position, meaning always training in the moment, role playing and so on. 

Although I LOVE my job and my staff, I am not financially where I need to be in life. So I have been looking at other options.

If you are in a multi-income household, this is certainly the easiest and most fun job you will have. 

All aspects of opening and closing the store were incorporated into a typical day from cash deposits,assigning tasks to staff, engaging communications between other managers and corporate. Customer service was priority one all while displaying product and maintaining a proper appearance of the sales floor. Receiving and inventory control were also maintained throughout the day.
My co-workers were wonderful to work with as we all worked together to accomplish each task at hand. We became a working unit who also cared for each other. This was the most enjoyable part of the job as well as never knowing who our next customer would be and what part of the world they were from.
The most difficult part of the job was that I only spoke English which created a bit of a barrier when our customers did not. I know I would have been able o assist them more without this hinderance.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working with a great team, that was there for each other. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Getting a new DM is always a question, what will be different. When our store got one, he drove everyone out. We made plan for the year, he comes in and stirs the pot, and everyone leaves. There’s an old expression “if it isn’t broken don’t fix it “, well he broke it good team. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
When I first started it was great, we had goals, ly vs ty, After the first of the year, there was no projections over LY, just goals. Generally companies look to have a percentage goal over LY. If you don’t, you question the company’s motives, bottom line, you make commission, but making bonuses was harder because goals became unrealistic. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Depends on the day of the week, weekends were generally busy, the rest of the week could be slow to steady.

I worked at Perfumania for nearly 4 years. I loved my job there. I was proud of the company. I worked hard. I received compliments from upper management often. I felt that my department would expand and it would mean new opportunities us, as we have more than proved ourselves and took pride in our work. But then, instead of promoting the hard working people in my department, new management was hired instead. The morale of the office completely changed. Everyone became miserable. Upper management micromanaged, demoted and moved people around, refused to listen to the people who had been working for this company dozens of years. It just simply became a very toxic work environment. They drove all the good people away. Instead of inspiring and empowering their employees they constantly tear them down. If you are someone who is passionate about your career and values your work, who has ideas and is excited to implement them, this is not the place for you. Maybe things will change. But I doubt it.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail assistant manager 192 salaries reported	$17.14 per hour
Sales associate 48 salaries reported	$16.24 per hour
Store manager 38 salaries reported	$23.35 per hour
Seasonal associate 29 salaries reported	$15.43 per hour
Assistant store manager 49 salaries reported	$18.47 per hour

Working at Perfumania: Company Overview and Reviews

Perfumania

Perfumania Ratings

Popular jobs at Perfumania

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected