retail sales associate

retail store manager

route sales representative

sales associate

Red Wing Shoe Company

Does not matter where you work here if you're not management you are demand to work harder and longer every year. It was a great place to work years ago. When management played a small role and the workers worked together to push work out. Now it's a micro managed and lean manufacturing comes well before any workers ideas.. The you know what comes down the ladder and lands on the employees who are the heart of the company. There really isn't a way to move up unless you muzzle your way up (brown nose). They try to get away with sticking it to the employees every contract. Like last one they added Saturdays so we could get better insurance but said it would only be used when it absolutely had to. People have been working 6 days a week forever now and they keep adding jobs together and expecting more. Everyone's so burnt out and exhausted. Some employees didn't even get a yearly raise this year with a bull excuse. Unless you're coming in as management stay away. Their are so many better jobs near by. I worked up a little and many years and honestly we all feel this way. It's a revolving door of employees now, they used to have a waiting list. Hiring incentives won't keep new employees here either. Vacation is a joke to, no more than two people at a time with a two week notice and someone with more seniority can bump you out. Pretty much have to beg to get a day off within the two weeks. I know it policy at certain companies but never had them actually deny you if there was an opening like the shoe will. I could go on and on but I will leave it there, just talk to a plant employee that been there for awhile before applying.

My reaction the first time I walked through the facility for a tour, was immediately uncomfortable. My first day there was equally as uncomfortable, I was greeted by many people who all said different variations of the same thing. “Welcome, nice to meet you, glad to have you”.. etc and then it would be followed by “this is such a great place to work, we all love it here, the union is great, this is such a great job”. Everything they said sounded forced and insincere, like they were trying to convince themselves this is a great place to work. 
After one week and there I understood why, they were on forced overtime, 12 hour days 4-5 days a week, with no end in site. I was told by my supervisor that overtime like this can last for years at a time. This facility forces overtime until their goals are met, however, even in a perfect world, the goals they set are unachievable, especially when they are understaffed (which they always are). This place is a revolving door. They hire you, tell you how great it is here, then force you to work an excruciating amount of overtime till you quit. 
The only good thing I can say is the employees on the floor are all kind and easy to get along with. 
For such a big company I was severely disappointed with how they run their factory. It’s a sweat shop, with unreasonable hours, unreasonable goals, insincere gratitude, a weak union, and mediocre benefits. 
Do not apply here! 

I work as a part-time sales associate at locally owned store in Covington, LA and just love it! The owner and my coworkers are all incredibly nice, professional, and understanding. They are also incredibly knowledgeable of the product and of good customer service techniques, so they were very helpful and insightful during the training process. Lots of individuality in this position, meaning that I was trusted to be a true representative of the Red Wing brand on my own very quickly. The hours are great (I LOVE not working after 7pm), the wages are fantastic (PLUS you make commission!), and the management, again, is phenomenal. The job is only as hard as you make it, and the rewards of the job are endless if you put effort into it. Overall, a fantastic employment experience. Did not consider sticking with this company when I was hired, but now, I would love to keep working for Red Wing Shoe Company! The benefits and rewards of the job are just too good to pass up!

No structure one so ever! 98% of the time 6 days a week, supposed to be 6:30-3:30 Monday-Thursday and 6:30-12:30 on Fridays but that’s what they advertise to get people to apply and come work here. Been working 6-4:30 Monday-Friday and 6-12:30 on Saturdays! They change the numbers they want to hit daily and when we do hit the number they up it 1,000 pair the next day knowing we can’t hit it. Management is just terrible, the assistant plant manager is on one crazy power trip and is as power hungry as they come, maybe a little more! They say it’s a family like environment but I can tell you right now it’s not from the management team. It’s from us hard workin operators on the floor that make each other feel like we matter, not them! 

We’re all tired of the overtime, and Bull excuses they use just to get us to work longer and harder ask anybody that works on the floor as an operator they’ll tell you the same thing. 

You fit customer into boots by sizing them up by length and width. That's the easy part. The worst part is dealing with major accounts with customers who get a voucher from their job. The vouchers are not uniform and they might not go through at the end of the sale. You are expected to know the differences of each voucher which doesn't sound so bad but there are over 100 major accounts. And there account system is very unreliable and not always updated. Also they like to cut staff to the minimal. Meaning sometimes you end up running a store for the week with maybe 2 other people. Kind of hard to have time off or have a sick day without screwing over your co workers. If you don't mind that you get paid decent for the job and at times there is decent commission.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I loved the company but their judgement in management is very bad.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Poor accounting managers and bad human resource representation

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The lower lever people are nice. The senior accounting and accounting management is very bad is certain departments. They terminate people when you look for guidance. Then the person you go to for guidance tells the person you are having issues with and they fire you. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Good. Very structured. Very relaxing unless management is working. When in office working, the cliques tend to spend the day talking so it became very difficult a times to concentrate.

Overall, Red Wing Shoes is a decent place to work. Title of store manager seems more like glorified cashier key holder since everything is micro managed. Great company to get started in management or get back into management. Work/life balance is one of the best thing going on in this company. If you have a few decent workers you can actually enjoy your days/PTO off. No real structured training so most things you learn on your own. Trying to get the more tenured associates in the company to pivot with change will drive you insane with little to no help from senior management and HR. This makes an easy job way too hard and unnecessarily stressful. Pay can always be better but for the work needed to get done its a decent wage.

Sales associates need product knowledge to thrive. The worst part will be dealing with particularly entitled customers. Not too bad otherwise.

While managers used to make good money, new (questionable) leadership demands more, slashed the commission program to next to nothing in comparison to before. Senior leadership increasingly devises one-size-fits-all rules, creates nonsensical employee and hours limits, and imposes top-down changes with seemingly no understanding of what actually happens at the store level.

That said, it won't be the hardest place you'll ever work. The store hours are forgiving. Aside from customer issues (practically 1/4 of the job and 3/4 of the stress), days should be relatively routine. It's a good place to learn skills but don't count on increased wages or upward mobility.

I generally like working for Red Wing Shoe Company, the people I worked with are great. Sometimes management can be lacking and with the recent COVID-19 issues there is no commission to be made (which can really change your paycheck if you sell a lot). Also sometimes the stores are understaffed leading you to work 6 days a week sometimes. The work is easy; assist customers in finding footwear that is appropriate for their specific job type. My biggest issue is the pay, I've been with the company for almost 6 years now and haven't made more than 40,000 a year and I went to other states and trained in corporate locations. It's a good stepping stone for retail and customer service management.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Extra Commission with sales is okay. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The customers can be pretty stressful and the pay is not worth it. They will pay new hires dollars more an hour than current long time employees. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It is not family oriented as they claim. No one cares about how hard you work or not, lazy employees get praised while hard works get told to do better. No room for growth within the company.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Stressful and over worked, the manager comes and goes as they please and there schedule is more important than yours. Can't take time off when you want "because of short staffing"

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