sales

guest service agent

assistant store manager

Steins Garden & Home

Stein’s is a sinking ship and that’s the general feeling amongst store level management and associates. Corporate is helplessly out of touch with their stores and extremely resented by the stores. Under the guise of a local family company, why has this become the culture? Each major product department within steins had one buying team. On any given day, on top of my day to day management responsibilities and whatever other surprises were thrown my way, I was sure to count on 5-10 lengthy emails from a buying team directing me to drop everything and remerchandise something, retag their product, fix their mistakes or expect mass shipments with little notice. Very few thanks came from the corporate office team in my time there, it always felt like I could never do enough for them. Steins also has a terribly high customer service culture to “make up” for their high prices. Some steins customers are great, others know it’s the place to come to steal (always high amounts of theft) and blow off some steam by disrespecting helpless retail workers. It’s ok for customers to berate, threaten and even put their hands on the store staff, ultimately, corporate will just give the “customers” a gift card for their troubles and to make them go away. Stein’s pays their associates poverty wages and in today’s job market, I felt dumb interviewing for and sending offer letters for way below market wages. Usually the only staff stein’s can hire for what they pay are retirees, high school kids and people with the work ethic of a thumbtack. We were always extremely understaffed. The few good employees quickly became burnt out and resentful due to the massive work loads and low wages and would take their frustrations out on management, who had little to no say in pay as their were caps on what each position would pay. Yearly raises for the staff were pennies. Management is required to work 6 day work weeks for over 25% of the year(peak seasons), which led to burnout. The point of sale and register system is extremely dated and temperamental, registers were constantly freezing, double charging customers, etc. Spent more time some days fixing register issues than doing actual work. This company has become an embarrassment. I give it 5-10 years before Stein’s poor mismanagement leads to its closure. You can’t keep your stores open if you have no management and associates to run them. If people aren’t working for good money, then they’re working for value, and at Stein’s you get neither.

Summary: Stein's refuses to be competitive in the workforce when it comes to wages and benefits. When the topic is brought up to upper management it is met with hostility and lack of willingness to improve. With ligament issues brought to HR you are met with the response "No one is forcing you to work here" that was all I needed to hear to know this was a toxic work environment. 

Stein's has zero loyalty or respect for their employees unless you've  been with the company for (20 +) years and worked with the original Steins family. This goes for both in store and home office. If you are not one of those select few you are completely expendable. Expect a MAX raise of $1.00 (if you are lucky) but every year more and more work will be demanded of  you with no equivalent compensation. The HR Director/Hiring manager made it known that they will hire new employees who will be paid more than. So tenure and experience is not valued. Communication among the stores and home office is atrocious and you will quickly feel the tension caused  by it between the home office and stores. When being interviewed you will hear all about the great company "work culture". The work culture at Stein's is laughable. It lacks transparency, accountability, and genuine support for employees. You are expected to work work work, with maybe a pizza party thrown your way no real appreciation. No hourly associate (home office or store) will be eligible for a bonus. Favoritism is greatly noticed in the home office. Work from Home is granted for some and not others, some buyers have to come in everyday while others only have to come in once a week. Unable to take unpaid PTO, so be sure to save your 10 days that counts for vacation and sick time.  Rules tend to only be applied to some.  I would advise reading between the lines when speaking to the hiring manager Stein's will be talked up and you'll soon notice the inconsistencies at an alarming rate. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
I worked mainly with plants and related products as well as customer service.  I loved the variety each day brought and the opportunity to meet so many people and develop friendships with coworkers.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Doing things over and over because mgt change their mind or made a decision when they didn't know all the facts.  Being made to do the wrong thing by 1 mgr when the Mgr from the right dept already told you something different to do.  Being paid lousy wages for the amt of work you do.  Bosses wanting managing out if you but only paying you almost what highschool kids are paid and you have years of experience. Males are all.hired on at higher wages than females for exact same jobs, same experience.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Laxidaizical unless you know more. Then more is expected of you without financial reward.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Water shrubs, trees, plants, clean them, move them, load soil, mulch, rock, unload semis, price product, sweep, rake, help customers with product knowledge.

As a cashier, sitting is hazardous to other employees and customers and it is perceived as lazy. There are NO exceptions. Even if an employee's doctor writes an accomodation request for the employee (cashier) to be able to sit down due to medical necessity, it will very likely be denied. The only options offered by management is to have work hours significantly reduced, so less time is spent standing, or for the employee to forfeit their employment at Stein's. It seems like Stein's may feel the need to dismiss a current employee with such a predicament due to them becoming a burden to the company. Furthering that thought, there are plenty of able bodied people who would suit the job position better than those needing an accomodation. Management speaks condescendingly toward new employees who are still learning and trying the best that they can. The position of cashiering is not a difficult position aside from standing in a single location for several hours at a time. Most of the employees who are not management are pleasing individuals to work with and are very helpful.

Many students who are looking for their first job would benefit from getting work experience at Stein's. They get the necessary training at the register, they learn basic customer service and they also learn about merchandising and stocking. If they have further interests in the area, they can also learn more as they work. 
The company also has good flexibility with schedule, another plus for busy individuals. Managements are knowledgeable. Many employees with more experience are helpful to new comers.
Hardest part of the job will be doing a lot of physical activities (lifting heavy objects, repetitive movements, lots of walking). Another difficulties faced when performing the tasks is when there is lack of directions from supervisors. 
There are slow and easy days during off seasons. When there are less customers and less merchandise to take care of. 

A day at Stein's usually consisted of checking in new products, organizing the warehouse, putting away product/stocking it out in the store, helping customers, and whatever other miscellaneous tasks needed to be done. Management was always terrific and kept the environment loose & fun, while still professional. Coworkers were very nice and productive as well. The big downside was the pay, as occasionally you would have very physical or tiring tasks that made it feel like you weren't being paid a fair wage. Unfortunately, it was pretty much out of the hands of management and is more of a corporate issue. Stein's is a great starting job for someone entering the workforce or just needing a little money/part-time job, but after a while it's usually time to move onto something better. 

Stein's was a decent company to work for as a entry level or temporary job.  You'd spend your days either outside watering plants or inside stocking.  Customer service would be given at times but didn't seem like a priority.  The days could be very long if there was nothing to do.  You can learn a great deal about plants while working there but other than that it wasn't a great learning experience.  Management was nice enough, very knowledgeable but not encouraging.  The culture was friendly and polite to work with.  There were at times a lot of kids around which may be annoying to some.  The hardest part of the job was not having anything to do in the off season.  The most enjoyable part of the job was keeping busy when it was seasonal.  I'd say that the job was a decent experience while being a college student but definitely not a place to look for advancement or learning.

I would say that Steins is a fun place to work and also gets you experienced in many areas outside of your role. Even as a Guest Service lead I was still outside some days pulling weeds, watering plants, building structures, helping customers etc. However mostly I was inside ringing up customers. Overall it’s a cool place to work, highly customer service oriented of course. I would say as long as you’re looking for a fairly easy job and not too worried about the compensation, it’s a great place. 

I love my job at steins; I’m a cashier, but if you’re a cashier you definitely have other opportunities to work around the store if you open yourself up to it. I do many things around the store, not just cashier. Management is great and very accommodating, hours are very flexible. The work atmosphere is great; most/all are happy to be there.

If you not a favorite or a yes man then don’t waste your time with this place. Management has a poor attitude towards others, thinking they know what they are doing or just wing it mindset. If you like getting talked about behind your back this the perfect place to work for. Steins is full of people that talk behind your back for a minuscule advancement in life. Masters of nothing and skill set of others is trash! 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Sales 12 salaries reported	$11.50 per hour
Guest service agent 6 salaries reported	$11.50 per hour
Assistant store manager 1 salary reported	$17.00 per hour

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