garden center merchandiser

seasonal associate

district manager

gardener

garden associate

Stinchcomb Associates

A good job run by a bad company. Management across the board from districts, to regional, to corperate management are overwhelmed by the volume of work that this industry requires. Unfortunately, it’s the workers who suffer from lack of communication from leadership and have to do all the hard work for little pay. 

This job is seasonal for most workers, so they will be laid off for 3-4 months of the year which makes it hard to find reliable workers who stay with the company and know what they are doing. Since the turn over rate is so high, basically anyone who returns for the second year is promoted into a leadership position as a lead or a manager. Unqualified and unexperianced management is something you will deal with often.  Unfortunately, the company tends to prey on those same people who stay with he company increasing their work load tremendously with out fairly compensating. 

As an Area Manager, there is no overtime pay, only salary. No bonuses, and 3+ years with out a raise. They do not care about their employees. 

As an hourly merchandiser, the starting position, hours vary from week to week (5-40 hours).  Alot of traveling is required using your own vehicle, and you deal with the weather and are expected to be working outside in the heat, cold, rain and snow. This job is great for part timers, college students during the summer. It’s not so great as a full time employee where you get laid off for months at a time,  and have unreliable fluxuating paychecks during the working season. No overtime, hours are capped at 40 except with the exception of one or two weeks for the entire year.

I would not recommend anyone as a full timer with this company, because they don’t care about their individual employees, and pay extremely low wages for the amount of work that is required for the task. 

As a part timer, it is a good job to pick up a few hours, and enroll in their health insurance program which is pretty good with our having to deal with all the behind the scenes work. 

Don't expect a raise, no matter how hard you work, there is no room in the budget for anything besides cutbacks. Stinchcomb’s contracts with the stores they merchandise for at Home Depot are on a year to year basis, so there is no guarentee that you will even have a job the next year.

When I left the company, things were on a downward trend, and only looking to get worse as they failed to make a profit for the year in 2018. There does not seem to be much future for this company in this Chicago district.

Company is not good to work for. BEWARE!

- Management : Tries to convince you to become management all while complaining about the job & the person over them. They don’t train the new hires. Pushes you to do things in an untimely manner also while being micro managed. Also requires you to show up for the company ALWAYS just to keep from getting accused of not being a team player. Management is inconsiderate about personal time/business. Will be contacted  at any given time & must drop everything as if you are on-call. 

-Hours : Fluctuate. Depends on the season & the weather or the mood the manager may be in….overtime is earned. Doing strenuous work & going out of your way is the only time that’s available. 

-Work : The work itself is easy until you have to do projects that require building tables. Moving cinder blocks & metal frames. Maintaining Christmas trees & pumpkins are the worst part of the season. 

- Drive Time : You are required to service 2 stores near your home no more than 20 minutes apart. You get paid for the time traveled from your first store to your second. BUT they don’t tell you that if they call you during your shift or even after because (so & so) needs help then you have to go & help them. The money you get in travel time is not equivalent to the money you put in gas. Gift cards and lunch are rewarded but not always. 


I'll just come right out with it: if you're looking for a way to reliably pay rent or make a serious living, look elsewhere. This job is best done by someone looking for supplemental income. Basically, this company sells slants through The Home Depot. They break it down into regions, and you are expected to go to as many of the store locations as you can. I worked at four different locations, sometimes all in the same day. The boss of my region was difficult to work for. He was a nice guy, but not too reasonable. He would contact with my start location and time the morning of, often not giving me enough time to get ready. My region was also understaffed (it was really just my boss, my manager, and me), so that meant I was often responsible for stocking, watering, and cleaning an entire garden center by myself.

You go where you're needed, when you're needed. What this means is: you're hours are REALLY inconsistent. There were weeks where I worked 40+ hours, and others where I worked 10 or less. It all depends on the shipments.

Traveling merchandising job with live goods. Servicing home Depot garden centers when I was there. Regional managers were supportive, actually answered phone calls, and weren't afraid to get dirty by coming and helping hands on. Customer bases is almost always pleasant (who's really angry when they buy flowers). Some store mangers are unpleasant to you as a vendor but quickly change attitude once they see you actually work and they don't have to babysit you. To be perfectly honest, the only reason I am no longer with the company is because their contract wasn't renewed in my area and I didn't have the means to drive out of state. Been my favorite job and favorite employer out of 30+ years working.

Working here was somewhat ok if you just need a paycheck or filling in some bills. I would even recommend working here temporarily. 

Typical day:
Get a text the night before from the manager where to go in the morning. 
Get to work punch in 
Look around the nursery for anything out of place (product in the wrong spots) 
Rearrange products and merchandise.
Manager shows up or contacts you about the truck that comes in. 
Truck gets unloaded and all product is out on floor.
Count the product and enter into database (company issued laptop or else send numbers to manager)
Move trees around and bushes. (Most of the time by yourself but these are products that are 80lbs+)
Go to break or lunch
Come back and rearrange products or receive more products.

Hours fluctuate without notice. Driving to three stores when there is only about one and half hours work at each. Gas and mileage not reimbursed. Not really flexible hours. You will be expected to meet the demands of the management in the stores. If trucks arrive late, as they often do, you have to shelve all the racks and still get to your next store and do the same there. The workload makes for a very long day sometimes and other days not many hours at all. Often, I was told “it shouldn’t take that long.”  No help or support where there is a shortage of manpower needed. Basically they are trying to squeeze the work of three people out of one person. Very unrealistic expectations. I was told I was expected to to work in a thunder storm with 50 mph winds. Not safe. 

I was hired to work full time, after 3 weeks I only had 22 hours. My manager / trainer didn't show up for training two times and didn't bother to call me and tell me to not show up. Was told in interview they have gas compensation, have asked numerous time for expense report sheet and instructions, still haven't heard back about that. I enjoyed working with the plants, I wish management showed up and they would do as they say in interview, the work culture seems disjointed when it shows up. Hardest part of the job was dealing with management, didn't learn anything, and it sucks when you think you have a full time job, first they don't show up, then only have 22 hours in 3 weeks. A person can only give so many chances.

The daily work itself can range from just watering and turning labels to organizing racks and helping vendors. There is supposed to be 2 sides of company, bit high turn over so whoever is around in area had to help with workload.that means driving around as far and as much until your car breaks down . The managers try thier best with communcation and training but are very short staffed in management and they all have to listen to one guy that is main manager. If he doesn't like you, will cut your hours or find a way to fire you/keep you from working even when he is "nice" to you in person.  This Company would be a lot better to work for if they could have a better management team who wasn't ran by justb1 person. If you like chaos, this is the job for you

Expects you to be a busybody for the most of your shift. Can't even go to the bathroom without feeling like somebody is watching you. Home Depot and Stinchcomb Managers like to pop in at any given time at the store and expect you to be doing everything by the book. Too much peer pressure and stigma around the your work environment and co-workers. They won't hesitate to write you up or fire you if you're not doing what you're suppose to do for 10 minutes without warning.
I can do less work for the same pay working somewhere else without having to wake up too early or working outdoors in the heat and humidity. No wonder this company has trouble keeping people. AVOID!!!

What is the best part of working at the company?
I thought it was that they appreciated the hard work and extra effort that I put in to the job but I guess I was wrong.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The long hot days. The job is great! I loved every part of the garden merchandiser position.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It gets hot and you're out in it all day but if you like what you do, you tolerate it. The Home Depot people are so wonderful. They really do appreciate the work and they let you know it!

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Hurry up and wait and hurry up.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Garden center merchandiser 533 salaries reported	$17.85 per hour
Seasonal associate 27 salaries reported	$18.20 per hour
District manager 8 salaries reported	$21.00 per hour
Gardener 16 salaries reported	$17.50 per hour
Garden associate 13 salaries reported	$18.12 per hour

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