sales associate

assistant store manager

line cook

sous chef

dishwasher

Tommy Bahama

I was hired as a Sales Associate for Tommy Bahama at the Mall of America location. I started in May of 2017. At first, it seemed like a good fit. Unfortunately, I was wrong as I started to see all the things that were ugly about working in this particular location. Lets start out with describing a typical day at work. I would go in and punch in with a card swipe on the time clock. After doing that, I would go onto the sales floor to get a daily briefing from the Manager On Duty. The briefing would entail things like what to expect during the shift, if there were any promotions, events or sales occurring within the store during the day. Toward the end of the briefing you would be given a sales goal to reach by the end of the day, you were given a sales goal to help the entire staff reach the sales goal by the end of the month. If they reached a goal, they would get a bonus along with the hourly wage paychecks. Upon the briefing's finish, the Manager would usually let you go and you had free reign of where to go in the store. You would spend the rest of the shift helping guests, folding clothing, making small talk with your coworkers, cleaning and other tasks that were thought up by Managers or the full time staff in charge of back stock or store presentation. 

Sounds easy? Right? Well, this is where I caution employment seekers. Everything I just described is to the best of my recollection, however, there are some reasons why i decided to end my employment with Tommy Bahama.

The first reason is that the Managers on Duty could often be rude to their subordinates. They would tell people that they are too slow, they don't sell well enough, question and insult their intelligence.

The second reason is that there was unclear expectations and leadership from the in-store management that led to Sales Associates sometimes not knowing the right way to doing their jobs. You were given conflicting orders and advice from Managers and when you would carry them out in front of other managers, you would get yelled at for doing your job wrong even though you had just obeyed a request from a different manager. I even told them multiple times that this needed to be cleared up in order for a clearer workplace, they obviously did not listen.

The third and final reason I resigned was because it was just too much stress to deal with rude people every single day i had worked there. There were some great Sales Associates, but that alone could not keep me from leaving. It wears on someone's mind when people are constantly rude and tell you what you are doing wrong and not complimenting you on what you are doing right. 

That, in a nutshell, is what it is like to work at the Mall of America location of Tommy Bahama.

I was only trained for a few hours, beyond that I had associates train me how to do basic things. I kept being told that I would start manager training the following week and it never happened. My immediate boss wouldn't train me, so I held off on tasks I wasn't 100% on and would always be yelled at and blamed for every issue that I had no part in or she had complete responsibility for. Work would be a constant minefield, never knowing if she was going to be in a good mood. It was pretty clear after a few weeks that she was nice and sweet to everyone and then nasty towards me moments later. I ended up leaving work in tears most days from the way she treated me and when I would come in puffy eyed the next day I would be greeted with a very fake and condescending "I care about you and am here for you," resulting in me never feeling safe to ask to be treated better. 
IMPORTANT side note: When I started there was a lot of chatter from all of the associates about how an employee that left just before me went over my immediate bosses head to complain and seek help from corporate for how poorly she was being treated and how horribly managed the location was. Clearly, she was left with no support from her coworkers or corporate in regards to her managers ill treatment which resulted in her swift exit. 
As it is for most retail stores, sales are important. I was consistently outselling and typically meeting goals solo. That being said, I have lost count of how many times I would spend minutes to over an hour sometimes two helping a customer or group just to have my boss pop out from the back and say "hello" and then come over to me while I was checking out to say loudly so everyone could hear, "that's my sale, don't take my sale", when she didn't offer a single ounce of help towards the sale. 
For large companies they want everything to be uniform for every location across the globe and to do this they have a manual or a book of some sort with standards. Throughout my time here I was constantly dealing with being taught/told to fold things wrong and display things wrong, while also being told how important it is that everything is to standards or we will get in massive trouble if corporate comes in. Only once she is caught doing things wrong do we start doing things correctly and do we get in trouble for her knowingly leading us to do things wrong. 
In short, I feel as though the company may be okay however for this location it is anything but. Employee happiness is extremely low with many employees very upset with management and often say they want to quit and try to laugh things off as just her pure delusions. I feel as though they could reach great success if the team was better led and were what the company stands for and aspires to be.

There doesn't seem to be a unified "team" among the highest leadership. Lots of politics, sabotage, VP vents to his team about all his discontents vs working with other VPs to strategize solutions and get the job done and is absent traveling more than in the office. Lots of questioning of motives and internal battles that cause delays and stress for everyone. 

Attitude is "I'll do things my way on my timeline, doesn't matter what CEO wants," which in turn affects the entire company. Lots of posturing to stay in favor and people complain behind others backs and that is tolerated, thus it festers throughout the company. They seriously need to hire a high-level consultant to help straighten out the major mess of management/execs who are not efficient or effective at the level an exec should be.

The people are nice enough, but if you're new, nobody really welcomes you and there is no team building amongst departments, so even within a department, there is not a sense of passion and unified teamwork. No formal onboarding process and once you're here, you pretty much have to figure out who does what on your own.

Meetings get set up with no standard framework of agenda, follow-up, outcome, deliverables, action items. Process and procedures need work to standardize and get everyone on the same page for basic things like a company-wide powerpoint template or things you include when sending out a meeting invite.

Pay is within industry standards, benefits are decent. The IT department is severely lacking when it comes to keeping in front of things and having high-level tech talent. If a problem stumps someone, it may never get resolved, despite persistent requests...for my issue IT had to consult with offshore or offsite people to try to determine the problem...never did get resolved. 

TB seems to keep management and directors that are below standard, less qualified and not good with managing people, thus I'm not optimistic unless they were to do some serious house cleaning and org restructuring. HR is cold and unapproachable.

People still punch a time clock here if they're hourly.

The management is lacking. When I worked there, the store manager got promoted to Regional 2 months after I was hired. A new Store Manager was hired but didn't start until June. ( I was hired in March). The Assistant Manager returned from maternity leave and did her best to help the new store manager and train myself. A supervisor left shortly after I started. Another supervisor was hired and quit after memorial day sale due to being overwhelmed due to lack of training. I pretty much got training on the fly. It was good at the beginning but once the store manager left my training stopped and I still had alot to learn. Winter holiday season rolled around and the new store manager took a medical leave until March, and the ASM left to pursue a different career before christmas. A new assistant manager was brought in with zero training. Store manager returns only to announce that he is quitting. The management team had consisted of a third supervisor who was given training packets to read and that was the extent of her training, my self and a clueless assistant manager who now gets promoted to store manger. The regional manager avoids coming to the store that is slowly falling part but still manages to make sales goals. the sales goals are unrealistic for during the week, not taking into consideration the majority of the clientele that comes in have no intention of but much less can even afford to shop there.Weekends are understaffed and the staff available is over worked. I was getting written up for petty things like forgetting to sign off a daily log. The only perk was the free clothing. My pay was $14/hr as a supervisor which for what we put up with on a daily basis was not enough. I wasn't perfect at the job but I did my best being that I am only human but warning they want more. The sales people I worked with were wonderful to work with too. There are a lot of egos and politics that I was tired of so I am glad I am no longer there.

Where do I start? 
I left a very comfortable job to be a Guest Services Rep for Tommy Bahama. They're very appealing with their vision of "Living the Island Life" and helping their "happy and excited to shop with us" customer base. I was more than excited to work for this company, they advertise this position as if it's one long paid vacation. Don't get me wrong, I knew I would be put to work. But they convince you that the calls you'll be receiving are happy-go-lucky "guests" that love the product and just wanna call and chit-chat. Sounds perfect, right? Let me break down the reality of this position.

1. Don't make friends, they'll be gone one day without notice. (The turn-over rate speaks for itself.)
2. Management runs things based on their mood. One day, something will be okay to do but the next day you'll be written up for it.
3. Good luck asking for a specific day off.
4. Vacation hours only exist when convenient to management/supervisors/schedulers, otherwise try and forget you even have them.
5. Don't make plans ever, you'll probably be working overtime that day. 
6. Overtime. Overtime. Overtime.
7. Did I mention overtime?
8. 100% lack of respect from management when it come to  work/home life. They simply don't care.
9. They overuse their motto "we embrace change", what they REALLY mean is "we'll change a policy without telling you, and you'll find out the hard way."
10. "I appreciate you." will lose all meaning.

Some pros?

Sometimes you'll get a free lunch or product. But that's entirely up to a flawed review system that "guests" will sometimes use to hit on reps or bash on the company. There's also an assigned "quiet room"... I feel like that may sum up this position in a nutshell.


Do yourself a favor and forget you even saw this job listing. Complete and utter disappointment and a waste of your talents and time.

Working at Tommy Bahama as a Food Runner/Busser has been a great experience for me for several reasons. Firstly, my colleagues are all very friendly and hard working, though there can be times when I feel pressured to pick up the weight of others, which can be a bit irritating if we are busy and there are a lot of tables that need to be cleaned. One bad apple in the food runner/busser bunch can hurt the whole operation from my perspective. When there’s someone slacking it can breed animosity among the others who have to work harder to get the job done. Managers can be helpful in giving that person greater attention and direction, though their consistency on fixing those issues can be spotty sometimes. 

Pay/Benefits:
Employees get a 50% discount at both the restaurant and the retail shop, which is VERY generous in my opinion. I was surprised at the pay as well. Though we are food runners and bussers, we still get a percentage of the tip out, which is quite nice. The 401k benefits are good as well. 

Management Culture:
There are several different personalities on the management staff, and all of them work well in conjunction with each other. Their personalities are consistent and they generally come in everyday with the same attitude. That consistency is nice, and makes work easier because you know what to expect and how you should interact with them. They’re all kind and courteous, even when they’re giving top-down direction. When I’m told to do something, I never think that it’s because a manager wants me to just do busy-work. Directions are always given out of legitimate need, not just due to nagging. They’re all adults with professional attitudes and they are all competent at efficiently managing the workforce. The power differential on open display between boss and employee is minimal.


What a special place this used to be to work and shop.  With new guy from Abercrombie, it's like working for A&F. Surprised they don't ask for a photo when you apply for a job like they do at AF. You can be hired at AF with NO EXPERIENCE as a manager and getting promoted at TB is pretty much like that now.  Due to the lack of leadership experience required and apathy at store level, there are now lots of checklists to keep everyone on track. But if you just sign off, no one really cares if you did anything or not. The teams in field are all looking for new jobs. Shame on CEO for letting this guy run amok on the culture and tarnish TB history.  What was his experience that led you to believe he was a valid replacement for our former president? You have exceptional taste and experience from a product standpoint, but good hiring decisions are just as critical and so far, YIKES!  Hours are getting cut, not enough people to do all the work, guests are upset, more YIKES! The founders long sold out, but if they knew how company was being run, they would be heartbroken. Take a look at how many "likes" the reviews addressing the "elephant in the room" has vs all the other reviews in past 2 years. These represent agreement from team members who have to work within this fake AF-like environment every day. I heard the store managers were asked to submit positive reviews on Glassdoor in February and everyone did it because they feared IT would trace who did it and who didn't. Integrity? Authentic to our heritage?  Maybe not so much.  If you are young and photogenic you have a bright future with TB so go for it!  You will probably be promoted to a position that never even got posted!

I enjoy going to work everyday.  I love the product I sell, Tommy Bahama, and all the other mens' items in our department.  I don't mind when customers bring items up from downstairs if they have difficulty locating an associate to assist them.  I love the hours I work (I don't have to start too early) and my typical day is busy and productive. I have learned a great deal about the retail business since I first started in Estee Lauder as a seasonal employee, in Intimate Apparel where I worked part time and in Moderates where I worked full time.  But I especially love being the Tommy Bahama Specialist where I currently work.  Our management is very courteous, professional, helpful and understanding.  My co-workers are the same way; I enjoy the teamwork atmosphere.  The hardest part of my job is probably the standing on my feet all day.  The most enjoyable part is the customer service and clietelling part of my job.  I love greeting customers when they come into the store and letting my presence be made known as well as asking if there is anything that brought them into the store that day that they need any assistance with. My goal is to try to exceed their expectations and make it easier for them as individuals with individual and unique needs to get what they are looking for. My clientele and repeat/regular customers are my favorites because I really get to know them, and not just by name.

A typical day requires meeting guest anticipations and making the dining experience in the downtown heart of Naples tourist attraction pleasant and worth coming on vacation to see. The server is responsible for opening and closing restaurant, checking co-workers off on side work chores before, during, and after shift. The original GM was what inspired me to get into management and purely made each shift enjoyable. The management that followed thereafter had no communication, never acknowledged a job well done, and made employees feel unappreciated. This drastic change inspired to recognize if I wanted to see the change, I had to become it. The hardest part of the job was the fast-paced environment sometimes continually throughout the day with no downtime and hard manual labor on the body from standing all day and having minimal to no bathroom or food breaks. The most enjoyable part of the job was being rewarded by the guests for having a wonderful experience and going above and beyond to meet their expectations.

* The great part of this position is, there is no typical day, We have market season which is meeting our customers and showing the line. After that the days consist of following up on getting the orders in. Once that is accomplished we have a nice down time to do our customer service part of the job. This usually happens during shipping of a new season. Then it all starts over again with national sales meetings in Seattle and we are ready to start a new season.
* The most valuable lesson I learned, was that I can work for a large corporation as well as for myself, and still feel rewarded.
* I really respect the talent and commitment of the management team from the home office. Many have been there from the very beginning.
* We make a good team in our office. Each one of us brings something different to the team, but we all compliment each other.
* The hardest part of the job is working in the showroom when we aren't busy. There are no windows and it's not the most motivating environment.
* The most enjoyable part of the job would be the start of a new season. I love the excitement of a new line and sharing it with our customer.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Sales associate 128 salaries reported	$19.73 per hour
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Sous chef 18 salaries reported	$25.33 per hour
Dishwasher 32 salaries reported	$19.57 per hour

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