merchandiser

sales representative

order picker

local driver

checker

West Side Beer Distributing

If you want to work 50/60 hours a week and get paid for 40, paid bi-weekly with “commission” paid once a month that is slashed to almost nothing if you don’t hit your full goal then this is for you! No longer supply company vans so you will be using your car. If you do not live in territory all mileage to your first stop and from your last stop home will not be paid out. If you still have car payments the stipend will not cover all expenses (gas, business insurance, tires, oil changes, etc). Direct management is okay. But upper does not communicate. Dismissive. Don’t expect to know if you’re doing well or not until you’re being read the riot act. They monitor your start and stop times, with zero autonomy that a sales job should bring. If you have a personal appt in the morning you may be forced to take a full day off. All vacations for the year are expected to be put in at the beginning of the year. The bottom line is always the most important to a distributor, and this company is no different. Worse in some ways. Good job for a single person with no kids who’s work and social life can intersect here and they have the time to spend doing all of the extras just to make their bottom line. But if you’re looking for work/life balance that will not make you feel like you’re sacrificing somewhere all the time I would steer clear. 

West Side Beer seem like an exciting place to work: family owned, fun product, advancement opportunities, variety in your day, benefits and more. However, it did not take long for things to become unprofessional and awkward. Communication is lacking which essentially means that respect is lacking. As a new hire you would hope for clear and helpful guidance but they don't keep you informed and when you ask they respond in a condescending way as if you are not invited to the party. Its just poor leadership and it creates a toxic environment which is THE thing that nobody wants to put up with, and shouldn't have to. You're going to get out of people what you put in, end of story. I have a lot of respect for successful companies that create jobs and benefit their community but great employees aren't loyal to companies that make their lives unnecessarily difficult. Good luck to you if you decide to work for this company but be aware that you will be up against some toxicity and have to strongly advocate for yourself again and again despite their promises in the beginning. 

Working as a Sales Merchandiser at West Side Beer was a fast-paced, hands-on experience that built strong skills in sales, customer service, and time management. The role involved managing product displays, maintaining inventory levels, and building relationships with retail accounts to ensure optimal product placement and visibility.

A typical day required visiting multiple stores, organizing shelves, setting up promotions, and coordinating with store managers. The job rewarded self-motivation and efficiency, as success depended on staying organized while covering a large territory. It also offered a great opportunity to develop communication and problem-solving skills when handling customer needs or last-minute changes.

The team environment was supportive, and there was a strong sense of independence in the role. However, the physical demands and early mornings could be challenging at times. Overall, it’s a great position for someone looking to gain experience in sales, marketing, and field operations within the beverage industry.

If you can keep your head down, stay quiet and keep to yourself. Maybe you'll make it somewhere. But the moment you point out, any problems in anywhere to anybody of importance your career dies. If you speak about it to your coworkers, you're now toxic and you're targeted. If you just need to make money and you don't care about any buddy but yourself. Maybe this is the job for you.
But the toxic culture comes from leadership. If you speak up about it, they will not fix it. You we'll just regret ever mentioning it. Have seen it a handful of times over the years. It's evident in the turnover rate. When the new people see it they run fast. And all the veterans they're just waiting for retirement. 
So if you need a paycheck, keep your head down and stay quiet and put a smile in your face and pretend like everything's all right. Anything else, You'll regret it. Don't listen to any promises they make you if it's not on paper and signed by your direct supervisor.
Nobody in leadership is on your side. Don't trust any of them. 

For the amount of work you have to do and the daily headaches you will run into, the pay and the stress just isn't worth it. 50-60k per year is laughable. It should be 75k starting out. This is a very, very physical job pushing a cart loaded with beer and energy drinks into coolers and down into the basements of businesses. It gets worse when you have to push a cart down the stairs loaded up with two full kegs.

The trainers they put you with aren't really interested in properly training, they just want to get done with their shift to go home. The only positive is the schedule. Tuesday-Friday with three day weekends is appealing, but those three days off you will only want to sit around and recover from the physicality of the job. 

If you are a recent CDL grad looking for your first job, I would highly advise looking elsewhere. There is a reason this job is always posted on Indeed. 

Horrible management starting at the top. The President of the company is a sociopath. They preach that you are a part of a "family" at WSB. That is not the case. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of nepotism within this company, but if you aren't a blood relative of the WSB elite then good luck going anywhere in this company. 

They also say that they promote from within, HA! WHAT A JOKE! They hire external candidates with regularity while passing over worthy candidates from within. The sales team is like a fraternity. It's a big club and YOU AREN'T IN IT!

There is no loyalty or compassion for their employees. They fire anyone that speaks up or tries to make any real changes to their toxic culture. Anyone...even those with 20+ years. They don't care how hard you've worked or how much you've sacrificed for the company.

I merchandised part-time while also being a full-time college student. I'd recommend this job as long as it is part-time. I'm a pretty big and active guy and working 3 days a week was even tiring for me during the busier times of the year. A lot of the full-time merchandisers are often in pretty low spirits from the heavy work loads they receive. You are constantly on your feet and lifting cases of beer all day. Management wasn't bad but they really don't do much for you in the long run. You are pretty much on your own all the time and rarely see anyone from the company unless it's a sales rep or other merchandiser. This is one of those jobs where you will only hear from management directly if you are doing something wrong and not taking care of your accounts.

The atmosphere, building, and fellow employees are a real bonus at this company, if they aren't a Director or VP.
Everyone keeps their nose to the grindstone and it's a hard charging environment but it's relentless.
You are expected to work an extra hour every day, at least, just to be kept out of trouble so every one is kept on salary. The hourly guys are meticously watched to make sure they don't go over 40 and don't even think about asking for a bonus unless you've sacrificed more than a World War II vet.
You will be given a company phone but only to track you and call you if ever you step away from your work area.
Keep your head down and don't offer any criticsm, constructive or otherwise, or you will be canned immediately.

Creating new sales plans for on and off premise sales team with digital sell sheets on a daily basis. Exploring new opportunity for growth in the market and developing new plans for expanding the visibility and placement of our brands in order to grow productivity.
The best part of my position was building relationships with our customers in the market. I enjoyed getting to know them on so many levels and could always look forward to learning new things while being challenged.

I started this position as a part-time job while I was still in college, little did I know that it would turn into a career. Within the 3 years I have been working for West Side Beer I have been promoted twice. The company really focuses on promoting hard-working people from within.

Another perk of working for West Side Beer is the great benefit package. As long as you are a full-time employee you are eligible for insurance one month after your start date. You also receive a health savings account, which is basically a 401K for heath.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Merchandiser 45 salaries reported	$18.15 per hour
Sales representative 17 salaries reported	$41,294 per year
Order picker 8 salaries reported	$22.33 per hour
Local driver 1 salary reported	$60,000 per year
Checker 4 salaries reported	$19.25 per hour

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