retail assistant manager

sales representative

retail sales associate

assistant store manager

sales associate

Wolverine Worldwide

I worked at Stride Rite for a little over a year and to be honest that was longer than I had planned on working there. I tried to get full time when I was hired to which I was told there wasn't anything available only to be working there 6 months and a new employee was hired full time... After that I sort of gave up on the job, I stopped trying to advance in the company as it was difficult to and the work culture was getting very over whelming. It was beyond ridiculous during the holidays and people would be real nasty when all we were trying to do was to help them find the perfect shoes for their kids. I've learned to never apply for a job directly dealing with parents and their children, it is by far the worst job I have ever had to deal with. After I got pregnant I found it even more difficult to work there, as customers did not seem to have any sympathy when I would explain that I could not do certain things on the job due to my pregnancy. You would think if your main customers are parents that they would understand why you can't do a certain thing at work due to being heavily pregnant. For the most part the kids were the best part of my job, it was the parents that were the bummer for me. I was asked many times by customers to babysit their children as they shopped, we are a shoe store not a daycare. I worked there part time and with a mixed and crazy schedule with absolutely no benefits/low pay. This is not a long term career job, strictly a job to earn some money for the time being. This company was hard to take seriously after they would constantly change policies, dress codes, and sales goals. Are we there to sell shoes or accessories? Everyday you were told to sell accessories, the word alone bugs me to even hear. Customers take advantage of the return and exchange policy, I can't even count how many times I had to take back shoes from customers who bought them 6 months ago that were completely unsellable and had to continue with the exchange because all they have to do is make a scene or call customer service. My co workers were ok for the most part of my second half of working there, the beginning was really rough as we had many lazy employees.  The hardest part of the job is dealing with people and their kids. Not everyone is nice when shopping with their kids.

a typical day at work:
I would stand at my station on the assembly line and lace up the shoes in a certain fashion, tag them, then hand them off to the next station to be packaged. If the line was going slowly and I had no shoes to lace, I would often turn around and help the other stations with their work.
what you learned: I learned about working hard and how important it is for things to keep moving.
management: The management was overall aloof and unsupportive, in my opinion. When the line became slow, it would take entirely too long for the information to reach the other portions of the factory, and work would essentially come to a grinding halt. Instead of receiving support and some kind of constructive criticism on my work, I was instead told I was too slow and they couldn't understand why I couldn't lace as fast as someone who had been working there for years.
your co-workers: my co-workers were enjoyable people to be around. There were a few I did not get along with, but we had no issue working together and putting aside our personal differences while doing the job.
the hardest part of the job: Trying to keep up with the other workers who had more experience than me. I also found it difficult to keep some of the hard struggles of my personal life from affecting my work (but that is on me, not the company).
the most enjoyable part of the job: Earning a paycheck and having the satisfaction of being somewhat independent. It felt great to earn something for myself. My friend was also working in the factory at the time, so having a person I could talk to was the highlight of my day.


Working at Merrell is somewhat unique but at the same time a typical retail job. The uniqueness of the job is the location of the store. It is located in the busy Union Square area of San Francisco and this is the hub for tourists to walk about. Merrell is so famous internationally that they immediately come in after noticing our store. This gives us an opportunity to converse with so many internationals and this makes the job much more enjoyable. 

The local management crew (at the store level) is excellent. Because the store is so small the sales associate can connect with the managers much easier. This builds a comfortable work environment relieving the daily stress of your typical retail job. One of the difficult aspect of the job is the distance between the store and the district managers. This makes the job a bit frustrating and harder because we try to communicate the issues we face on a daily basis but because of the distance in relations between the store and the district managers these issues are not resolved in a timely manner. 

The most enjoyable part of the job I believe is the camaraderie that we form among the workers and the tight family ambiance. This facilitates our job and makes it an inviting atmosphere when coming to work. The customers are very exciting to work with and this also facilitates the job. 

Stride Rite Children's Group Distribution Center in Brookville, OH has a leadership team that lacks integrity, leadership skills and professionalism. A work day at Stride Rite is like a day in middle school. They spend their lunch break in the break room watching The Young and the Restless and even refer to the break room as "The Victor Newman Room".

Annual pay raises are very poor and based on how well you pal around with your team leader rather than merit. As a matter of a fact, you are less likely to get a good raise if you are a dependable and knowledgeable team member. You will get a very good review, but the words will not be backed up with money.

There is no room for advancement. All promotions and job changes are put to a vote with all team leaders and the person who gets the most votes, will get the job. There is no evaluation of skill set, work history, attendance or time served with the company. It is all based on how well you "play" with the team leaders.

The team leaders act in very unprofessional manner and behave inappropriately with each other as well as other team members. The leadership team is never available when needed.

Hopefully Wolverine will make changes that will have a positive impact on the work environment by getting rid of the slackers in leadership roles.

I worked at the Center Valley location for 1 year and 11 days and it was the worst job I ever had, including working in cleaning at DorneyPark and Wild Water Kingdom. A typical day at work including forever unpacking shipment that the manager didn't feel like unpacking, dealing with parents who were rude, and trying to do all of this at the same time. I learned that I deserved way better than that "job". Management was great when I started, but then the manager left and the assistant took over. She was absolutely terrible and was defiantly trying to get rid of me. The district manager was extremely rude and degrading towards me, and I only met him once. The manager was always giving me false hopes of a better position, like full-time, which is what I needed at the time. But no, full-time high school kid full-time key-holder position and a college adult don't all because the other one was pregnant. I was there longer and had better qualifications. The manager simply didn't like me of my religion, and she said that multiple times. The workplace culture was horrible. The hardest part of the job was the entire job. There was no enjoyable part. The paycheck was mesely and I barely got hours... I also wrote a letter of resignation that went to corporate and down the line and never heard anything. I could have sued the company for many things. Glad this location was shut down.

I work at Sperry in Gretna, NE and my coworkers are there to work and do well and my assistant manager and manager are good at leading, selling, administration, merchandising, and development of associates and leaders.

-We are very flexible and understanding of work/life balance as well as driven to do well as a business.
-Many perks of this job include: 1 free shoe when joining the team, 2 free shoes a year, 50% off of regular priced items and 30% off of clearance items in-store, online, and online at all Wolverine Worldwide companies, and finally quarterly incentives based on your location's quarter and your specific job, but all positions receive the bonus if the store qualifies. (regarding store's sales plan)

This is my 2nd job and thus a part time job so I cannot speak to any full time benefits such as medical/vision/etc., but overall a company that believes in its employees, wants to improve business and is open to suggestions from all leaders. Not perfect of course, but at least management in Gretna and our DM listen and are knowledgeable in many aspects of business.

Stride does not treat customers like any random person coming in the store, everyone is treated like family. We love to make customers feel welcome and wanting to come back for more with our great customer service.

Management at Stride Rite is great, they are always there to help you out when needed, from scheduling to personal needs (family, medical, last-minute needs). They make you feel welcome from day one. 

My co-workers are the best we support each other and we help each other out with everything. We give each other feedback on things we are doing well and things we can improve. 

The hardest part of the job is when we are not able to find a shoe for a customer and we used all our resources possible to get them a shoe, and then they leave the store a little sad which makes me feel like a failed them.

The most enjoyable part of my job is the children. I love interacting with the children, their laughs, smiles and the thins they say. When I am feeling down the kids are what makes me feel better. But the number one best part is when the kids give me a hug or high five to thank me for getting them shoes that will make the "run faster", make them look like princesses, or make them strong like a super hero.

I love my job at Stride Rite., it's the best.

(03/09/2022)

Was called this morning after two days of training for a new position and was told that I was being “let go” because I wasn’t a good fit for the new position. Wolverine Worldwide also refused to reach out to me themselves and instead made a staffing agency that they forced me to go through reach out to me with absolutely no information. When I spoke to a supervisor they were rude and stated that they “didn’t know anything”.

They also have a “blackout” period that is from October to February and you cannot request any time off at all through that whole period. I was told that it would be no problem around Christmas when I had to go three hours south to be with family but once I was working there it was suddenly “not something we could work around”. I also had to cancel a week long family vacation I had been planning for over a year because of the “blackout period”.

Not only is this job horrible with hours but it also provides no benefits and they do not want to work with you on your schedule unless it benefits them.

The only decent people I met there were other temporary employees. The managers are absolutely horrible and are rude for no reason and other reps think they have something over you.

All in all, it’s not worth it to even waste your time.

Wolverine is definitely a top down company, meaning the only ideas that receive serious consideration are those that come down from upper management. There is no system for process improvement. No standard operating procedures. No training materials. No training. 

The company responds re-actively rather than proactively to changes in the market. This results in frequent realignment of brands, organizational structure and personnel (the brand/position you're hired for isn't necessarily where they'll keep you).

Coming from a background in Lean Six Sigma and process improvement, this company felt extremely counter intuitive and uncomfortable. There is a lot of waste and a lot of rework that no one seems to care about. There are a lot of inefficiencies.

All in all the company is like a shiny car that runs like a clunker. The external parts that the customers, clients and shareholders see look great, but the inner workings are a mess. The pay is competitive, the people are nice, the alcohol is plentiful, they give away a lot of free shoes and they somehow manage to stay in business.

I work from my home and manage 204 locally owned shoe stores within eight Northeastern states. Depending on the time of year, I am either on the road meeting with accounts face to face to present our new lines of children's shoes, or entering orders and making spreadsheets so that I am aware of my goals and what numbers I need, per account, to reach said goals. Working out of my home means that I am not in very close contact with any coworkers, but we do see each other at various shoe shows/functions throughout the year. I keep in touch via phone and email with various other Account Executives on the road if I have questions or to bounce ideas off of them. Although we do not see each other often, the Account Executives are close and are ready and willing to listen and help when approached. I would say that the hardest part of my job happens to be my most favorite part, and that is everything is all on you and your performance. You make your own schedule, travel dates, appointments, for which you need to be disciplined and self-motivated. The pressure of making your goal for the season can be eliminated once you know that you have done your job to the best of your ability.

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