Horrible - Department Manager Michaels Employee Review

I have been working for Michaels as a department manager for 10 years. I have tried to promote numerous times and have been told I do not have enough management experience. What? Apparently Michaels is looking for "Big Box" retail managers. So according to that, I would have to quit Michaels, go to a big box retailer get the experience and quit there to go back to Michaels to promote to an assistant manager. And that's assuming that assistant managers will be around then. Because within the next year or so they will be eliminating that position, which really screws over any department manager that wants to promote. It also demotes the hundreds if not thousand assistant managers out there with the company. Michaels over the last year or 2 is wanting us to concentrate on customer service above all else, which is great , but they do not give enough hours to run the stores. Which results in poor customer service. I always hear and see people complaining about retail employees and their experience with shopping retail and I think they just need to realize that with the economy the way it is, it's hitting us retail stores as well. We don't want you guys to be unhappy and not be able to find any help on the floors or having to stand in a crazy long line at the registers. But CORPORATE is the one cutting our hours and expecting us to run the stores this way. We are just doing what we can and being pulled in a million different directions for a really crappy pay. Michaels does not give the payroll or the resources to train new employees. So if you go to work for the company, hopefully you are a quick learner, because it is sink or swim for you. They have you watch some outdated videos and maybe have an employee run your through how to do something once and thats about it. It's not that we dont want to train you, it's that upper management and corporate have loaded our plates full that if we don't get our things done we get in trouble. Michaels eliminated the class program with the exception of Wilton Cake Decorating a few years ago, which was very stupid to do for a craft store. They have now decided to bring it back, but they don't give us the resources to actually get it organized and promote it. I don't know how many times I have felt completely stupid talking to a customer interested in taking classes because I don't know, nor can I find any information on the classes. These are just a few of the cons. I know after 10 years of working there where about 5 of those years have been very unhappy, I could write more.