One Size Does Not Fit All - Store Manager Music & Arts Employee Review

1.0
Jul 21, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Experience in a professional setting

Cons

Where to begin. The culture is so rotten at this company that another manager sent a letter out to all the stores with a list of grievances. It's that bad. It's the same stuff quarter after quarter: Raising lesson rates, rental rates, repair rates, and product prices with not a dollar of it going towards substantive infrastructure improvements or associate-level employee wages. Everyone's underpaid, but especially store staff and instructors. Senior leadership pushes initiatives that continue to fail, along with low-quality products that people don't want. They continue stripping store managers of more and more decision-making capability when it comes to inventory selection, lesson policy, and even managing the onsite staff. We're forced to write up employees who miss their sales goals, even though more often than not, they miss them due to factors outside of their control. They prefer to churn and burn good employees instead of working to retain them. They will not fight for you if you ask for a raise or promotion. Stores are forced to operate with out of date technology because it's apparently too expensive to update the POS and digital workflow systems. We're being forced to push an unnecessary insurance add-on for practically everything we sell in the store. Leadership does not care about local communities, only their own bottom lines. Compliance matters more to them than actual progress and long-term planning. Don't even get me started on how little the departments work together. If you have to work here, act your wage. Going above and beyond will get you nowhere after you become store manager. This company takes advantage of good employees, takes them for granted, and scapegoats them to save their own jobs. It's really so sad to see what this place has become.

Explore other reviews about Music & Arts

5.0
May 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Perks and hours were balanced

Cons

Commission structure could be better

2.0
May 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Teachers and sales employees who actually work in retail locations tend to be passionate & knowledgeable about music. Stores open later in day (11am-8pm weekdays) which is nice if you're a night owl or hate waking up early. Good employee discounts on products.

Cons

Inflexible corporate policies & attempts to standardize procedures across stores in wildly different markets makes it impossible for store-level management & employees to deliver well on expectations of upper management & customers. Store managers who work in store full time have no real authority, influence, or decision-making power, whereas district managers (who visit each location once a month at best) have to pass on orders from even higher level management that may have never even stepped foot in the store. They will start you at as close to legal minimum wage as they can get by location, and even the hourly pay for store managers is absolutely criminal compared to the amount of work & complexity of operations required. Commission structure is also highly flawed.

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