Pros
Discount that is about it.
Cons
Mgmt lies about the pay structure, the more experience you bring to the table the less you’ll make hourly as base pay. Was told everyone starts at the same base pay - Lie #1. When hired to open a new store it was not disclosed to any of us that we would spend MONTHS doing manual labor in an un-air conditioned building, cleaning the entire store from drywall dust etc. When did we discover that this would be expected of us? After we had been forced to sign a TRAP contract that stated we’d have to pay back all travel expenses from training they had sent us to (several thousands of dollars) if we left the company in the next 6 month. This goes against that “honesty and Integrity” part of their so called culture in my opinion. Every time they send you somewhere for training expect to sign another TRAP contract. When it came time to actually move product into the bldg I started realizing this HUGE company doesn’t have any Standard Operating Procedures - which is insane! None of the leaders (ASL’s) put in charge of processing had a clue, nor were those under them trained to be the most efficient and effective in their roles, but who takes the blame? Not leadership who had ideas on how it should run - instead it fell on those doing the job the best way they knew how because no one really ever trained them properly. My dept had freight sitting in the processing area for up to two months before it ever made it to the floor-just in time for its first markdown, make it make sense? Overall my position was just a glorified sale associate with extra work that included being an analyst, buyer, and merchandiser - the pay for all required of us was low. They tell you you will make 45-55K a yr but that is also a lie. You have a base pay + commission, so if the store is understaffed all the time due to massive turnover like the one in Tulsa, be prepared to now do your job + someone else’s. You have zero office time to do orders and prep for training classes which also affects your paycheck because when you’re working on these things you are selling, and you’re not making a commission. The schedule is pretty inflexible. Often many of my coworkers have to come in on their day off to teach product knowledge classes and everyone and I mean everyone hates them!! When you have experienced working for a corporate company who has its stuff together you will see how poorly run Scheels is. If you want to be an ASL you have to give up more time selling to do more b*c+h work for no extra pay. Then after your normal 42-44 hours they’ll need you to work more hours for no extra pay—-those who are willing to live at the store get promoted. Those who are willing to give up work life balance they get promoted, is it worth it?? No. I watched as my coworkers experienced racism, sexual harassment, and bullying in the workplace and no one was terminated for those situations, there again with lack of integrity. Now due to the massive amount of turnover you as an SSM will be expected to train all new hires that includes new SSM’s and new pt sale people, more time NOT SELLING and not making any commission. This place is prob great for those who only need pt and have no other responsibilities other than seeking and recovering the store at the need of the day. SMH… to those who are thinking of getting hired on when a new store opens—-please prepare yourselves as you have been warned. ASL’s play favorites and honestly it has nothing to do with performance. Some SSM’s have ASL’s who help them or even do some of their workload, some have well trained merchandisers who do everything including markdowns and then there are some SSM’s who don’t get weekly walkthrus nor do they have a merchandiser, and everything is left for them to do —-so when I say favoritism is running rampant at this store I mean it. Those who have to do it all alone are also lower producers due to their workload, making them look bad to upper mgmt, however they are truly working harder and being overlooked. I left after 15 months with the company, and I have to say I met and worked with some amazing folks but none of them would be considered a member of upper mgmt, they were my peers who’ve worked in this field for many yrs. It’s insane to me that this company would rather train a 20 something yr old from the ground up on how to manage people well vs promoting folks who already have the skills and business acumen to make them even more successful.