Pros
Von Maur is in a class of its own. As an employee you can take pride in a beautiful building to work on, great lighting, marble floors and a constant piano player to create a beautiful atmosphere for your shopper. The pay is higher than any retailer I've worked at, and they demand that you be professional at all times. There's also a seemingly open door policy when it comes to any issues you may have; the door is always open. Von Maur is also one of the last retailers to really adhere to great customer service. They have a gifts dept, alterations, and a customer service desk that even does gift wrapping for free all year long. You don't see that anymore. I found it amazingly convienent to have a work and home life balance, alot more simplified than other retailers, no holidays and they close at 4pm on eves. Even as a manager I could work my 40-45 hours and not be exhausted. and i only had the minimum responsibility to close two nights a week. I found it incredibly easy to be home at a decent time and still come to work the next day, no matter the time.
Cons
In cosmetics department, there's constant mundane busy work, they insist on a paper trail. You are constantly expected to make phone calls to customers and recruit from within the store. The bad thing about recruiting is that we have set such a relaxing, non-competitive atmosphere for our customers, that they are not receptive to you recruiting while they are shopping for a new handbag. Its basically a closed door. Cosmetics department manager is a constant open door. The location in Livonia has been there for twelve years and before I'd left the count for cosmetics department managers was at 32. That's insane!!! and it doesn't necessarily create stability for the associates. How do you expect rules or new methods to stick if the manager changes like the wind blows? Also, along with the busy work, you're expected a lot of times to pull money out of thin air--but I digress because that comes with the territory of a competitive cosmetics department. The paper trail is tremendously unnecessary. Incident reports for returns instead of a POS system that can flag fraudulent returns and customers. Paper for clientele instead of a POS system that can handle 500+ customer info. UNSAFE PRACTICES because in the event of a presell circumstance, a customers card info and address is stapled to their purchase until the day of said event. It's unsafe and not practical!!! Also, the amount of investigations that goes on at that store is ridiculous. Keep your head down and do your job and hopefully you won't get caught in the storm. (Investigations are on the management by the way.) If I had a chance to do it over again, I would because of the pay but the way this company is stuck in the stone age is enough to make a grown man cry. Be prepared to be balls to the walls if you're in cosmetics because where the store is only required to contact two customers a month, you will be contacting hundreds. Don't believe me, just watch.