The Buckle reviews

3.5

54% would recommend to a friend

(2,290 total reviews)
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Dennis H. Nelson

80% approve of CEO

49% positive business outlook

The Buckle has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 2,290 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The The Buckle employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
1.0
Jan 11, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

fun people great clothes personal satisfaction in helping guests

Cons

there is an average sale concept which I do not agree with. Basically if your sale is not over $100 it looks bad like you did not try hard enough. Therefore whenever there was someone who wanted to buy 1 item or a giftcard other teammates would leave the register or ignore them so it would not hurt their average sale. Guests would look irritated that no one would help them which I feel creates a loss in business. I was told by many guests that they do not like to shop there because they feel pressured to buy things they don't want or need. There is constant fighting between teammates about commission which makes it awkward for the guest. I was told I would get 1 weekend a month off which never happened. I would work 45 hr weeks and my DM told me I should be working 60 when I was not making that much money. My DM also gossiped about me to another teammate which I felt was very unprofessional.

4.0
Jan 11, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Make good money (commission), Fun place of work, huge discount on clothing, fun people to work with for the most part, travel opportunities, good benefits, it is good experience for someone straight out of college who needs something on their resume-it can lead to other opportunities in corporate retail.

Cons

Not a very serious job (unless you actually want to be a manager), tiring job due to always being on your feet, you have to work in a mall, terrible work schedule (weekends and nights), LONG holiday hours (I worked sometimes 60+ a week), you have to work hard every day to make a living there are no slacking days if you want to be consistent, there can be drama considering you are working with high schoolers, some of the district and area managers (or just managers) are really crazy - they are super hyper active and expect you to be fake like that also.

3.0
Jan 3, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The Buckle is an amazing place to work for three or four days a week as a part timer. It's a strictly commission based salary, which can be fun and competitive, but management does little to ensure that proper manners and guidelines are followed by all associates on the sales floor...especially during peak periods. Promotions seem to go to irresponsible cheer leader types who do very little work and don't address any real issues that arise on their shifts, and upper level management (possibly district managers?) are aloof, unavailable for any type of conversation and might as well wear a protective bubble as they do not interact with the staff to any degree on visits. Merchandising is a great place to show off creativity in the store, and shifts can be a TON of fun, but I would never count on this place for a full time job at the commission level. They seem to flood the store with ridiculous amounts of associates due to the moderate work load that's needed to maintain merching in a store of this nature, making it impossible to sell enough great, yet expensive jeans to pay rent, eat and keep the lights on. Maybe if they hired more adults and less children who think they've accomplished something amazing after folding 24 tshirts.... I love the overall feel of the company, but HATE the nasty lighting in EVERY store. I don't understand why they can buy and merch such brilliant clothing selections and yet put in these lights that make everyone look fifty times worse than any other light ever could. Further.... I had the good fortune of working for an AMAZING store manager, but these stores are VERY unattended by District Managers and it shows in some areas. I live not too far from a Buckle now, and it's always got the sales counter FIRMLY held down by at least half a dozen sales associates who only ring people up, one of them having identified himself once, proudly, as the Store Manager. The store is always VISIBLY trashed from the entrance, and moving further back into the store, it gets worse. I can only imagine what sales in this store are like and whether or not they're in a steep decline, because I know I'd shop there more often if I didn't have to step over merch on the floor, or untangle hangers, or feel naked due to the "Oh yeah. We're judging you," look from the little clique gathered at the counter.

Cons

Sorry... some of these are mixed in the above section... *commission based pay *hire mostly kids that look the part, but can't work any part *advancement opportunities and career paths aren't clear cut, and it seems like you may need to already "know" someone to help you into those roles.... *lots of work to do and if you're stuck on shift with a bunch of kids, you'll be doing it all yourself.

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