The Container Store
My first "Container Store" experience was visiting my Mom in Bethesda, MD. I thought the store was brilliant so I became a loyal on line customer. The store was started by one guy. It is privately held. He has done a great job. The staff is friendly and helpful. It is a pleasure to shop there. Their on line site is easy to navigate. I’m a fan. Today, I became an even bigger fan.
I rarely shop inside the type of stores where there is a lot of schlepping to be done. There is a new Container Store on 58th Street and I was down the block having lunch. I stopped by en route to the subway because I needed a few items for the kids camp. I walked in and they asked me if I had ever tried Go-shop.
They gave me a hand held piece. I scanned what I wanted and would enter how many. I finished my shopping in 10 minutes without carrying a thing. I went downstairs and gave them my handheld device. A printed receipt and a time when it would be delivered (my choice) was handed back. Tomorrow between 12-3. Brilliant! No schlepping, no talking, no check out. All computerized. I will remain a loyal customer. Companies that use technology intelligently to make a better overall experience for their customers get an A+ in my book.
Comments (Archived):
the container store is not that great – backstabbing, pay terribly….and over work you. it’s a cult.
Having also worked at The Container Store I have to agree 110% with comment by ‘old friend’. Though the 2 owners are smart enough to hire people who enjoy working with people and who know and want to provide great customer service TCS is run like a cult – if you don’t ‘drink the cool-aid and do the ya-hoo dance’ on a daily basis it doesn’t matter how well you do your job or how great you are with the customers – management will look for ways to fire you or cause you to quit. And personally – I think there is an undercurrent of discrimination – they hire people of color but don’t make them managers and older employees (40 and up) are given the worst shifts and rarely if ever offered full time positions. Don’t believe the hype that everyone at TCS loves working for them – they need the job just like everyone who has to work.
The truth should to be told about the container store. You work for nine hours with a half an hour lunch, without any 15 min breaks in between. Managers ask you to do things that aren’t in your job description. (ie – clean public bathrooms) Customers threaten employee’s and are nasty but you’re you’re not protected by your employers. Supervisors, managers and store directors only care about one thing and that’s numbers. Ask the container store if there are any black or latino managers within the company. You either have to be white, gay or over weight to have a manager’s position within the container store. Sorry i had to find out the hard way just how great the container store really is. I worked there.
The container store is not what it appears to be. They bring you in on this big hype and extensive training to what you think will be the job you would enjoy doing. Wrong! After a while of working there you notice that the honeymoon is over. They overwork you, promote based on color/ethnicity and is not flexible when it comes to scheduling. This is New York and they are new here but fail to understand that everyone has other lives outside of that store. They do not, DO NOT, adjust according to your lifestyle. This job is definitely not the best one to work for and many had to find out the hard way which is why their turnover is so high. Fortune’s best company to work is a joke.If you are looking for a good part-time job look elsewhere, well unless you want to be part of a Texan cult. The concern of numbers is their priority, NOT YOU!
Drink the cool-aid or you’ll be fired! That’s their MO. Have kids, they don’t care. You’re in school and working for the company part-time, they don’t care. They tell you in the beginning ” We want you to have a life outside the container store” that’s a joke. They want your life to be the container store. Call out because there’s a death in your family, you get fired! Call out because you’re sick with the flu, you get fired! They say they care but it’s all a front. Don’t believe the hype, because that’s all it is!
It’s true. I’ve worked there for a few months and can’t believe that for a 9 hour shift, you can only get a 1/2 hour break. And forget it if you’re a person of color, you’re not going to be a manager, you’re not going to be given any responsibility,and you’ll never be made full-time. And if anyone is thinking about applying, it doesn’t matter what you apply for anyway. They’ll send sales people to work in dirty stockrooms and expect you to grin and bear it.
I can vouch for ‘speakingthetruth’ not only do you only get a 1/2 hour lunch break when you’ve been on your feet for 9 hours but they pull really shady crap which I think may be against employment law – EEOC rules. On holidays they automatically take it upon themselves to schedule part-timers who have full time jobs elswhere and so are off from their real jobs to work on the holiday in place of TCS full time employees so that they don’t have to pay the overtime/holiday wages. They also will have part-timers work upto the full-time hours but refuse to make them full-timers even when they keep asking for full time employment – I guess this is so they don’t have to put them on benefits (didn’t Wal-Mart have a lawsuit against them for doing the same???). Yeah, they offer the 401K to part-timers but you have to be there 6 months first – very few make the 6 months under the conditions and cult like atmosphere you have to work in at The Container Store.
I can’t believe there are so many people who feel the way i feel, working at the container store. my view has changed since i started at the container store eight months ago. i thought this was like no other retailer. it’s true, it’s like no other retail store i’ve ever worked for in the past. i was written up for not cheering 8:30 in the morning. i was told if you’re not happy, you can always look for another job. at that point i knew these people were crazy. i’m there to provide a service to the customers and have never had a customer make a complaint in my eight months there. keep on drinking the cool aid or just pretend to until something better comes along.
NOT 100’S BEST COMPANY TO WORK FOR!!!! I LASTED A FEW WEEKS BEFORE I REALIZED IT’S NOT THE REAL DEAL! WANT ADVICE, DON’T WORK THERE!!!
I have a brother that use to work for the container store. He left some weeks ago. The reason he left was because they wouldn’t honor the fact that he was a student. I couldn’t believe this is the same retail store who will pay their employees top dollar to work for them but won’t honor their school schedule. Now that my brother is no longer with the container store, his grades are better. It was definitely an experience he wouldn’t forget.
The managers there are phoney and full of it. That store is full of sh*t. They get rid of employees that they don’t like instead of basing it on their performance. They lie and hide the reason for others getting promoted because it would reveal their racist actions. TCS stands for Texan Cult Show, cause thats all it is a show; a simple facade!
Wow, the container store holds a special place with me. Right in the toilet! they will dump on you in a hot second. The best part about the container store…the customers and some of the workers, who are constantly overlooked for their hard work. Now allow me to clarify the exact location I speak of, LEXINGTON. As far as I know the 6th ave location is run a heck of allot better, the company on a whole is pretty tight, but lexington BITES MOSQUITO NUTS! Now I’ve heard that S*@t rolls down hill however, I believe that the practices in this particular location are “contained” with in itself!
I’ve been reading and hearing about how great the customer service is in the container store. I had the worst experience with one of the MANAGERS in this store. I was simply inquiring about that elf closet thing they have all over the place. The first young lady was nice, I believe her name was Latoya, but when the manager Lisa came over all went horribly WRONG. She was the rudest most dismisive person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. I was under the impression that she may have been pregnant, due to her stature and ill natured tone yet on further probing to find out who she was I found out that she was a manager and was just a nasty individual. She definitely does not know how to talk to people, and if she is any kind of representation of the container store this is one less place that I’ll be shopping in.
It’s A Cult!!!!
many of the events described on this site – if accurate – are clearly illegal. 1/2 hour break during a 9 hour shift, age/racial descrimination, etc. I’m wondering why so many people are willing to just walk away and not take TCS to court? I’m sure there are plenty of lawyers who would be more than willing to take on such a high profile, potentially profitable case.
True ****ing story ! ! ! This is friggin’ incredible. Just when i thought i was the only one. Maybe the people not speaking up are sippin on that Kool-aid or just need the money and speaking of that 1/2 hour break i know someone who asked a manager about it and the response they got was more of a threat than anything else ! ! !
TCS aka “the Matrix”, when you start out you believe the with high hopes, you are one of the “blue pill” people. You will work for a few weeks/months happily. Then you take the “red pill” But then you start to see past the veil. Their infamous happy huddles give me a freaking break. I don’t give a rats ass what the Dollar Per Customer is, or what Phone Capture Rate was. Are you kidding me. I don’t know how things are at the markets outside of NY, but up in here, us New Yorkers don’t give a flying fuck, I’m here for check! First, second and third. And moving up in the company is definitely based on faking the happy and dropping dime on other co-workers. That fake concern drove me crazy! Especially this one idiot manager who keep asking you every 5 minutes “Are you alright? Are you okay? How are you feeling? ”. Its freaking 7AM in the freaking morning, how the hell do you think I feel I’M TIRED! Where they completely lost my respect was during the transit strike in the dead of winter and they actually had the audacity to EXPECT folks who had cars to automatically car pool other workers. They had no regard or forethought that maybe those that had cars MIGHT have other obligations, other people to help, like their own families. If they so cared about their workers why didn’t they do like other companies and are for a mini van or a bus to pick folks up in the outer boroughs. They even gave people a hard time if you arrived late for you shift after walking 30-50 blocks. The morale at 6th is so low. Even their former golden “managers” have left in droves. Pathetic. They love to harp how they aren’t like other retailers, when in fact they are worse! At least you elsewhere and treat you like the slave that you are not sugar coat it with a bunch of crap!
It’s ALL true, friends and neighbors…TCS is one big CULT where you have to jump up and down and cheer on the big boys and drink the kool-aid or else you will get NOWHERE in this company. They really are full of crap which is pathetic because it was a fun place to work except for the cult aspect. Let’s face it: if you don’t own the company, you don’t give a shit what the dollar per customer is…you just want your paycheck so you can pay your rent. Denial is a strong drug, kids…so those of you who are still sipping on that Kool-Aid may wake up one day with a big hangover.
That is true, your unplugged co-workers were what got you thru the day. I loved coming in to see my TCS fam, but Management for the most part was too programmed too and out of touch with reality. There were only a FEW really cool ones.
Everything that’s been said above is all true. The good friends and contacts I’ve made with fellow co-workers is what kept me working there for so long even though I was completely miserable. Well that and the paychecks of course. But the managers are all Kool-Aid drinking crazies who fake concern for you, but all they want is for you to plug into the Matrix, leave your life at the door and become a happy drone for the company while you’re there. Management sucks… if you’re don’t plug in and make containers your life you can forget about moving ahead. Oh and don’t even THINK about trying to go on vacation. At other retail locations you’re away for a week and the managers find other workers to cover your shift. At TCS it’s YOUR responsibility to get coverage and you better make sure the person you get to cover your shift has the same training as you. I remember practically having to BEG poeple to cover my shifts when I went oon vacation for a week because no one wanted to cover for me. They work you to DEATH on your own shifts (including that little half hour lunch they give you on the weekends) that you don’t even want to cover anyone else’s shifts because you’re so damn tired from working your own.
I TCS and the extra money behind because I needed to regain my sanity and mental and physical health. I wasn’t sleeping, stressed out, I had back, knee, foot and leg problems from all the standing I was doing. In the end it just wasn’t worth it.
No doubt no one on this list is lying I worked at the lower manhattan TCS right before the one on Lexington was opening… 9 hour shifts 30 minute lunches… did it all… I just sat down and chilled there in the bathroom… ONLY ONE BATHROOM PER SEX in a work place that has more then 35 at one time THERE SHOULD BE A LAW IN AGAINST THAT… yea I wont lie it is a Cult and to enjoy it you have to be on the Crack that they SNORT in the HUDDLES… GO TEAM… HATED IT… and people who work there are republicans who like most have alot of skeletons in their closets… Thankfully i never gave a fuck and i had another job but yea watch out when you work there cause you may have to snort the snow and smoke the pipe to get in the GO team attitude they want you in… and
No doubt no one on this list is lying I worked at the lower manhattan TCS right before the one on Lexington was opening… 9 hour shifts 30 minute lunches… did it all… I just sat down and chilled there in the bathroom… ONLY ONE BATHROOM PER SEX in a work place that has more then 35 at one time THERE SHOULD BE A LAW IN AGAINST THAT… yea I wont lie it is a Cult and to enjoy it you have to be on the Crack that they SNORT in the HUDDLES… GO TEAM… HATED IT… and people who work there are republicans who like most have alot of skeletons in their closets… Thankfully i never gave a fuck and i had another job but yea watch out when you work there cause you may have to snort the snow and smoke the pipe to get in the GO team attitude they want you in… and
seriously, COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS til I can quit.
the people are really amazing though. however, the management– well, the weird thing to me is how they never promote any of the really great full timers,they get people who don’t know what they’re doing at all to fill those positions.
and I saw someone voice that very few people of color are managers and I’m with them on that. I find that really fucking strange.
they’re also not understanding at all when it comes to outside lives. I’m writing my thesis and graduating and I still had to get someone to take my shifts JUST SO I CAN GO TO MY OWN GRADUATION.
the 9 hr shifts with a 30 minute break on the weekends is also dangerous especially for the older employees by the end of the day they’re truly the most tired. it’s unfair.
I hear some of the other stores outside of NY are pretty different.
But honestly sometimes the reasons they hired and promote people of color is to fill the quota and not be obvious as to what they’d rather do… I’m a minority saying this… they are more picked out of the hat… most deserve it… but some is just to fill the quota… after all in some markets they have to reflect where they are… thats how you build trust between the customer and seller in a way…
I am about to cry sitting here reading this. I feel like an abused spouse that thought it was only happening to them. Not know that many other feel the same way I do. I stayed for a year and always asked, why the make up of the staff was so racially restrained. why do they work us so hard? does anyone ever have an off day? why don’t they embrace reality instead of we are always fucking happy BS? i was always hungry because those breaks….cleaning the bathroom….and i was their top elfa seller, but for some reason, no matter how many letters from customers, flower arrangements from customers, compliments from customers and other leads, i was never even considered for full time employment. we were paid to be actors.
thank god I had my final curtain call and took my final bow.
Ok, so I have read everyones comments. I agree with some of what is being said. It’s true, as a former tcs employee, I can say that indeed you are only allowed a 1/2 break on the weekends. It’s a little hard to deal with but we still signed up for it, so shame on us. As for the whoo hooing @ 8am, that was absolutely horrifying. My experience at tcs was good and bad. As many of you have stated the best part was the friends that we have made there. I can speak to the issue of minorities in full-time roles because I was a minority full timer. Responsibility, and expectations is the name of their game and with the success that they have had in the past they expect things done their way. Granted this isn’t logical because change and adaptation is always necessary. Full time leadership is most likely not a role that most of you would have wanted. It 2asnt simply getting more money it was more pressure. As successful as I was in my role they still wanted more. The main issue is simply one of respect. Managers at Tcs take their directives from their superiors and devise plans involving the rest of the staff to suit their needs. They sit the offices all day and stare at laptops pretending to work. When they do come up, it’s because they are about to get their asses chewed and then they act like mongrels to the rest of the staff. They talk to you in condescending manners as if you don’t speak english. Maybe the kool aid makes them that way I don’t know! Nevertheless, they exploit your abilities until you are burnt out and they don’t give you credit when you deserve it. In the end it’s business and the chips have to fall somewhere. Too bad they fell on us!
I was originally hired as a seasonal worker at 6th Ave in 2004 and then they made me feel like they were doing me a huge favor by keeping me past the all-important elfa sale. The ridiculous “gift wrap wonderland” insanity should have been enough to clue me into the bizarre cult-like scenes that would follow over the next 1 and 1/2 years that I worked there. Technically I was a visual person, but every time I could manage to get on an f**king ladder to try to do my job, someone would scream “register backup” over the PA system and I was expected to “gumby” over there immediately or do whatever else the lazy-ass managers asked me to do. (Why don’t you do it yourself instead of sitting at a computer all day reading emails and leaving self-congratulatory voicemails?) I was repeatedly asked to come in for overnight shifts to “rework” various aisles, since there was no time to do things like that during the day because everyone was stuck at the registers. After doing several of these very physically demanding shifts in the middle of the night in the summer with no AC, I told my moron boss that I wouldn’t come in for overnight shifts anymore unless they paid me more for that time than during the day. (Hello, it’s called night differential.) Also, the whole 1=3 thing… They don’t even live up to their own training handbook that they hand you when you’re hired. It says that they hire people who work 3 times as hard as average workers and therefore they can afford to pay them twice as much. OKAY, FIRST OF ALL, WHY THE HELL SHOULD I WORK 3 TIMES AS HARD??? Second, even if you assume those other average workers are getting paid minimum wage, I wasn’t getting paid twice as much as them. Minimum wage has not been $5 in NY for quite a long time. That’s right, I was expected to work about 37 hours a week (considered part-time) and sometimes overnight for $10 an hour, and when I didn’t smile and ask for more I was labeled as someone who had a bad attitude. In my one year review I was told that I was generally doing a very good job and then I was given a raise of 4%, or 40 cents per hour. I was told that this was a good raise and I should be appreciative (and continue to work 3 times as hard at whatever hour they ask). IF YOU’RE READING THIS AND YOU WORK THERE, GET OUT, YOU ALL DESERVE SO MUCH BETTER!
Lets all cherish the six foundation principals as we all vent to our hearts desires. The only reason I have been working there for over a year are my part-time partners in crime. We all know it, down deep in our bowels…. the “Prime Timers” are the Bad Ass Mother Fuckers who get the job done! We may slave away under the massive money pit / ghost town the Lexington store is, or the understaffed / non-grand opening ready 6th Ave store. We are the ones who shill the “Go Shop” line. We are the ones who hustle the customers to “Elfa”. Remember all, if we don’t have what the customer wants transition them to Elfa. We are the ones who have the answer to the customers question. We are the one who can sit around and laugh. We as an unappreciated team work harder than anyone could imagination. Our managers who do nothing except work really hard at looking busy are actually jealous. I’m serious. No matter how hard our job is. They are on the outside looking in. They can’t join us in our reindeer games, even though they sold out countless prime timers to reach the lofty goal of full time. I write this for all my peeps who worked by my side, and those who still do. We might not have made the sales goal, DC, or even phone capture, but you made my day.
Please just reading that sends my blood boiling. How is that every damn weekend they are understaffed. If they would schedule enough damn people in the afternoons they wouldn’t have to be screaming “Register back up, Register back up please” every damn 5 minutes. But what pissed me off more than was fools ABUSING the register back up when there were like 6 people on line. Idiots
if you made it down this far than end it here. all this sounds the same and you only need to read one or two in order to get the idea. everyone is pissed. for about 9 months ive been there, i fucking hate it but guess what, it’s a job. the people who write these have let the store become their lives. what are these other jobs that are far greater than TCS? every job sucks. that’s that. you just have to learn how to work the system. i’ve done it and i am able to have a life outside the TCS building. you have to realize that it’s just a building and people you see for a couple of hours a week. stop bitching, bring your cell phone, text people. that helps me. take longer lunches on weekends. be lazy. get yourself in projects to avoid real work. learn to talk your way out of getting in trouble. managers love to talk about themselves, go to one and ask them questions, and just nod and listen and you just killed 20 mins of not working. plus they end up liking you. which makes your life easier. learn to say NO! it’s not that hard, two letters N-O-!. dont make this place a real job make it a part time thing, you don’t want to stay in a place like this more than a year and a half. just go in do work eat lunch and leave. take shorter shifts, call out sick on important occasions so you won’t have to look for people to cover your shift. fuck it, just do the work and get it over with, fucking get one of your co-workers you like to help you so you chat while you do it. it’s called work, would you rather be broke and home all day getting fat. stop being a pussy and just fucking do it. clap when you see other people do it, smile when someone talks to you, act dumb because you don’t need to use your brain there anyway. famous quote: DICK HEAD!!
The major problem with TCS’s 6th Avenue store is their stubborn mariage to policies which are blantantly incompatable w/ NYC’s retail workers. They continue to force fit idiotic protocol such as “all-store” meetings and “no-over time” (except for the choosen few). For seven cents an hour, your expected to lick the floor clean for any and every customer that walks through the door. My sentence at 6th Ave lasted approximately 1.5 years. In that time, I expereinced first-hand the politicking and favoritism. Management engaged in top-down policy-making, ignoring their resource of highly talented workers at their desposal (and yet, if you didn’t put yourself at their disposal, you’d be disposed of). They rarely took notice of employee suggestions seriously and they rarely considered employee’s “out of TCS” lives when making changes (which happened every twelve seconds). As many others have posted, at TCS 6th Ave, it was either get with the program or get to steppin.
Ok, so I just thought I’d add something to this. I actually have worked for over 3 years at good old TCS. I will say that it is a horrible place to be and it has only gotten worse over the years. I’m not full time even though I’ve asked for it over and over again. I bust my butt more than the full-timers for sure and a lot of prime-timers as well. The 6AV location is bad, but as bad as the sales and visual crew experience is, you don’t know bad until you go into Manhattan Logistics, fancy word for dirty stockroom. The Managers are evil and all have bad attitudes. They walk over you day in and day out as if you were a piece of trash. The pay is mediocre, your are used for what your worth, I’ve seen many people come and go. The friendships are the only thing that I was happy to have. I had to be so fake and I’m a real person, don’t need to deal with the crap. The ideas of how they want the company aren’t bad, just it is being misused in the Manhattan market. They don’t follow the foundation principles that they created themselves. I also am constantly irritated by how lazy the staff is, I ended up doing other peoples work, because they were too lazy to do it themselves. So, am happy this is almost out of my hair.
This was an interesting read. As a former employee, I understand the frustrations. Some spell it out is colorful language, others in quieter, defeatist tones. But as a once-loyal-customer-converted-to-employee, I sincerely someone from corporate has an opportunity to read this. In addition to the commentary above, which should be taken into great consideration, the company needs to acknowledge the greater impact of these sentiments. The Container Store (or TCS as insiders call it) was conceptually an ideal place, built upon a business model of providing excellent customer service through intense employee training. And all the markers were there: catchy phrases, internal business language, reward systems. I was elated when I first started, because my retail background was all about customer service. But what I’ve learned is that building a business for the sake of building a business may not be the best way to start a company, and that’s exactly what the founders did. They wanted to become famous retailers and chose a then undiscovered niche market to do it in. (Had the timing been different, it could have been athletic shoes or personal care products.) So they started building, financing new opportunities through business loans, and reinvesting in the business’ growth. They wanted the recognition and admiration of the corporate retail world and began applying for the Forbes Best Companies list. Soon they were a sensation and did all they could to attract and retain loyal customers. And this is where the problems began. Adding new and better services for your customers costs payroll. And in retail, payroll is the FIRST thing cut when a store is over budget. When corporate says cut payroll, managers are robbed of the tools they need to keep morale up, to have adequate floor coverage and provide breaks, etc. Getting permission to go to the restroom was even a challenge in my store. I loved the TCS product and the people, but I’d been a retail manager and it wasn’t long before I realized what was really going on: TCS was gearing up to make their business model more bottom line so they could go public, although even to this day management would never admit that. They claimed there was an air of openness in the company and anyone could be asked anything, but information was rarely ever shared. Even store meetings were staged and lacked depth. In my store, it was hard to even know who the managers were at first! I’ve seen good people go in and become shadows of their former selves, totally sold on the hype and leaving their once vivid and rich personalities behind. Scary. If this gets to corporate, here is what you should know: it’s time to get back to basics. And don’t try to sell your managers on that; really mean it, get their buy in. Remember that you employ individuals who each have a unique perspective to offer the customer, not automatons that can’t fit a square peg in a round hole. Isn’t that what elfa is all about? Finding the perfect solution for the imperfect space? If this is the company it claims to be, it will remember that there was a time when people came first. Corporate, the complaints above (and perhaps below) are real and widespread in the NY market, not just the rants of a select few. I still have my TCS friendships to keep me warm. But there’s something to be said for the chill that runs down my spine now every time I walk into 629 6th Avenue.
Wow, I was thrilled to find this web page and to know that other people out there think and feel like I do. I feel like someone took all my memories away and put me in the middle of the Sahara, but at the long run I found out there are other people like me out there, and it feels so good that the truth is out of the Container. TCS (Total Crappy System) drained my energies and my life. Those 30 minutes breaks are so ridiculous when you’re scheduled to work a 9 hour shift and even expected to work more if the line is too long because they’re understaffed on the weekends. If TCS claims to be one of the best companies to work for in the USa, why do they give 30 minutes breaks for a full day shift? Let me guess, they have lawyers backing them up if someone even dares to ask why they only get 1/2 an hour break on the weekends. They make people work full time shifts, but the poor employees still have the title of prime timers, as they call them. If you want people to work full time hours, then give them a full time position!!! That only makes sense.
When I first started working there it was all sweet and cute, and it was all about creating a relationship with customers. When I left i realized that the managers only cared about the numbers. They come up to you and ask you how you’re doing, like if they really cared. There are some very cool people there, and they’re mostly the employees, full and part timers, who make the lazy managers look good in front of their superiors. They expect a lot from the employees, more than they can give. It’s all about communication, but the ironic part is that nothing is being communicated to the rest of the store; the managers keep the most important things to themselves, they just give you the daily numbers and how much money they did. They make you ask the customers for a phone number for mailing purposes when that’s something very personal. They should let the customers decide whether give their numbers or not applying other methods, not let your employees deal with the nastiness some customers give them when they ask for it. The employees have to make a happy face when asking for a very confidential number. Would you give your social security number if somebody asks for it? Same with the phone numbers. They track your address through the phone number. That’s scary. I still go to both stores to buy because the products and the contacts I made while I was employed there. Yes, I still hang out with amazing people I made friends with while in TCS. They made my every day going smooth, and I hope they leave that place soon.
Forget about going on vacation. It’s so hard to find people to cover you. If you don’t find somebody to cover you, then you’ll have to work your shift or come up with some crazy excuse because they’ll hang you if you don’t.
If you’re a manager and you’re reading all of this, please be more human and remember that we all have lives outside The Container and that it’s not all about numbers, did you ever think about building a stronger relationship with the employees you’ve been assigned?
If you’re still employed there and you’re reading this, aim for something better. I don’t know, take a real estate course, study trade, travel the world. You need to get back to you. Get your life back.
If you’re not working there anymore, good for you. I’m sure you’re less stressed out, and less worried about numbers and putting a cute smile in your face when you don’t fell that way.
To the rest of you who are reading along, think about who’s the backbone of a company, and think about all those employees who put their heart and mind in what they think is good. You may see employees who seem irritated, think about what thier jobs are doing to them. If you ever encounter an unhappy employee, think about what they have to do to reach some daily goals. But if you ever encounter someone who is real, who trully help you find what you need, someone who gives you a real smile, and makes a sincere conversation with you, and who really cares about you regardless of getting complements from you, just send a prayer in the sky for them to be happier and to find a job where they feel secure and for them to do what they really want to do.
It is only in our decisions that we are important.
Life begins on the other side of despair.
I hate victims who respect their executioners.
Happiness is not to do what we love, but to love what we do.
Sartre.
I applied for a job there because I thought it might be nice. I was supposed to go in for my second interview in NYC when we had the blackout. I called to tell them I would not make it in since my interview was at 10 AM and I live in Queens. The manager acted like I should walk to get there. Hello? I don’t even work for you yet and you think I am going to walk for two hours to get their for an interview? That was enough to tell me that I DID NOT want to be there.
I started new PT job and I can’t not tell you how relaxed I am. It pays far better than TCS (which LOVES to claim its one of the highest paying retailers) for less work and stress. Keep hope alive current TCS’ers. As for your comment Funny Freddy I think your a bit off. Everyone has the right to vent, that mean doesn’t mean folks don’t have lives. Clearly we do have lives if we are taking to task a company that constantly builds itself as “anti-retail” from the time you interview with them. The vast majority of complaints are about a company that “claims” to hold its workers in such high regard unlike “those other retailers”. If you make the claims, than walk the talk. As much as they bill themselves as the Kinder, Gentler retailer, at 6AV they do the complete opposite. The reality is just as you have been there for 9 months as much as you hate, sometimes it isn’t as easy to just pick up and leave depending on your individual circumstances, regardless of how uncomfortable as you maybe. All the tactics you listed, trust I and every single one of co-workers did and then some. That still doesn’t mean we can’t express our displeasure.
WOW!
It seems like there needs to be a support group for the TCS employees past and present. Or a class action law suit.
I too did my time, Full timer 11 months at the 6th Ave Hell hole. You are all right! I too was seduced by the shopping experience; they were so helpful and so happy (some were not so nice when I worked with them). I applied when I saw their ad on craigs list. Little red flags started going off right from the start. The first group interview was a joke! This woman was getting teary eyed over a cigar box…. Give me a break! That was only the first of many interviews! I felt like I was going to work for the CIA not selling plastic. Then the phone call…your hired (the trick is the deal you make when you get hired, I got them for 50K/yr, they told me it was the highest starting salary they had, if you are gonna work for them, ask for the sky!). Next was total overload of training…till everyone’s eyes were glazed. Way past any normal retention, all were in total overload. During training they make you feel great in a ‘weird Texas gushing’ kind of way, they seem to love you and have been waiting for you to come. They even buy you lunch. (When we worked during the Blizzard, they still expected us to take ½ hour lunch; they did not even buy us a pizza or hot cocoa for the dedicated few that came in!) The next day you’re in the pond with the big fish…with no support anymore from the nurturing people you thought loved you. You are now expected to snitch on everyone. You are expected to give daily updates, every night after your shift! Not doing so will be grounds for dismissal. Although nowhere in the employee hand book is that stated. When I was praising fellow employees for doing a good job, I was told that was not what they were looking for. ‘Coaching’ moments are what they are looking for. The management there is ridicules! They have NO people skills at all, nor do they want to learn any. I am one of the few who has successfully claimed and got unemployment from them (they have a full time company on retainer to fight any UI claim). Not that they did not try at every turn to try and stop my benefits (they fired me while I was waiting to receive physical therapy!). They were so smug and arrogant about it. At the unemployment hearing the manager actually said he thought he was ‘doing me a favor’ by firing me. They lost that attempt too! This same manager also told an employee that he ‘needed to do a complete 360’, not a request to do a 180 or about face…360 is back to start! They do not reward the right people for doing the right thing. They have a HUGE turn over, but will never admit it. They hire from the outside first to fill higher positions rather than rising up thru the ranks. Store wide meetings, huddles, phone capture (we are a tourist town for Christ’s sake, can’t we have a code for tourists?), they want you to love the kool aide, just as much as they pretend too. It was an eye-opening experience working there, I have learned a lot about myself and others, my coworkers were the best part of my experience at TCS
“360 is back to start!” ROTFLO I’m dying over here…I’m telling you, some of those managers really believe some of the crap they are programmed to spew. You’d be looking at them like, they got two heads and your partially expecting them to bust out laughing any moment with “Nah I’m just kidding” but it never happended. Well actually it did with some of the unplugged ones. 6th Ave was a comedy routine gone terribly bad.
Ridiculously abnormal and inhumane, the Container Store has got to be one of the most undercover cults out there. The entire structure of the company, from the hiring process to the training to the everyday huddles before heading out on the floor is filled with propaganda meant to sway you into being a TCS fanatic. Those who recognize it and the job for what it is usually quit after a short period of time. There is a small margin of those who are dedicated and deluded enough to seek a managerial position, and for those people, I send a small prayer. Not only are they the most anal-retentive pricks who perpetually try to convince you of the importance of their products (i.e. SOME FUCKING WORTHLESS PLASTIC), they are completely disconnected from their staff. No, I will not Windex another plastic shelf. No, FUCK YOU, stop telling me to tuck my shirt in. Oh yeah, John, Sonya, Robin? Get your shit straight. The only reason people stay for as long as they do is for their fellow employees. Fortune 100 my ass.
i dont know about working there but at the lexington store there was this disgusting old penguin who looked at every pretty girl up and down. it was quite disgusting and very unprofessional
Eduardo made me cry twice when I worked at Lexington.
Can I have your home phone number please? Why? Well, so we can stalk you and send you useless bimonthly mailers so you can save 10% on our shit that will probably break soon anyways. But don’t worry, we have a great return philosophy, unlike those assholes at Bed Bath and Beyond I mean, why would you want to shop there and get the same shit we’re selling for half the price when you can come here and shop among pretentious ass cunts like yourself who are convinced a drawer divider is going to change your life?
Thanks.
111-111-1111
Hey lets keep folks names out of it please. As true as they comments maybe, since its the internet they can’t defend themselves. Its only fair…
Reading the comment the former full-timer stated about “coaching comments” was an eye opener. I was (and I’m not exaggerating) the model employee. Then a manager pulled me aside one day and told me that two customers complained about a comment I’d made to them but that same manager was unable to articulate or quote verbatim what that comment was. She kept asking me “do you remember saying something like…” It was incredibly vague and I was never allowed to see this written reprimand that was put in my permanent file. To this day, I have no idea what it said or what the complaint was truly about, and because I thought I was was so great, it broke me. I cried and all the wind was gone from my sails from that moment on. I became afraid to make any small talk with any customer. But now I think it might have actually been that manager getting her quota of “coaching comments!” It all makes sense now – 2 years after the damage was done. That place was pure evil, through and through.
Regarding the 30 minute lunches on the weekend, I took a look at the NY Labor laws and was surprised to find:
MEAL PERIOD GUIDELINES
Section 162 of the New York State Labor Law provides as follows:
Time allowed for meals
1. Every person employed in or in connection with a mercantile or other establishment or occupation coming under the provisions of this chapter shall be allowed at least thirty minutes for the noonday meal, except as in this chapter otherwise provided. The noon day meal period is recognized as extending from eleven o’clock in the morning to two o’clock in the afternoon. An employee who works a shift of more than six hours which extends over the noonday meal period is entitled to at least thirty minutes off within that period for the meal period.
2. Every person employed for a period or shift starting before eleven o’clock in the morning and continuing later than seven o’clock in the evening shall be allowed an additional meal period of at least twenty minutes between five and seven o’clock in the evening.
3. Every person employed for a period or shift of more than six hours starting between the hours of one o’clock in the afternoon and six o’clock in the morning, shall be allowed at least sixty minutes for a meal period when employed in or in connection with a factory, and forty-five minutes for a meal period when employed in or in connection with a mercantile or other establishment or occupation coming under the provision of this chapter, at a time midway between the beginning and end of such employment.
The commissioner may permit a shorter time to be fixed for meal periods than hereinbefore provided. The permit therefore shall be in writing and shall be kept conspicuously posted in the main entrance of the establishment. Such permit may be revoked at any time.
In administering this statute, the Department applies the following interpretations and guidelines:
Employee Coverage. Section 162 applies to every “person” in any establishment or occupation covered by the Labor Law. Accordingly, all categories of workers are covered, including white collar management staff.
Shorter Meal Periods. The Department will permit a shorter meal period of not less than 30 minutes as a matter of course, without application by the employer, so long as there is no indication of hardship to employees. A meal period of not less than 20 minutes will be permitted only in special or unusual cases after investigation and issuance of a special permit.
One Employee Shift. In some instances where only one person is on duty or is the only one in a specific occupation, it is customary for the employee to eat on the job without being relieved. The Department of Labor will accept these special situations as compliance with Section 162 where the employee voluntarily consents to the arrangements. However, an uninterrupted meal period must be afforded to every employee who requests this from an employer.
Not all possible meal period questions can be anticipated and, therefore, these “Guidelines” may not cover all situations that might arise. For additional information or assistance, contact the nearest office of the Division of Labor Standards.
So unless the commissioner has issued a special permit to TCS for 30 minute lunches, which is not posted by the main entrance mind you, something seems to be amiss. With regards to paragraph 2 where are our extra 20 minutes? Not to worry – I’m sure they have a team of lawyers ready.
Funny how our weekend lunch breaks increased from 30 minutes to 45 minutes this past weekend. 🙂 I’m sure it had nothing to do with mindless drone’s post.
ROTL Well aint that something. Well we all know TCS management is reading up on this site, I think its been passed on to every current & former employee. Its a damn shame it took this for the company that claims to right by their employees to finally do better. a damn shame.
I am so tired of all the idiotic scheduling. How is it possible to NOT have enough people to staff the store during our annual shelving sale?? How many bitching customers will it take to sufficiently staff the 6AVE registers? How many sales are they willing to lose because there’s no one on the sales floor because they’re all on register backup? How many great employees are they willing to lose before they wake up and start backing US up?? They keep talking about how much they support the salespeople and how they want us to communicate to management. How is stressing us out a reasonable way of supporting us? Do you have any idea how many customers yell at us because there’s no one around to help them? No matter how great we are, there are limits. If we REGULARLY had even half the staff that we did on College Night, we’d be ahead of the game by leaps and bounds. But no, you’d rather everyone get burned out and quit to go to the local mental institution than do something as sensible as scheduling enough people to be on registers, Elfa, and shelving instead of trying to cut costs and have one person do 5 different things at the same time in 5 different areas of the store. Your staff is your biggest investment: why aren’t you doing more to protect your investment??
Yeah guys…I totaly agree with everything that was said about TCS. Mega-cult 4sure. While most of the employees are cool people, management is horrible. I worked at the 6th ave store and let me tell you, unless you were a gay white man, you were not being promoted. I worked with some really crazy managers like Ceci ( totally crazy and fat) Richard(a kiss-ass who as an emotional trainwreck)and Nick( the token black guy)
Loads of good people were fired or “laid-off” and the ethnic people worked in shiping(which was in the cellar).
A totally racist store in the wrong neighborhood. I took pleasure in sending people over to Bed Bath & Beyond.
List of Laughable Managers
Don Leary…him and his annoying boyfriend Steve…2 flamers
Kaylen…she was a major wack job
Richard
Nick
…and a host of other overly educated mid aged white people who I trained who later became my boss.
Sorry to see so many negative experiences with TCS. I worked for them for about 5 years, and had progressed into management. For the most part my experience was good, but occurred way before most people posting here ever even heard of TCS. After five years of excellent reviews and maximum raises, I was suddenly fired. As a previous post had said, the wind went out of my sails. Here I was in management, and they did not even give me a reason for firing me, just something very vague and generic. I realized at that time that Kip and Garrett did not really have the kind of control over the company they thought they did. Since the manager who fired me was over me, they automatically supported that manager and I was out. For somoeone who would arrive at work 1/2 hour early almost every day, and tow the company line cheerfully, I was shocked.
I work for the 41st store…Cherry Hill! (Give me a break!) Everything posted above is ABSOLUTELY true! TCS is definitely a cult and they could care less about you. It is not just the NY market, but the NJ store as well. The management, most of the full-time employees, etc. are horrible. I am counting the days until I am gone! My life is a lot more important to me.
The Container Store takes the cake. It’s a totally racist company and the few people of color that work as management don’t relize that they are tokens!
Joe De La Cruz I hope you read this so that you can remember that you used to be in the cellar too. Don’t smell yourself for too long. I rememeber when you were demoted and kept in the basement with the rest of the commoners. You were so mad that you stopped talking and you just started walking around the store like you were on your period. Don’t forget, you can go back there. Keep stacking containers and mind your business.
Okay I know they place was a hell hole but really, its not cool post folks full names. A first name, and initial are fine, but anything else is messed up. Even though they were a bunch of jack asses. All of former/current employees know who the “offenders” were. Let this be a lesson to always treat people with respect, cause then stuff like this wont bite you in the ass down the road.
I’m surprised nobody brought up the numerous sexual shenanigans that went on in TCS.
That place was RIPE for folks hooking up. I’m not implying any one that broke any Corp policy (cause we all know you can’t regular folks wanting to fuck each other). Slut bags and man whores were in full effect. It was Managers & Managers, Managers & subordinates. Visual – Sales – Fulfillment -Security all up on each other. But 6AV should have been a reality show/soap opera “As The Container Store Turns”
Time for a full-timer to weigh in. The workload we put up with is unbearable. It’s like being on a treadmill that’s set higher and higher. And there’s no break in sight. Meetings on days off…working full weeks when a national holiday (like Christmas) occurs…having to find someone who knows your responsibilities to get that “owed” day back again (which is difficult to do if you are the sales trainer, AC, IC, merchandising team leader, etc.). I could go on and on, so I’ll simply say, this is truly the worst place that I’ve ever worked. I’m looking forward to my last day at TCS. Hope a new job comes soon.
More illegalities: 1) TCS expects employees to write emails, leave phone messages, fill out paperwork, etc. off hours, even though it’s illegal for an employer not to pay employees for their work. Retailers Bébé and Wal-Mart are currently being sued precisely for this violation of labor law. 2) TCS adjusts schedules when employees work overtime, etc., thus illegally depriving employees of time-and-a-half and the extra pay that comes with it. In other words, TCS is again not paying employees for their work. 3) TCS, if I have heard correctly, is also being sued for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. No details here, because the knowledge is third-hand and privacy should be respected, but it seems that a NYC employee was out because of a disability. He explained the disability to the store director, who promptly fired him. Brilliant. Now TCS is moving beyond kool-aid to master-race wannabe. Long before I heard example three, I dubbed the company The Social Darwinism Store. Here are just a few more from my quasi-militaristic experience: The Totalitarian Store, The Fascist Store, Il Duce, and The Positive Eugenics Store (No Nazi or Stalinist Stores since TCS isn’t shooting those who resign or get fired). Oh … and by-the-way … aren’t those Foundation metaphors terrible? Bet you can guess how long I lasted … .
TCS is a CULT!! I will never understand how it makes the fortune list because it truly is the worst place I have ever worked at! Now the weekend breaks are 45 minutes and they expect you to read TCS material or watch training videos on your break! The management at Lexington is the WORST if you can call them managers because that is the least thing they do. They just sit ALL day in their office thinking what they will have for lunch.
I came across this post doing some research on TCS. Wow. I applied for the job, they are opening a new store in Little Rock, went through two interviews and I’m waiting to hear back from them. As a college student, mother, and photographer, I’m now seriously considering not taking the job. **ck me, what the heck should I do? Halp!
I came across this post doing some research on TCS. Wow. I applied for the job, they are opening a new store in Little Rock, went through two interviews and I’m waiting to hear back from them. As a college student, mother, and photographer, I’m now seriously considering not taking the job. **ck me, what the heck should I do? Halp!
Shocked, don’t let our bad experiences color yours. I know lots of people who truly enjoy working for TCS. I was not one of them, but I didn’t hate it with a passion either. Some jobs are simply not a good fit for everyone, and the only way to find out is if you experience it for yourself.
I’m free! Sweet Jesus, I’m free at last!
Lunch is now 45 minutes
To all you ex TCSers I feel your pain, but let me put a spin on it,How many companies these days rarely discriminate against age? yes there are serious issues with diversity especially when it comes to management .But it is a part time job for most of us. Make it work or bail ship!As prime timers most of us have others options outside of school students. The organization and the culture is a bit strange very often but as most have said they have met some great folks there .My thing make it work for you until you don’t need it anymore . Unless being a full time employee is your objective Yes management is questionable I only find a few skilled , with good people skills along side with professional management. Once again if you are a part time employee you most often have other options.Make it wrk until your ship comes in!
Dear HALP in Little Rock, take the job in Little Rock if it’s something you want to do
Remember you don’t have to do this all the time keep your personal priorities in check. Like most jobs today there is always going to be likes and dislikes , however you have a choice as you have obviously achieved quite a bit based on your entry.Also if nothing else you get a good discount of merchandise you might want to purchase. REMEMBER YOU CAN LEAVE WHEN YOU CHOOSE!
Exactly, inthehouse. You have to play the game. Just play along. And when they ask you to pick up more hours? Just say that you can’t. You wish you could. It just isn’t a good time right now.
It’s all about deposits and withdrawals. If you’re a prime timer, read the stuff on the boards. Learn the product. Know the Average Ticket for when they ask you in huddle. That kind of stuff gets you a whole lot of clout for when you need the day off and you don’t have coverage. (Three weeks’ notice? Please, whose life is that predictable?)
If you have a shitty schedule where you’re on the registers BY YOURSELF (like at LEX) for NINE HOURS at a time, tell them that won’t work for you. You would be great at job X,Y, and Z.
Play the game; don’t make it your life. You’ll last for years.
Do your best for the customer (you are serving them, not the managers).
It sounds like most of you have left already. But if you’re looking for how to cope, these are some pretty easy techniques.
Oh, and figure out where you would want to be all day. Get very good at that position, do your best to stay there. Become indispensible to that role so you won’t get stuck with something lame to do the entire freakin’ day.
How come my comment with the NY labor laws was taken down? Especially since the day after I posted it they extended the lunches to 45 minutes?
It doesn’t seem that bad. Maybe all those rants from 2006 and 2007 caused some kind of shake up… but it’s WAY better then Macy’s or The Pottery Barn… yesh!
See, here’s the thing. TCS told us they were different. They told us this was a place where good work was honored.
Memo to employees of the not-yet-opened Lex store, 2/25/06:
“We know you have already learned so much about our company through the extensive training you’ve received. And it only gets better!”
First clue that things were not as advertised: Management stopped smiling. All that friendliness when we were hired just disappeared. Second clue: We were told we had to clean the men’s room in addition to the enormous work of unloading the trucks. Third clue: Someone disappeared in the middle of the night, and we never knew why they were fired.
Their lingo was repeated like mantras. By that time some of us were whispering about “Stepford wives.” I was seriously wondering if I’d wandered into a cult.
(We weren’t the only ones. Read Daniel Goldin’s feelings about the place when he walked in as a customer.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-goldin/the-container-store_b_30289.html.
It got worse. They constantly switched the days we had to work. Most of us were working part-time. We had other jobs, families, school. But if you weren’t able to work the new schedule, you were out the door. Your kid was sick? You were told you weren’t showing the right commitment. Then they’d cut days and hours. People who’d depended on working 3 or 4 days a week had their hours cut, with no warning. You need to feed your family? Suck it up and be Gumby!
The initial crew at Lex gave their hearts and souls to the store. It didn’t matter. If you rubbed the wrong person the wrong way, you were out. They watched on the video cameras to see how many times you went to the bathroom. If you didn’t yell enthusiastically enough at huddle, it was “insubordination.”
Somebody else wrote that it’s better now. I hear it’s worse. I can only write my experience and my opinion. If you’re happy working there, good for you. I left last year. I miss the crew, but I don’t miss the madness.
Here’s what we wonder: Kip and Garrett seemed sincere. Do The Container Store’s *real* policies go all the way to Texas? Or has the Lex store just been taken over by a bunch of power-mad loonies?
As a former employee of the Lexington Ave store I can contest the comments above are right on target. I quit as I refused to work 5am on a Saturday. This is NYC and taking the subway at 4:00 o’clock in the morning is downright suicide.
TCS is a cult and they brainwash employees with their Foundation Day training, average ticket, sales goals, huddles, Elfa. WTF is so great about Elfa? It’s tacky and cheap looking, though costs a pretty penny. And GoShop. Puulleezz. Go back to Texas!
With so many disgruntled former employees out there, it is time for the owners, customers and shareholders to pay attention to the conditions and practices that are turning so many hard working New Yorkers off of TCS, unless the owners don’t mind being plagued by labor unions (time to call Michael Moore). Perhaps Fortune Magazine is beginning to get wind of this trend because the company that from 2000 to 2006 was in the top 10 best companies to work for suddenly dropped to the 20th place. New Yorkers don’t play!
Life has a funny way to make “good things” come to an end. Bad store directors and insensitive managers, along with practices and philosophies that are valued more than employees themselves have destroyed great companies, just check the business historical almanacs.
Allow me a quick prediction… The public knows that TCS recently sold a chunk of its shares to a private investing company, the recent trend towards being green and the gloomy economy are going to finally give TCS a rude awakening. What does that means to TCS in real time, only time will tell.
The “hurtles” are the biggest joke. At the beginning of your shift a manager reports on how the store performed the day before and then informs the employees what the sales goals for the day are. In the process the manager makes futile attempts to motivate the troops to meet those targets. At this time plastic rules, employees make every effort to appear interested in the goals of the day, but beneath the surface, it is obvious what these employees are thinking. Their actions deserve Oscar recognition, as some laugh, flakily agree, and clap to demonstrate their commitment to the goals. It is insulting to assume that employees are not aware of the facts-consistently meeting store performance goals only impacts the store management’s packets, no matter what psychologist out there tell us about what motivates a workforce.
The ship is sinking and FAST!!!
What happened to all the comments from 2008?
I have to agree with most of these comments. Definitely not in the top 100 (I think most of those companies payed to play anyway). I took a job just to fill some hours and make extra cash and it’s just a pain in the ass. I get crap shifts and if your not gushing over the company they act like there is something wrong with you. (I don’t care frankly but for informational purposes I write this) I am not really one to do backflips over cardboard boxes so management hates me and alway want to “chat” about my attitude etc.(think pieces of flair from Office Space). I do the work faster and better than most but they still want you to sell your soul and breathe the company every second of every day. I have a theory, if you have resigned yourself to loving this job you gave up on things a long time ago. To everyone listening, “Find what your good at and rock out! Don’t settle for this underwhelming existence make something great with what you’ve been given!”
what the???
I ran across this blog while looking for GLBT friendly places to work. I was recently (three weeks ago) let go from TCS after being there for almost three years and I cant agree more with what you guys are saying. I worked in Dallas the corporate home of TCS and the upper management behaves exactly as it is spoken here. I was ready to leave because of the “sweat shop” hours and their inability to be flexible with your schedule. There are times when I would go three days and not even see my child. I couldn’t take it anymore. I still have wonderful friends who work at the store here in Dallas and they are all walking on eggshells. If you look at all the people who are managers or above they are single, married with no children, or partnered with no children. I must say there are exceptions but those people hire nannies because they can afford it. In reference to pay I know they pay well. When I look at what they paid me in relation to my tenure there and then at others tenure combined with their position…. they are making great money. Besides when you go to the corp office EVERY car is really nice. So I must concur that alot of what you hear when you are hired “aint” what you experience later down the road.
The Container Store is seriously the worst place ON EARTH to work. They almost kill you physically and mentally, and they are outright abusive with the way they speak to people. The managers sit in the office and spy on everyone from the security cameras (CREEPY!!!!) instead of just getting out on the floor and working alongside us and helping us out. There could be 100 people on line and there could be 5 managers in the building and NO ONE will come to help out. They are condesending, lying, devious people who just hire and then harass to get you to quit (so they don’t have to pay unemployment). Why do you think they are always hiring? STAY AWAY. It is cult for sure, and an abusive one at that. I’d rather be homeless than be in slavery like that!
thank you so much for posting this info everyone! I see this isn’t just one or two people, this seems to be a big problem company-wide.
I was about to take an interview for one of the Manhattan branches. Got the call this morning. NOW I KNOW TO STAY AWAY!!!!!
In addition, TCS is actively anti-union! Unions are there to protect workers against this kind of atrocious corporate behavior.
Kip Tindell (TCS founder) is also on the board of Whole Foods and is good friends with John Mackey (Whole Foods CEO). For those who may have forgotten, Mackey recently stated in an op-ed piece that he believes no one is entitled to food, shelter, or health care.
TCS and Whole Foods are both owned by Leonard Green and associates (www.leonardgreen.com) If you want to put an end to this, contact them and demand they replace the management and you will no longer shop there until something is done about this.
Lets put an end to this together!!!
I’m going in for my second interview soon and if I get the job I’m taking it. I’m not afraid of working really hard and I really really need the cash.
This sounds like a terrible place to work for. I am reconsidering applying there now. Question what does drink the kool aide mean…just wondering 🙂
I’m so glad I found this blog as I was headed in to the Group Interview in 2 days time. Mind you, I am not afraid of hard work, but when something smells bad, it generally is. I am a wife and a mother, and my main motivation in applying was their talk of work-life balance, needless to say I am not willing to give up my family for a job. A part time job at that. Thank you to all TCS employees {both past and present} who were willing to share this information with us as it has truly helped me to make an informed decision. All the best!
This blog is just too funny, not one positive post about working for the container store, everything is negative. Pretty funny because I have read dozens of articles stating they are one of the top 100 companies to work for.