Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Just wanted to let you all know that I start a very part-time job at Sur La Table (Denver Cherry Creek) tomorrow. The hourly wage is awful , but it will be only 15 hours a week and more as we get closer to the holidays. The best part is the 40% discount on things non-electric. Can you guess where all of my Christmas gifts will be purchased?
ilene

PS: This should have been in "Miscellaneous" but I can't figure out how to move it

That sounds like a funjob! HMMMM, what do I want for Christmas?

Moved.

Hi,

I was thinking of applying for a sales position (posted for the holidays only at this point) at my local Sur La Table in So Calif. How are you liking the work and people so far? Do they treat you well?

The store manager here said that some of the seasonal positions will be made permanent after the holidays. My intuition tells me this might not be true. Is there any sign in your store that this may be happening?

Thanks for sharing! I'm new to this board and found it when I was searching for information on what it was like to work for a Sur La Table store. I love cooking and am now off to look at the other forums here.

Cheers!

Unfortunately, I had to quit the job on Friday because my lower back could not tolerate standing for a 5 hour shift. I was really enjoying it, but found that the day after working was spent prone on a heating pad with massive doses of ibuprophen....I decided that $9.00 wasn't worth the pain. There isn't a chair in the store and always something to keep you busy, so no leaning either (restocking and dusting are ongoing)
The people were really terrific, but I was disappointed in their lack of a formal training protocal (and that may be just the store I worked at). Essentially they had me watch a video on cookware, knives and coffee makers, then on the floor to learn where everything was. After a few days, they had someone show me how to use the register....the rest was on-the-job training (at the customer's expense). I am familiar with most of the products in the store and was comfortable answering customers' questions, but in some cases had to find someone with more experience.
The holiday schedule was going to be beefed up so that instead of 10-15 hours per week, we would be working 20-25 hours. Most of the holiday hires would be kept on if they wanted, but everyone's hours would be reduced back to the 10-15 per week.
While the hourly wage is meager, the 40% discount on things not powered by electricity is enough of an incentive for most people to stay on.
I would have stayed on passed the holidays if I could have managed the backache.
ilene

That sounds on a par with my experience with Surly Tab as a customer. They're just not organized, at all.

For example, 5 years ago they changed Point-of-Sale systems. And the corporate office wouldn't pay the $2000 per store to migrate their customer lists ... so their first 3 years of customers were just wiped out. They also won't buy scheduling software for any of the cooking classes, or even an internet PC so that the cooking class manager can use Yahoo Groups.

So, I'm not surprised you didn't last long.

I was definitely surprised at the lack of organization and the corporate whims. When I first started, they would email the next week's schedule. Then just last week, I never received a schedule for the following week. When I went into the store, I mentioned it to the manager (as I was quiting) and he said that corporate would not allow them to email schedules any longer.....everyone had to come into the store to see their schedule. How would everyone know that, since they didn't send an email alerting us.......I am just a little too anal (and old) for that nonsense.
As I mentioned, I really enjoyed the people working there. I was surprised at their knowledge and dedication given the salary and the pressure to sell (with no financial incentive).

So I guess we're not getting our Christmas gifts this year....

Sorry it didn't work out.

Laurie

Hmmm interesting stuff Ilene. I would think that they would be overly structured, to the point of nauseum. I can check that off my list of "fun things to do in retirement". Thanks.

eb

Interesting. I had been thinking of getting a part time job at WS or SLT for fun. I know it would drive me mad, but the discount is appealing, and it just might be fun. There is no doubt I know wayyyyy more about cooking and gear than anyone working in my local stores.