Low pay and a lot of hard work - Sales Associate DSW Employee Review

1.0
May 27, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Fairly flexible hours, decent employee discount (30%)

Cons

The pay was very low (at least when I worked there from 2017-2021). I got hired at $9.50/hr in 2017 and ended at $13/hr in 2021. No room for growth and no opportunity to become full time as a non-manager. They place a lot of pressure on associates to get sign-ups for their rewards program to the point where they micromanage the percentages/numbers and lecture/blame us when we fail to get a new customer to sign up. I did a lot of work at the location I was at, including cashier and warehouse duties and even helping to train new hires, but I was not being compensated fairly whatsoever. I have the impression the supervisors/assistant managers don't get paid much either, though. Like any retail job, the customers are often very rude and entitled. I did not enjoy a single minute working at this store.

Explore other reviews about DSW

5.0
Jun 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The job it self is easy and not very fast pass.

Cons

Not always easy to get time off.

2.0
Jul 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

30% Employee Discount, sometimes around the holidays they'll have an additional for employees. Sometimes you'll get along with other associates.

Cons

- Poor hours, which goes both ways, you could either get not enough or too many hours. I was pulling around 30hrs a week for the first few months when I first got hired. - No appreciation or acknowledgment if you're actually doing the work and not just focusing on looking good for the customers. - Poor management. No communication in between the superiors, none of the updates they get (as far as procedures and what not) get passed down to the employees that actually need to use that information. - You won't be able to do anything about thieves, other than make them known to managers, and attempt to watch them while juggling a thousand other things. - No room for growth unless you've gotten hired through nepotism or you're willing to lose your soul for that job. - No adequate raises. I started at 15.50$ and ended at 17.70$ and I worked there for nearly 4 years (2 months shy) putting in a ton of effort.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All