fashion merchandiser

marchandiseur

senior visual merchandiser

seller

visual merchandiser

POWERHOUSE RETAIL SERVICES

(Canadian Office) 

I worked here for almost a year as a contract merchandiser. The pay is extremely low, even for the industry. You are not valued or treated well as an employee but are an afterthought. Management is paid well with expenses. As a merchandiser, you are not provided with anything but are paid minimum wage. If you ask for a wage increase, you will not get it. Powerhouse makes money by paying their contractors nothing. This is their business model. 

There is no product knowledge given to reps. Limited information and planograms are provided. This means if something goes wrong, they will blame you. Which is fine, if you stand your ground. Remember that. Communication is limited by head office unless they need something. 

Expectations for work are very high. They only hire "seasoned merchandisers" but do not reflect this in their pay. You can make this job work for you but you must take care of yourself and do not let them take advantage of you. Know when to say no, make the hours work for you, cut them off when you can, do not go above and beyond for Powerhouse, they are not interested in supporting you. 

At store level, the teams will try to take advantage of you. Remain allusive, do your work, do it well, and leave. Basically, as a field merchandiser, everyone tries to take advantage of you. Know your worth, stand your ground, do your work and leave. 

If you are in school, want a flexible job, need to work evenings, etc. This is a good job for you. Remember, make it work for you. Powerhouse does not care about their employees, and that is fine. Remember this and take what you can from the job. It's a great in-between gig. However, there will be no advancement no matter how well you do for the company. Powerhouse will never give you anything beyond 14/h. Trust me. But, if this is what you need for now, and you understand that, it's a great gig. 

Good Luck!

Good friendly company. Great work life balance. 

Hours are always very flexible and you can work at your own pace according to your availability. 

Some months you can work 10 hours during slow months up to 180 hours during busy months.

The pay is very poor at about minimum wage and because you sign on as a contractor you have no CPP or EI deductions. 
I am uncertain how they can continue to omit these federal deductions after many years in business. 

Wages do not increase over multiple years of service.

Management team seems to be well paid on salary with benefits and continue to promote themselves from within over the years, yet they do not send any money back to the hardworking field force and increase low wages.

Emails are often ignored (3 week delay sometimes!) 
You must be able to think on your feet and not rely on anyone to help you.

Store staff often treats reps poorly as they know wages are very low. 
Store staff generally treats reps poorly as we do not always have current product knowledge and are merely cleaners and not treated as brand specialists or creative people.

I'd love to see a fair wage offered.

-They make you do unpaid work from home (weekly reports)
- Workplace culture is toxic, not allowed to talk to your co workers, must fold pants in silence. 

-Favoritism in the workplace: if you're the favorite, you don't have to follow the rules (dress code, multiple raises, multiple lunch breaks), when all other coworkers must do that persons job, and never receive a raise even after 2 years of working there.

-They message you constantly during late hours of the night when its after work hours, and penalize you if you're not responding to casual meaningless gossip in their What's App group chat. 

- Overall, you can't please them. No matter how hard you work at your job, they don't care and they will criticize you for doing extra work that THEY ASKED YOU TO DO. Ex: was told I was helping too much on the sales floor, when that's what they requested me to do.. 




I have worked for Powerhouse Retail Services Inc as a merchandiser for 5 years now. I started with a small territory, about 15 hours a week working in selected Walmarts and Sears stores. I advanced and are currently getting 30 to 35 hours a week and working at the Bay and Marks Work Warehouse. I learned a lot from the Account Managers, I receive a lot of product knowledge, coaching and they also give me  feedback on my finished product. I really enjoy working on the different brands at the two retailers and of course working for the Powerhouse Team. Occasional they come out and work with me on special projects, when we need to be trained on new programs, shop resets or new fixture installs. The pay is good for an independent contract I have no complaints.

The interview and onboarding process was chaotic and disorganized, with conflicting instructions from multiple people, making the experience stressful and confusing. While they promised flexible scheduling during the hiring process, this quickly proved untrue. After being hired, they falsely claimed I had agreed to a fixed schedule, disregarding the flexibility initially promised. On my first shift, I received a call where I was unfairly criticized for supposedly agreeing to terms I never accepted. When I tried to clarify what was communicated to me from the start, they dismissed my concerns and refused to acknowledge their miscommunication or take responsibility for their mistakes.

Most merchandising companies employ you at a fair industry standard hourly rate, and compensate you for your mileage and any work related expenses such as parking etc. This company does not do that, they hire you on an "independent contract" basis therefore no taxes or cpp, ei etc is taken off your pay. They do not compensate for mileage and pay the lowest hourly rate in the industry.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The company starts paying really well in the beginning but gradually reduces the pay per task so if they assign you a task when you were a beginner and they were paying you for 3 hours after couple months they will pay you 1 hour or less for the same task....
For me it wasn't worth sticking to this company. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Getting the job done within the time limit. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
We never meet other employees at the company as we work separately in different locations

A busy company throughout the year, third part logistics therefore their clients play a big role on how much work one will have per day. Excellent mixture of culture (mostly West Indian), occasional times workers there bring food to share with everyone, everyone is relatively happy smiling while working and friendly. Warehouse management tends to puts feelings in the way of the goal, and manager seems very autocratic and favoritism is strongly intertwined in warehouse culture.

I am a long term employee I enjoy the work and the hours
Powerhouse is a visible presence in stores so we have to work fast and quiet. Get done what is expected of you and acknowledge the people that we conduct our business with. Keep H.O up to date of anything that needs to be looked after
There is no advancement as it is a merchandising job Maybe get more territory
Pay raises do not happen and the rate is below standard
Management is great

A typical day at Powerhouse is fun due everyone there really cares for one another. The management team demonstrates that they care. 
They conduct performance reviews and ensure that everyone gets a raise. The HR Manager that they have there currently had implemented a lot of positive changes and she demonstrates fairness. It was definitely a great decision hiring her. Since her hire things have definitely improved and the employees feel heard.
A lot of social activities and room to grow.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Fashion merchandiser 106 salaries reported	$20.78 per hour
Marchandiseur 24 salaries reported	$21.77 per hour
Senior visual merchandiser 5 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour
Seller 6 salaries reported	$18.75 per hour
Visual merchandiser 1 salary reported	$18.00 per hour

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