sales associate

Wine and Beyond

If you enjoy being paid minimum wage for management to belittle you and use management techniques that do nothing but load unnecessary stress on your shoulders, then this is the perfect workplace. People are given raises and promotions based on nepotism. If you're not friends with the management crew, enjoy the fifteen an hour, that any other job in the city can provide, for the rest of your employment period. The company expects you to upsell anything they sell with their ridiculous margines, and look down upon you if you provide customers with your personal opinions on product selection. I've had multiple times I've been pulled aside into Confrontation two on one situations with two managers, putting me into a hostile environment, while shaming me for trying to give opinions or recommendations. Anytime you challenge a managers perspective, it's brought back to you with a written report of you being "hard to work with" instead of being looked at like you're innovative. Never mind the failure for management to 'Lead by Example'. Berating employees for swearing on the floor, then to turn around as they make wildly inappropriate jokes on the work floor. Most managers here try to be your friend, just to use anything you say to them in confidence as a way to put you down. They don't want solutions at Wine and Beyond, They want power. At least Starbucks and McDonalds give you benefits. Genuinely an amateur workplace. Not to forget that you will get written up if you can't get to work because you're sick. The good parts about Wine and Beyond are some of the people. The other minimum wage workers who will make sure you know they hate their job here too. There are some good people here, And they're fun to work with when the negativity of everything is gone. This is the perfect place to work one or two shifts a week as a side job and nothing more. Don't expect anything out of this job. 

Don't expect to get paid more than minimum wage. 

There is no Job Security as in their new hire paperwork they state that they can fire you without cause at any time. Company has fired multiple people to restructure multiple times in the last year. 
The internal promotion process is a sham. The area or district managers hand pick who gets the position, often reaching out to people who didn't apply or are not in the industry after the posting has closed to offer them a position.

Head office changes their minds daily with what is the standard. There is ZERO training offered, and what resources you have to improve yourself are only avail on the company internal website, which is only accessible on a company computer, which you never are allowed to or have time to do.

All of the SOP are out of date and often incorrect on how to do things making it impossible to do anything right. Hard work is never rewarded, only used to raise the standard of work to make people work more for less. 

Bottom line is the company cares more about pleasing their investors than investing in a competent, long lasting employee workforce. They routinely will ship managers (the only full-time employees even if you work 40+ hours a week for months on end which violates the Alberta labour standards on what a full-time employee is) to dangerous stores to get them to quit rather than fire them and pay out severance. To get part time employees to quit they will just cut you down to 1, 3 or 4 hour shift a week with no notice.

General Managers often end up working 60+ hours a week to make sure the stores can function, making approximately $46,000 a year with little or no bonuses or even a thank you from management. Don't believe what anyone at store level tells you as that information is most likely incorrect within an hour or has changed or is a straight out lie. Nobody knows what actually is happening within the company as there is NO COMMUNICATION between ANY STORE, DEPARTMENT, OR FROM HEAD OFFICE

I would not recommend anybody apply to this company. They start off on making large promises they never keep. They say that they're looking into things without actually doing so or if they are they take 3 years to do it.

The management teams try to help employees were they can but way up the chain they do not care about the employees at any level. Their motto is everybody's replaceable, People in the boardrooms and head office do not care about the retail employees. If they think they can underpay you, they will. They will screw over young workers and foreign workers without a second heartbeat. They will use management teams as scapegoats and they will not deliver news themselves.

Schedules are all over the place and are dependent on the person making the schedule at each store. Some managers will be fair and others will take advantage of this and give the employees the worst shifts. 

Workplace culture can be good at certain stores depending again on the GM of the store. Culture they try and push from head office is at best corporate jordan.

I guess the only pro would be the discount. Which ironically they increased the amount you can buy monthly but didn't give any kind of raise. 

Again, do not work for this company. They will not care about you.

It's a good place to work if you don't need money. But everyone needs money. Pay is atrocious for the value you generate. People who have been there for years still make just over $16/h  You learn a ton about different spirits, wines, and such. Which is interesting but this knowledge doesn't get you paid. There is no incentive to sell to people. The main benefit is the discounts you get. The job is easy for the most part; occasionally, you will have intensive and relatively strenuous days. But those days are rare and usually around major holidays. 

Store managers have no control over compensation whatsoever; you are awarded a single annual raise of $0.40c, which is approved or denied at the discretion of a person you have never met in an office somewhere. I often found myself reducing my effort to the pay I was receiving. Sure, this isn't the best thing to do, but when head office and upper management are as apathetic and micromanaging as they are, it's hard not to be like this. 




- Worked at the Wine and Beyond St.Albert location from 2019 to 2021, started off as a warehouse associate then moved up to warehouse lead. Cross trained as a sales associate from time to time.

- Pros: Wine and Beyond managers and coworkers are helpful and knowledgeable. They take safety seriously and make sure you're safe. Sometimes get free samples new products and give feedback.

- Cons: Wine and Beyond managers are terrible at hiring new warehouse associates, hire anyone on the spot regardless of requirements. 1st guy lasted 7 months, 2nd guy was worse. Wine and Beyond managers loved to gossip laugh about everything behind your back, Alcanna managers above Wine and Beyond come in time to time, not very friendly or sociable act snobby recommend staying away from them.

I really enjoyed the work, and interaction with customers. Management made it hard and tiring to come in to work. Some managers were great, though it could not balance out the dread I would have working with others. I do not understand how some people got to where they are within the company. They are condescending and talk to staff like they are children, let alone the way I have seen them interact with customers. 

For such a large company, they are severely lacking in training and communication overall. You are expected to know everything and get talked down on for not knowing something you were never shown how to do. 

I would definitely continue to work in liquor, maybe even Wine and Beyond again, but I would run in the opposite direction if I knew I would be working with some people again. 

Wine & Beyond is mostly always busy in the summer, with a full workload already, be prepared for management to pile more on to you and expect you to finish it all within the 8 hour time span you work that day.
When Corporate comes to the store, it ruins most people’s moods, you have people telling you where to put things which they have no idea about. You have people nitpicking at displays you’ve build and ruining your section without a single care about the hard work you put into it.
Coworkers are great, very friendly and all around amazing people to work with.
Individuals in Corporate will ruin your chances of getting a promotion just because of personal feelings.
Raises are non existent. 


If you have a strong work ethic, they will take advantage of it. Throw responsibilities on you that are not in your job description. Overwork you and dangle the promotion carrot in your face for months on end. (Saw this happen to many people not just me) Not only that but the toxic work environment will make you crazy. They gaslight, lie, and so much gossiping especially between managers. Your mental health will decline. It's not worth the low pay or the discount. This company does not care one bit. Avoid at all cost.
If management cared, they'd value hard workers instead of pushing them down. Even if you can't find a job anywhere, I would recommend being jobless until you can find literally anything else.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Staff were so knowledgeable. The discount was nice and the customers were great 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
They did not tell me that I would be working in a cooler and doing heavy repetitive lifting in the cold for an entire shift, every shift even though I was hired as a cashier. It felt like a great deal of ungrateful labour for minimum wage and no appreciation.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Hierarchical, snobbish and catty. High turnover of new staff because they are treated like they are disposable.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Hard work with little appreciation except from the lovely customers.

What is the best part of working at the company?
It was engaging and there's lots to learn about and you could be placed into a specific department in which you have more interest in learning more about. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Upper management not caring about their staff members 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Pretty good it was better years ago when there was more learning opportunities and courses to attend to further your knowledge 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Help customers, order/restock product, build/move displays

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