Ardene
Great place to work with lots of exciting projects ahead
Human Resources Coordinator (Current Employee) – Montréal, QC – 10 October 2018
Ardene is a great place to work. The culture is very entrepreneurial and there is a lot of room for creativity and initiative. Most managers empower their teams to be self-sufficient and to come up with new ideas. There is a great atmosphere at the office of collaboration and fun. For example, we have monthly birthday celebrations and summer barbecues where the whole office gets together to celebrate.
There are great projects coming up and this is an exciting time to be part of this company.
There are great projects coming up and this is an exciting time to be part of this company.
Pros
Entrepreneurial culture, fun environment
Cons
Limited benefits
Good job at first...
Sales Associate (Former Employee) – Edmonton, AB – 28 September 2018
I was there a couple years, first year was great. great people. great management. then it turned out to be a terrible place to work.. The manager would look for anything to write you up with. The manager is very in her own words is very ""manipulative"" and talks about all her coworkers. Nothing you say to her stays with her... all of management will know what you've companied about. they also change and lie about situations that happen just so they can write you up. It is nothing but a high school environment.. Make you work every Friday and Saturday at 7:30am and don't switch it up. hours get cut all the time. If you have a complaint about management and you cant go to them with it, head office won't believe you. they also do anything to push you out, or use you. I know girls who were over worked and taken advantage of over and over again. I do not recommend staying at this job more then a couple months. there is hardly any praising for anything you... maybe a card on the wall but that's about it.. they also give management a bonus for making budget... third keys get gift cards but the girls who are on the sales floor and not hiding in the back room get nothing, even thought we do all the work.. they also fire new girls over not being able to work Sundays and for not doing their jobs even when they were not trained properly …..
Pros
discount is nice.
Cons
pretty much everything
Fun manager and staff for the most part
Sales Associate (Current Employee) – Terrace, BC – 27 September 2018
Good first iob to start with. Definitely not a job I want to spend the rest of my life doing, but until I figure out what I want to do might aswell work somewhere.
Pros
Friendly staff
Cons
Repetitive
I love serving people.
Retail Associate (Former Employee) – Nanaimo, BC – 26 September 2018
I rocked at my job at the till. I always had a bubbly attitude. Always had a smile on my face. Always greeted everybody in and out very friendly. I'm a people person
Pros
Free food after closing
Cons
Cleaning bathrooms lol
Not my favorite place to work
Assistant Manager (Former Employee) – Cranbrook, BC – 18 September 2018
I moved up quickly, the work was alright. I hated doing the shoe walls. Some of the stuff they made us do was unnecessary which then just made more work for us. In my store the staff was awful, high school kids who just turned adults caused for lots of drama. But on our good days it was alright. Our store didn't follow a lot of what was needed when the District manager wasn't there. The rules provided by Ardene were simple and yet easy to follow, but making a bunch of barely mature adults follow them was very hard. The discounts were great, spent most of my paycheques there. We kept our store clean and usually had a good review from our DM. We also were not allowed to participate in local events, or donate to them which for a small community is a big deal. I hated that all the times we were fundraising it was basically through head office and to which charities they chose... that was a big no no for me.
Pros
discounts, hours, wekkends off, benefits, comission.
Cons
drama, unnecissary work, shoes, .
Horrible Management and Work environment
Sales Associate (Former Employee) – Laval, QC – 14 September 2018
The only nice people are your coworkers (I have met some friends that will last me a lifetime there.) but some would bully you straight to your face. You'll only get about 30 minutes off in your whole day (not counting the time you put in for the close) and most of the time you barely get a fifteen minute break. My manager forbade bathroom visits during the shift unless they were taken during your break (for a 9 hour shift you'd only get one 30 minute).
Severely understaffed because almost everyone quit within the first 2 months of working there after being repeatedly bullied or humiliated by the Manager for childish things like laughing with either your coworkers or the clients themselves or even taking too long to redo a table that was massacred by the clients (yet you will be yelled at if the store isn't spotless) or because of your appearance.
Dress code was extremely severe for no apparent reason, we were forced to wear ardene shoes that weren't "sports shoes" , "converse type shoes" or open shoes. Which left us with very uncomfortable shoes to last for our long shifts. you are left at the mercy of your manager to decide whether or not the rest of your attire is acceptable for your shift, my manager did not shy away from making very nasty comments about not only your attire but your overall appearance; "are you wearing this because you think you're fat?" or " if that top looked good on you I'd let you wear it, but it doesn't so you're gonna have to put something on top."
Assistant managers often disagreed with the manager which led to very explosive arguments more... often ending in tears. One of them even quit on the spot in the middle of her shift.
Assistant managers were amazing, basically taking over the job of the manager herself, seeing as she was always on the phone, on break or on the computer and never helping out when the store was in a rush and everything was a mess. They unfortunately ended up quitting too because the atmosphere was too hostile.
Days off were hard to get and almost always required to have medical proof. We were forced to come into work when we were sick as she would threaten to fire us if we didn't.
I ended up quitting after almost a year of working there because of the panic attacks I had before pretty much every shift. less
Severely understaffed because almost everyone quit within the first 2 months of working there after being repeatedly bullied or humiliated by the Manager for childish things like laughing with either your coworkers or the clients themselves or even taking too long to redo a table that was massacred by the clients (yet you will be yelled at if the store isn't spotless) or because of your appearance.
Dress code was extremely severe for no apparent reason, we were forced to wear ardene shoes that weren't "sports shoes" , "converse type shoes" or open shoes. Which left us with very uncomfortable shoes to last for our long shifts. you are left at the mercy of your manager to decide whether or not the rest of your attire is acceptable for your shift, my manager did not shy away from making very nasty comments about not only your attire but your overall appearance; "are you wearing this because you think you're fat?" or " if that top looked good on you I'd let you wear it, but it doesn't so you're gonna have to put something on top."
Assistant managers often disagreed with the manager which led to very explosive arguments more... often ending in tears. One of them even quit on the spot in the middle of her shift.
Assistant managers were amazing, basically taking over the job of the manager herself, seeing as she was always on the phone, on break or on the computer and never helping out when the store was in a rush and everything was a mess. They unfortunately ended up quitting too because the atmosphere was too hostile.
Days off were hard to get and almost always required to have medical proof. We were forced to come into work when we were sick as she would threaten to fire us if we didn't.
I ended up quitting after almost a year of working there because of the panic attacks I had before pretty much every shift. less
Pros
your coworkers, the work experience
Cons
everything else
Stressful
ASSISTANT MANAGER / MANAGER (Former Employee) – Calgary, AB – 13 September 2018
The most stressful job I have ever had. Many breakdowns in the back room because lack of training for employees and having to pick up their slack. Rude, horrible customers daily.
Kept me busy, loved the people i worked with
Sales Associate (Current Employee) – Kelowna, BC – 9 September 2018
Fun people to work with, and the discounts were good. And they were pretty flexible with the schedule. But was pretty understaffed sometimes and I felt they played favorites with some of the girls.
Fun place and very understanding management
Sales Associate (Former Employee) – Ottawa, ON – 4 September 2018
Great Working at Ardene. Loved my co workers like they were my family. The management was very understanding with school schedules and personal lives. Really sad I had to leave town :(. Will work at Ardene again if ever I move back :))
n/a
Key Holder/Sales Associate (Former Employee) – Oshawa, ON – 4 September 2018
I havent worked here for years. I cannot give a review as i am sure that things have changed in the past 10 years. This is silly and i don't think its very logical to me finding a new job.
Lots of stress within the workplace. Not fun
Retail sales associate (Current Employee) – Hamilton, ON – 28 August 2018
Stress, lots of stress due to dealing with lots of shoplifters. always moving. Management sucks! Dress code is stupid. Manager always in a cranky mood
Pros
Good discounts
Cons
Long hours, horrible manager.
worst place ive ever worked in my life
Sales Associate (Current Employee) – Truro, NS – 28 August 2018
childish, management is anything but professional they act like they are in high school, neither of them should be anywhere near a management position, the bully all of their employees and its just a dramatic and toxic environment
Pros
none
Cons
everything
environnement agréable pour étudiant
commis a la vente (Former Employee) – Brossard, QC – 27 August 2018
Emploi agréable pour étudiant qui désire apprendre le service à la clientèle et comment faire des présentations visuelles pour le matériel selon les thèmes de la compagnie/ les saisons. Plusieurs postes sont offerts si la mode et la gestion vous intéresse.
Pros
belle harmonie dans l'équipe
Cons
Équipe jeune
brossard dix 30 management is horrible
ASSISTANT MANAGER (Current Employee) – Brossard, QC – 22 August 2018
the manager can not keep employees for more than a year because it seems thats how long it takes for people to realize how unstable, and horribly she runs the store.
Its hard to get days off even if you work 6-7 days in a row,
no room for promotions because all the positions are full and by people with no intentions of leaving or moving up themselves.
Its hard to get days off even if you work 6-7 days in a row,
no room for promotions because all the positions are full and by people with no intentions of leaving or moving up themselves.
Pros
creative
Cons
bad manager, horrible hours, no days off
Productive and fun workplace
Sales Associate (Seasonal) (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 21 August 2018
A typical day at work is to fold clothes, open change rooms, stock, and sometimes cashier. I learned a lot from this and helping customers . The management were nice and friendly.
Very accepting and fun work place
Seasonal Sales Associate (Former Employee) – Hamilton, ON – 20 August 2018
Absolutely loved working at Ardene! My management was fantastic and all of the co-workers were so nice. There was always something to do whether it be cleaning or assisting customers. I learned a lot about retail stock and customer service.
Great Place to Work
Sales Associate (Current Employee) – Sydney, NS – 18 August 2018
I have worked at Ardene for years and I loved it. Great people, awesome atmosphere. Management is great. The comapany can be hard to work for sometimes
Pros
Management
Cons
small space