Pier 1 Imports Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Pier 1 Imports part-time for less than a year

Pros – Working at Pier 1 Imports grants you the occasional (and limited) creative freedom when assembling displays.

Cons – I loathed my time spent at Pier 1 Imports. The management refused to hire anyone that was actually physically capable of doing the very heavy lifting that the job requires. The entirety of the floor staff was composed of petite college-aged women and senior citizens; neither group was wholly capable of unloading couches, dressers, dining room tables, etc. The pay was absolutely paltry. All sales associates started at exactly minimum wage, with "raises" (of up to a whopping $0.10) being available (upon a glowing performance review) once every consecutive year. There was also pressure, bordering on harassment, to talk customers into signing up for the Pier 1 credit card. Furthermore, the tone of all instructional material distributed by the company was wildly sexist. All customers are referred only as "she" or "her" in Pier 1 literature. The only time I saw the mention of "he" or "him" was in a leaflet discussing what a mother should buy for her son going off to college. (There were no female-oriented dorm items shown, either.)

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Pier 1 Imports part-time for less than a year

Pros – I transferred from one Pier 1 to another and the one I am currently at is the one I will be discussing...
1.) You can transfer in most cases if you move
2.) The customers are for the most part friendly

Cons – 1.) If you need off you either get someone to cover you or oh well you can't have off
2.) Associates most times are not willing to cover other associates shifts.
3.) Favors are given buy not received, i.e. I cover your shift you cover mine
4.) There is absolutely no leadership, we currently have no store manager and you never see the woman who even makes the schedule and we aren't even given her number if we need it.
5.) It takes a million tries to get the managers to give you any answers to questions.
6.) You get scheduled when your availability says you can't work that day.
7.) The other associates are mostly rude and catty.
8.) There are too little managers, we have 2 as apposed to the 5 we should have.
9.) I went from making $8.75 at my old Pier one to making minimum wage ($7.25) at my current store.
10.) We are either over scheduled and people have to go home, or under scheduled where one associate is covering the whole floor by themselves for 4-5 hours at a time with one manager working.
11.) The dress code is ridiculous for the work we do. If you are standing for 5 or more hours a day sneakers and comfort shoes should be allowed.
12.) The prices are ridiculous on most things and unless you get a card you get no discounts.
13.) Too much stock is brought into the store with too little space, making most stores look crammed and completely trashed.
14.) Shipping online should not be so ridiculously priced.
 15.) Expectations are way too high. I sold 6 IC's in my first month working at Pier 1 and I was told that was ok but I need double that.

Advice to Senior Management – Overall, Management needs to work on being management because as of right now most associates are feeling like they constantly get the short end of the stick. I am thinking about quitting because of how many times in just a month I have had trouble with this store and because of how little leadership there is. If you cannot provide leadership you should not have a store. Two managers and no store manager is unacceptable. If there was any sort of leadership more than half of these problems would disappear. Management needs to open their eyes and realize the associates would meet expectations if expectations weren't so high. Also, it's hard to focus on expectations when the store has no one to guide it, so associates have to do a million different things at once. This company needs a big reality check.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Pier 1 Imports

Pros – discount and part time insurance

Cons – There are rules set into place, but they are just words on paper...customer can yell at you for following the rules set forth by corporate, but because Pier 1 is desperate to make it "her favorite place to shop", they will make employees take back items from years ago and then send the customer a gift card for their inconvenience. This does not foster confidence in the associates about the company nor management.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Pier 1 Imports part-time for more than a year

Pros – The retail environment is one that fosters growth in superb customer service. Every customer who walks in the door is acknowledged, and as an associate, one's duty is to meet their needs. The Pier 1 experience for employees is one of satisfaction for serving customers.

Cons – Unfortunately, the room for growth is relative to the store size. Upper management is not focused enough on growing their retail employees in terms of rank; only in terms of service to the customer.

Advice to Senior Management – It would be beneficial to the retail employees who want to advance with the company if management would acknowledge their employees in this regard, and take the necessary steps to foster that kind of growth.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Pier 1 Imports full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Good work/life balance. Great bonus program! Laid back company.

Cons – Once you are hired in for a particular position, you will be stuck with that position. No opportunities to move up within the company. People tend to stick around for a long time. Company pays below market value.

Advice to Senior Management – Create more opportunities for people to advance. Pay people what they are worth.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Pier 1 Imports full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Discount!
If your store manager is amazing and hires employees that are amazing and blend well and work well together, it's a dream job!!!
Many career advancement opportunities!
Fun -- if you love the products and working with customers closely. Pier 1 customers are loyal and truly want the employee's ideas, advice.

Cons – When I first started in 2006 the company did something special for employees on Christmas- but that ended during my three year employment history. I was very disappointed. I am not sure what the situation is there current day.
They also cut back on the amount of raises per year they'd give and the amount of raise.

Short shifts as a sales associate. Decent hours as sales leader.
Very few hours available per week for sales associates ranging from 4-15 hours. Not enough to pay rent, but the company didn't want me to have second job b/c that affected my availability.
Underpaid as sales associate.
When I advanced to sales leader, I made $10 a hour, which maybe would be fair for a month period. But there should be more raises and BETTER raises.
Demanding goals to receive credit card sign ups per day.

Advice to Senior Management – I transferred stores when I became a sales leader and unfortunately that management team made me fall OUT OF LOVE with the company. I was very disappointed but left the company because of it. Before that my previous store was awesome! Great managers equal GREAT stores and GREAT employees.
As for the much higher ups.... my store frequently didn't have access to merchandising supplies we needed to prepare the store as the directory asked us to. The District Manager always said we couldn't afford it. That's strange to me, since we were trying to made our store to be the Pier 1 Standard. Make sure your store have the tool, supplies they need, and the employees do as well. Communication is huge. And a Thank you goes a LONG way during a store visit!!! (VISIT THE Stores!!! The employees work VERY hard to make the stores look the way they do and be successful as they are.)

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Pier 1 Imports

Pros – I appreciate having the ability to spend time with family and work.

Cons – This is a very physically demanding job.

Advice to Senior Management – I think incentive pay raises would be nice.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Pier 1 Imports part-time for less than a year

Pros – -Good first job to learn retail, but get out AS SOON as you find something better-- even a little better
-25% additional employee discount, even on promotional sale items (up to 45% off, though I've heard that's not much in other jobs)

Cons – -No matter HOW HARD you work, you will NOT get a raise until at LEAST a year of employment. And that's not even guaranteed. Some people get about .05 or up to .17 on their year raises. And management acts so gracious about it.
-Daily demands, including making at least 5 people sign up for spam email or more junk mail, and weekly, playing with people's credit for a very faulty system (Pier 1 Rewards Credit Card)
-Physically demanding, mentally draining. Climb up ladders and grab chairs, greeting every single customer and bothering them about signing up for the catalog, or the card, or the promotions, or this-or-that. The rule is "until they say stop three times"...

Advice to Senior Management – Pay your employees accordingly for doing a good job.
Stop with the catalog and pier 1 card. The card is more hassle than it saves people's money.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Pier 1 Imports part-time for more than a year

Pros – I no longer have to work there!

Cons – 40Ft trucks that arrive between 4am and 12pm noon. You have only two maybe three people to unload ALL of it. It must ALL be processed in 24 hours. Items are stacked sky high and fall as you alone ( because there are never enough staff in the store no matter the square footage, and someone always has to be on the sales floor) try to get them out for a customer.

Advice to Senior Management – Offer a premium pay for associates to work overnight shifts and in the stockroom.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Pier 1 Imports

Pros – The 25% discount is great. There are lots of pretty things to look at.

Cons – The furniture quality is poor, Merchandise is overpriced, The training is minimal.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend