Brookstone Reviews

The rest of it. Brookstone is a company stuck in the early 90's. Sourcing agencies in China have no power to truly negotiate or leverage deals for the private label products. Ecomm was left neglected for years and the website is often non-functional or with glitches, they survive hand to mouth on their marketplace business. "Strategic moves" on the site have caused drastic consequences to sales and proper merchandising is impossible. The brick & mortar stores have been left to disintegrate, there is no compelling story to drive traffic in a mall environment that is already struggling. Stores have outdated visual packages, graphics aren't refreshed, fixtures are broken, pricing is messy and incorrect. Stores are manned 1 person at a time where they can get away with it (to cut down on payroll), leaving field employees AT RISK, unable to meet goals and miserable. The corporate office is bedlam. Management turns over so frequently there's no lasting impact. Several buyers had 2 or more Divisional Managers within a year. Often Divisional Managers are cast off hires that could not obtain employment elsewhere. Brookstone posts about women empowerment and women in Leadership on LinkedIn. A memorable post showcased their women in C-roles but unfortunately almost all of those women have been terminated or quit within the same year. There is no internal facing program for female employees for leadership skills; it's all a farce, men control the company. HR is a comedy, has more leaks than a sieve and places personal relationships ahead of proper employee management. Ultimately the biggest issue is the CEO and a lack of Merchandising strategy. Steven Goldsmith is a tyrant with a temper and is there to divide the company into sale-able assets for Sanpower. Departments are managed by buyers independently and the total assortment is not tied to one strategic message. The company has no idea who its customer really is and cannot attract new ones. The social media presence is negligible, digital ads are infrequent and ineffective, and no other marketing exists outside of the monthly catalog. Buyers do not have individual OTB, and often departments with momentum or seasonality are sacrificed to bring in product for struggling departments. No transparency to markdown budgets, promotional strategy (read: there is none), and little to no input on how product is managed online, in catalog, or in store. Forecasting and planning is done on antiquated systems or internally built spreadsheets; historical data and current trends are noted but not used to provide accurate plans. You are required to forecast into a budget that is delivered by Sanpower. Most merchants are homegrown, internal promotions and have little to no expertise in sales analysis, planning, inventory management or true merchandising skills. Most of your time is spent chasing promotional activity, catalog placement, new products not yet in existence and payment for your vendors. Or, looking for a new job as there are daily rumors of the impeding closure.

Company was in financial trouble and eventually went bankrupt in 2014. Mall locations often didn't do well, and there were a lot of similar products online at better prices. Went through about 7 CEOs in that many years.