Not as good as avertised - Milano COS Employee Review

Flexible schedule, nice coworkers, would recommend to people new to retail because of the slower pace

Management can be passive aggressive but that’s specific managers

Good quality clothing in classic, relevant styles. Better benefits package than a lot of retail businesses

HM Group desperate needs to do a review/audit of how COS is being handled the area team and even global team. The Canada area team started overseeing the US and Mexico around the time i started working. They have major bias against the US store teams and it shows in how they speak with the team and handle any issues they may have. As a leader in store, you are expected to oversee and assist in every aspect of the business with little support. The team structure/payroll allocated to the store doesn’t allow stores to thrive. Leaders are stretched thin and stressed affecting the business. They offer an embarrassing minimum wage for team members for how much is expected of them. With being stretched thin, it’s difficult to properly train and support team members with growth. Another major issue is the customer service. There’s a disconnect between the stores, online and call center which restricts what store teams can do for customers. Often they’re told to deny discounts, returns, price adjustments when it’s completely justified and would just give a great customer experience. The POS system is so old you can do very little and zero customer profile to be able to give an “elevated luxury” experience that they constantly push. Nothing ever gets repaired in store. They choose to spend hundreds of thousands on window displays but can’t seem to fix a stores hvac system so they can have heat in freezing weather. What they choose to spend time and money on is really insane and an embarrassment. Inventory replenishment is often inconsistent as well. Selling is difficult when sizing is broken and you’re unable to order in store or assist a customer further. I could go on and on. During my interview process the expectations of my role were not properly expressed and I was lied to about bonuses and opportunities. The store team is very young and kind but unfortunately work under so much pressure and in an environment that makes it difficult for them to give great customer service. There’s call center for HM group even uses any reason to write up employees and has a pattern of pushing out older employees. They even plan on moving the call center to another state this year so I’m sure many people will lose their jobs. I do not recommend taking a job with HM Group or any of the retail stores they own.