Fred Meyer Employee Reviews for Closing Manager

"I worked at Fred Meyer from 2004 - 2006, 2007 - 2013. Most of that was in the Electronics Department and a couple of years in the Home Department. Kroger is the parent company and treats the departments accordingly. My apologies for errors, but I seem to recall that the Grocery section makes 50% of the store revenue. This ends up being a challenge for those in the non-grocery section. Grocery has a higher top out pay and more full time jobs. They also get more chances to get products that customers demand. In electronics and home, you have buyers with little to no retail experience making purchases for the company and market. This is why you will see so many items on clearance. How do I know about the buyers? I worked at the Beaverton store and the Tigard store, with both having those folks show up to the stores. From their own mouths, they informed me that they went to college and then got the job or never worked in retail. Beware of the small area stores, since there is no requirement for management changes. Some of these managers and store directors will have 10-20 years only 2-3 stores. This creates a corrupt cronyism factor that is impossible to avoid. In the large metro areas, the requirement is for management to transfer in 2-3 years or be transferred. The nuts and bolts: Love retail? It's going to take time to move up and escape the part-time status (I never did after 8 years). Sick time is some managed formula that requires 3 days of sick days before you can implement it. Varied schedules destroy any life balance, and you work every holiday and almost every weekend. Starting out? Going to college? Good choice because you can go to school and work closing shifts. There are always positions for closing shift."