Working at Aaron Bros. — Reviews by Employees

I was first hired as an ASM in a store that was 18% down for the year. There were many times for the next 6 months that I worked myself to death to meet goal. Our team was a hodgepodge of employees with no direction or support. They had seen managers come and go. There were several issues but I was hired to fix the store. We ended the year 9% in the hole. After 6 months I was promoted to GM. I loved my crew warts and all but by working hard and listening I was able to turn the crew around. I had the most loyal and dependable crew ever. My biggest gripe was with the upper management partly due to the unrealistic goals/sales/expectations that were placed on us.

Goals. I made them. We won or placed in every contest. Ended up 3rd in company. I had no life but at AB.The style of AB is so different that finding and training staff poses several challenges. AB sells picture frames, custom framing, and art supplies. WHAT type of employee do you want to hire? I'll let you in on a secret: If you hire the art type you will get great designs, knowledgeable about art, etc. BUT YOU WILL GET POOR SALESMAN. THESE TYPES HAVE THEIR STRENGTHS BUT YOU MUST ALSO HIRE RIGHT BRAINED INDIVIDUALS TOO. I was always pushed to hire the art type because they were good at art.

Sales. Time to set up was the hardest! We would get the sale set, changes would be made, we were to set up after close before store opened. Finally get set up and the fax machine would spit out more changes or we wouldn't have the product. The sale setups were unsafe or not clearly marked. Sale POGs were useless.

Expectations. I was led to believe that if we met our goals there was little chance of closing the stores. Michael's had a changeover many times and we were not given all of the information. Our store was 3rd in the company and our sister stores in the top 20 were closed. Shipping was too expensive.

When trying to get information from corporate, you would get more help from a cat. I received closing store papers less than a week before close. I had to fight for every nickel of our severance pay over the course of months. I had to practically harass Michaels DMs to pick up the transfers for employees. Michaels and Aaron Brothers corporate didn't appear to talk to each other. We were left stranded and were forgotten by the red tape between them.

In short, I loved my store, my crew, customers, and my job. I grew tired of the lack of communication from corporate and the misinformation when they did talk to us. Our DM was not helpful just spouted propaganda from corporate instead of getting us answers, supplies, assistance, support, etc.

During my time w/ AB I have had 5 DM's over 2 1/2 years. There has been constant turnover at the corporate level They talk about career growth but there is no follow thru. GM's are expected to run a big building (with a production area ie frame shop) on a two person coverage. Annual reviews are a joke, supervisors go out of there way to find reasons to lower review ratings to lower increase from 3% to 1%. Talking to HR is like knocking your head against the wall, all she does is talk down to you, she has know idea what the "field" people do. The whole corporate office treats the "field" people like they are idiots and it is there fault sales have been so bad for the last few months.

If you work hard and are dedicated, the money and promotions will come. I often go to happy hour with my boss and we have become good friends.

I worked for his company for five years and tried and tried to make it through everyday. I loved the customers and the framing but the coworkers and management were never good, and trust me I saw a lot of people come and go. They pressure you with sales and yell at you when you don't meet them. They are a very new and greedy company. They hire on people who don't know anything about art or framing and except management to do all the work. There ruck comes in the middle of the night and they except you to work the next day. Even though I did for the most part like working there because of he customers and working around art I don't recommend working here. It's very high pressured and not a secure job what so ever. It's a lot of he said she said which I personally hate. Try and find an independent frame shop before thinking about working here.

I worked for Aarons as a PT driver for about a year and a couple months. I thought working for them would be decent paying
with responsiblity of driving a truck delivering expensive merch. They started me a 9.50. As I worked for them I noticed there
vehicles constantly had problems they were not taking care of like unregistered plates, no inspection stickers, cracked windshields etc.
Un obliagating me to drive around in these vehicles putting my license in jeapordy everday. The company even cost my license to be suspended when I was told
corporate took care of a ticket I would of paid because it was my fault. This ticket was small priced and something we could of nipped in the butt, so I guess there corporate staff does not care about
there drivers on the forefront of the company making them there millions.
NOW I am un able to get another driving job until the scar on my driving record aarons caused goes away. They took care it when I found my license suspended but it was way to late.
Even with that I stayed with the company preying for better things to happen but they didnt.
I was complimented by higher ups in the company as well as my co-workers and told various times I was promotion worthy.
After months of hearing there lies of promoting me I couldnt take it no more, so I threatned to quit. They didnt want that so they had me
take a rediculousy stupid test for the MT position. Weeks and weeks went by of them avoiding me and I finnally got to sit down with my regional and a boss
from New York so we could review me for promotion. In the meeting they told me I had failed the test so I couldnt be promoted. I laughed and knew it was all a
big setup/lie to keep me on there trucks because there other drivers were always leaving the company because they sucked.
I had 13 partners in my year at aarons so that tells ya. They offered a 1.50 raise at the meeting and told me I had to wait 3 months for a new review to get it.
And also these corporate monkeys spilled the beans to me in the meeting and told me that my old regional denied me a raise the past year. And that was funny and shocking to hear
realizing the regional that denied me the raise attended personal partys/events prior and after denying me.
I told them 3 months was too long for another raise and that I was done so right after the meeting I walked out of aarons doors for the last time.
In my time there not only did I work for one store. They had me doing double with deliverys for two locations because they constanly had staffing issues with people walking out.
Also I have seen them slave there MT's who had medical restrictions and couldnt deliver. I worked with a guy who was a MT (very heavyset)
and he spit up a cup of blood infront of me when we were on the rode. It was caused by lifting heavy stuff he wasnt suppost to because he was forced by the GM and threatned by the regional..
Then that nite when we returned he told our Gm about the blood and he replied " haha I dont care."
This company and there customers are the devil. I have been insulted, screamed at, and threatned by there customers due to aarons continuous harrasment.
I dont not recommend working for them. They are liars and they will take advantage of you in any way they can. I feel
bad for people in this company working long hours at a location,selling themselves short,and being brainwashed by the company.
They screwed me over and they will get you too. I started at 9.50 and and quit a year and 2 months later at 9.50. Aarons is deffinatly only good for one thing. Crackheads,heroin addicts,
and all sorts of broke walks of life get approved. Dont do it..

SLAVE-DRIVERS!!!!!! This is a great company to work for unless you are a GM. The GM's are required to work 6 days a week 13 hours a day. They promise Big but never deliver. Everything they told me and everyone I know that got hired there was a complete LIE!!! You do not receive pay increases throughout your training, You will NOT make between 60 and 90 grand a year. Bonuses??? What Bonuses. I just found out that I was paying $200 more for Insurance every month than it would have cost me to go straight to Blue Cross Blue Sheild on my own. Corporate staff only want to party and get drunk all the time. I even witnessed a Regional almost kill a store manager while drunk driving on a company required event. They hint that you do illegal things like running credit cards that you might have on file without the customers permission and even going in a customer's house if the front door was unlocked. As long as you weren't leaving a message on a recordable device, you were told to tell the customer that you were going to send the Police to their or their family's house etc etc etc... Work at Aaron's, say goodbye to your family and everything else for that matter!!!!