I was just wondering which company would be better to work for and why? Anyone out there that can give me their opinion and experiences would be greatly appreciated.

American Greetings does not have as many products, categories or locations so that would be easier. Then again, it would be difficult to transfer or have someone cover for you. In fact, for American Greetings don't you have to provide your own cover? In my town, maids who work at dumpy hotels who are esl speakers earn more moola than both of these companies will pay you. In fact, you will be working in a Walmart with an 18 year old Department Manager who will be earning $1.25 an hour more than you.

Hold on American Greetings has a ton of different products. In my Walmart they have 4 rows of cards, then 1 row of bags, wraps & bows, etc, 1/2 a row of stationary, invitations & thank you cards and then 2 rows of party supplies, every character that is popular. Endcaps of stickers and cellos. We just don't have the ornaments that Hallmark is known for. But there is plenty of work and people to cover you. I was sick last week and had a nice rep come in and do my Halloween card revision.

DG carries AG cards so I will also be picking up another store once it is open. So, there is the opportunity, I guess it depends on the location where you live.

My dept manager and the toy dept manager are both my age and have been awesome about giving me extra endcaps and space to expand product offerings! Walmart is making double digits profits on cards so they are happy to see you and work with you.

As far as pay goes, as with ANY job, if you present yourself with confidence and highlight your experience or on the job training that you have you can negotiate decent pay. I am well over $10 per hour and love the flexibility of days and times I can go in and work.

I love working for American Greetings. Everyone is really nice and supportive. Anyone will try to help you and be friendly about it. I am not saying Hallmark isn't, I am just sharing my own experiences.

Good luck to you!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2017 12:12PM by LeslieKay111.

I think it is great that you are paid "well over $10 per hour". You must have been working for them for some time now. Because when ads come up in my area, that starting pay is always $8.50/hr.

They woukd NOT pay that much, especially for a newbie. Back in the day, eons ago, I did these and I am super fast and can reset 4' an hour, they wouldnt negotiate crapola.

@guysmom wrote:

I think it is great that you are paid "well over $10 per hour". You must have been working for them for some time now. Because when ads come up in my area, that starting pay is always $8.50/hr.

Just started 2 months ago. Why is it that everyone pressures me to share what I make then gets an attitude when I provide some information?? I am sorry that I have alot of experience in my life. I used to manage hundreds of merchandisers for a major retailer on top of being the Vice President of Sales. So, I understand the management objectives and know what a field sales rep is focused on, I was one! They only care about increasing sales. I've secured about 25% more display space than when I started in just a month. My training period was short. I can read sell thru reports and make buying suggestions. I don't just put away cards. I offer value and am worth it. Matter of a fact I'm up near $11 an hour. Why should that offend you or Spicy.? I am sure that you get MS shops where you have more experience or knowledge or do video shops, which I have no experience with and offer the MSC more value with your reports than I would because of your experience. GOOD FOR YOU! I'm happy for you. Get your money!!

Everything in life is negotiable! Plus, it depends on how badly they need someone for the location! Good timing is a part of getting better pay, too. I will ultimately do more work than the average merchandiser in this case because I am very experienced in sales. It is still piddly wages in comparison with real life. But I am enjoying the flexibility and the wonderful people that I work with. They are open to my suggestions and appreciate the extra effort that I put in. As I get more experienced I will most definitely be negotiating more pay. But I am proving my worth right now.

This is exactly why before I had chosen not to share my pay. People fricking attack you in this forum. Then the whole clique joins in. UGH that is so high school'ish. We are all adults here. If you don't like your own pay then get in there and negotiate something else. If it is not enough, don't do the job and do something else. Don't be snide because of what I have done for myself. I don't feel that I am better than anyone else, like I was accused of in another post. I just asked other for a normal range because I had no idea what it was for the card suppliers. Because their first offer to me was over $10 then I asked for more than that. I NEVER heard anything about $8.50, ever. I wouldn't do it for that. Again, if you don't like the pay you are offered don't take the job. geez cut me some slack. What I do in no way affects your life. Do you even work for a card supplier?

I will NEVER again share anything personal, such as wages, in this forum again!

*edited for a spelling error.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2017 08:02AM by LeslieKay111.

@spicy1 wrote:

They woukd NOT pay that much, especially for a newbie. Back in the day, eons ago, I did these and I am super fast and can reset 4' an hour, they wouldnt negotiate crapola.

So I am lying to the people in the forum? For what reason would I do that. You wanted to know so badly what I was getting paid then you accuse me of lying. Do you want me to copy you on my paystub via email? I am proving myself to them right now and then will move up to what I had requested per hour, per my management. Then I will be over $11. So fricking what. The earth is still spinning.

I, too, can reset a 4-foot section in under an hour! I may be a newbie to AG but I am not a newbie to the business. (But I haven't done a total reset solo, yet, because I was sick when that was due. I have more to learn!) Companies care more about increasing sales than how quickly you can set cards on display! Look at the bigger picture. What makes management money? I stay within my assigned hours and still get everything done. Only takes me 3-4 hours a week to put away a 7 - 8 carton EVD order, that comes weekly. (My first try took me 6 hours for 5 cartons, lol) I am a quick learner. I've secured new product displays in the BTS area and the toy department as well as in the office supplies and stuffed animals! I've ordered additional large displayers to accommodate the additional opportunities I've secured! These are 2 large arrangements that they never could get into Walmart before. Which is a huge win with the Christmas season coming up next month when that starts being displayed.

Currently, I am analyzing the product offerings and looking for areas that we can take in substantially more product, for this store. It is 16 pages long! Were you suggesting buy-ins when you worked there or focused on setting out cards quickly and going home?

This is basically not a hard job. It is merchandising product. Not rocket science, anyone can do the basics required. Their system is pretty foolproof if you just follow the training. I swear they could train anyone for the basics required.

My weekly supply order went from 5 cartons a week to 7-8 cartons a week! So, my sales have already increased over the past month. I can't wait to see my sell thru report next month! That will be the proof in the pudding for me. I go to the store almost every day to be sure the department is in great shape because I only live a few city blocks away. I work really early mornings before management comes in so when they arrive the whole department looks good. I keep my back stock tidy so I am liked by the receiving department who shares this with management who shares with the buyers and it has gotten back to my boss. I also straighten and merch the Walmart products that are placed within the AG area. Because we all know that Walmart employees are not given the hours to keep up with their own work. I want our area to look pleasing that means straightening and filling Walmart brand products, too. The old rep refused to do that to "prove a point to management." Walmart management knows exactly what they are doing. They are not going to change their business model. I've worked with Walmart corporate for 15 years.

It is a complete win-win situation. Believe me or not. It's the way it is. IF you could hire a manager to do an entry level job why wouldn't you pay a little bit more for those benefits? I made six figures a year, before I retired, as a field sales rep doing my current bosses, boss job for over a decade. I've been a field sales rep, doesn't matter what the product is. I could sell velcro strips, seriously it doesn't matter.

I am done explaining myself if you don't get it by now. Make your boss look good and you will be rewarded. It's not about making yourself look good. It's about increasing sales!

*Please, don't take my tone the wrong way, I am just a little frustrated right now for being called a liar in a public forum. That is very wrong of you. This is not the first time that you have posted negatively about my posts, recently. I always thought that we got along fine. You've always been helpful to me before this issue. In the future, if you'd like to make a baseless claim please PM me and I will prove what I am telling you before disparaging me to everyone.

@LeslieKay111 wrote:

@spicy1 wrote:

They woukd NOT pay that much, especially for a newbie. Back in the day, eons ago, I did these and I am super fast and can reset 4' an hour, they wouldnt negotiate crapola.

So I am lying to the people in the forum? For what reason would I do that. You wanted to know so badly what I was getting paid then you accuse me of lying. Do you want me to copy you on my paystub via email? I am proving myself to them right now and then will move up to what I had requested per hour, per my management. Then I will be over $11. So fricking what. The earth is still spinning.

I, too, can reset a 4-foot section in under an hour! I may be a newbie to AG but I am not a newbie to the business. (But I haven't done a total reset solo, yet, because I was sick when that was due. I have more to learn!) Companies care more about increasing sales than how quickly you can set cards on display! Look at the bigger picture. What makes management money? I stay within my assigned hours and still get everything done. Only takes me 3-4 hours a week to put away a 7 - 8 carton EVD order, that comes weekly. (My first try took me 6 hours for 5 cartons, lol) I am a quick learner. I've secured new product displays in the BTS area and the toy department as well as in the office supplies and stuffed animals! I've ordered additional large displayers to accommodate the additional opportunities I've secured! These are 2 large arrangements that they never could get into Walmart before. Which is a huge win with the Christmas season coming up next month when that starts being displayed.

Currently, I am analyzing the product offerings and looking for areas that we can take in substantially more product, for this store. It is 16 pages long! Were you suggesting buy-ins when you worked there or focused on setting out cards quickly and going home?

This is basically not a hard job. It is merchandising product. Not rocket science, anyone can do the basics required. Their system is pretty foolproof if you just follow the training. I swear they could train anyone for the basics required.

My weekly supply order went from 5 cartons a week to 7-8 cartons a week! So, my sales have already increased over the past month. I can't wait to see my sell thru report next month! That will be the proof in the pudding for me. I go to the store almost every day to be sure the department is in great shape because I only live a few city blocks away. I work really early mornings before management comes in so when they arrive the whole department looks good. I keep my back stock tidy so I am liked by the receiving department who shares this with management who shares with the buyers and it has gotten back to my boss. I also straighten and merch the Walmart products that are placed within the AG area. Because we all know that Walmart employees are not given the hours to keep up with their own work. I want our area to look pleasing that means straightening and filling Walmart brand products, too. The old rep refused to do that to "prove a point to management." Walmart management knows exactly what they are doing. They are not going to change their business model. I've worked with Walmart corporate for 15 years.

It is a complete win-win situation. Believe me or not. It's the way it is. IF you could hire a manager to do an entry level job why wouldn't you pay a little bit more for those benefits? I made six figures a year, before I retired, as a field sales rep doing my current bosses, boss job for over a decade. I've been a field sales rep, doesn't matter what the product is. I could sell velcro strips, seriously it doesn't matter.

I am done explaining myself if you don't get it by now. Make your boss look good and you will be rewarded. It's not about making yourself look good. It's about increasing sales!

*Please, don't take my tone the wrong way, I am just a little frustrated right now for being called a liar in a public forum. That is very wrong of you. This is not the first time that you have posted negatively about my posts, recently. I always thought that we got along fine. You've always been helpful to me before this issue. In the future, if you'd like to make a baseless claim please PM me and I will prove what I am telling you before disparaging me to everyone.

I think people are calling you out because you are a scheduler, not an actual merchandiser. I looked up your posts and most are giving advice on how to schedule people. You are describing the employee management wished they had, not the employees they actually have. Actual merchandisers wont visit their stores everyday to tidy up or try to sell in more space. They go in and perform their visit objectives and leave. Most of the time without talking to a Walmart manager, because they can't find one.

Well, I thought the OP was talking about a merchandising job. Neither company provides enough time to complete the basic tasks much less sell sheet presentation or obtaining an endcap. Everything is POG'd at stores.

[]quote=Wild Bill]Actual merchandisers wont visit their stores everyday to tidy up or try to sell in more space. They go in and perform their visit objectives and leave. Most of the time without talking to a Walmart manager, because they can't find one.[/quote]


1. For the record, I am a merchandiser and not a contractor. For each visit, I check in somewhere and, at Wal-Mart, I wait for a designated type of manager to provide a badge for me to wear. I always interact with a representative from each department that I work in during each visit. I do not visit any locations on a daily basis. However, some contractors do this. Representatives of Pepsi, Coca Cola, and other brands work on a daily basis. As a merchandiser, I do not work on a daily basis at any location.

I do not know how American Greetings and Hallmark representatives work their work. Are the merchandisers? Are they contractors, such as Pepsi and Coca Cola representatives?

2. We still have not heard much about Hallmark. Do any members have experience with merchandising with/for Hallmark?

@LeslieKay111 wrote:

@guysmom wrote:

I think it is great that you are paid "well over $10 per hour". You must have been working for them for some time now. Because when ads come up in my area, that starting pay is always $8.50/hr.

Matter of a fact I'm up near $11 an hour. Why should that offend you or Spicy.?

LeslieKay111, Sometimes in reading the printed word, it is difficult to understand what is meant when you can't see the person's face or hear the intonation of their voice. So perhaps you misunderstood my statement. I am in NO WAY doubting your salary with the card company....nor was I offended in anything about it that you posted....I really and truly do think it is wonderful that you are making the wage you are making! All I was trying to say was that when these ads come up in my area, they come up offering the starting pay as I listed above. That's ALL I was trying to point out. No doubt with all of your experience, you truly ARE valuable to the company, and you are being compensated for your experience. I am sorry if you misinterpreted the meaning of my post, but no, I was not doubting you, nor was I in any way offended by it. Peace.

It's a big country. $8.50 is $11 in some cities. $15 is minimum wage in others.

@cm wrote:

It's a big country. $8.50 is $11 in some cities. $15 is minimum wage in others.

So true dat!

Well, I've had interviews with both companies. For what it's worth, I was able to negotiate a higher rate than what was stated in the online job ad. I was surprised, but you don't know if you don't ask

FYI, I've taken several vacations, including one for 2 weeks at once, and never had to provide my own cover. Sometimes PTMs will work something out between themselves, but ultimately it falls to our bosses to make sure stores are covered if we are out for vacation, extended sick leave, emergency family situations, etc. I work in a great territory so we are always willing to help when someone needs it.

I love AG and I've been with them for over 6 years now.

After 6 years, my bosses respect me and so do my store managers as they know I will get the job done. I currently have a Target, two Dollar Trees, 6 Dollar Generals, and a couple other stores. I have never had to get my own coverage, even when I took off for 2 weeks. Sometimes in our territory, we will work something out between merchandisers for coverage and let our supervisors know we have it covered but that is NOT required. Most everyone is willing to help with coverage for vacations, emergencies, family emergencies, illness, etc. It has never been a problem getting coverage, even if my supervisor has to cover it...he will do it.

I'm over 10 now but did not start that way; however, I have received a raise every year for the last 6 years and not many people can say that these days.

@Wild Bill wrote:

@LeslieKay111 wrote:

@spicy1 wrote:

They woukd NOT pay that much, especially for a newbie. Back in the day, eons ago, I did these and I am super fast and can reset 4' an hour, they wouldnt negotiate crapola.

So I am lying to the people in the forum? For what reason would I do that. You wanted to know so badly what I was getting paid then you accuse me of lying. Do you want me to copy you on my paystub via email? I am proving myself to them right now and then will move up to what I had requested per hour, per my management. Then I will be over $11. So fricking what. The earth is still spinning.

I think people are calling you out because you are a scheduler, not an actual merchandiser. I looked up your posts and most are giving advice on how to schedule people. You are describing the employee management wished they had, not the employees they actually have. Actual merchandisers wont visit their stores everyday to tidy up or try to sell in more space. They go in and perform their visit objectives and leave. Most of the time without talking to a Walmart manager, because they can't find one.

A scheduler? How do you figure that. I do not give advice on how to schedule people. I do not have any idea what that would be in this business from my position. There is no calling out... just one person claiming I couldn't possibly be making what I know that I make. Which is no ones business. Yes, I am the employee that companies wish they could have and as such, I am paid for doing the extras! It has always been that way in my life. I like to be the best employee that I can be on a single MS or a long term merchandising project or managing entire sales teams. I've always taken on more than just what I was hired to do. But I am not scheduling people in any way.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

[]quote=Wild Bill]Actual merchandisers wont visit their stores everyday to tidy up or try to sell in more space. They go in and perform their visit objectives and leave. Most of the time without talking to a Walmart manager, because they can't find one.

1. For the record, I am a merchandiser and not a contractor. For each visit, I check in somewhere and, at Wal-Mart, I wait for a designated type of manager to provide a badge for me to wear. I always interact with a representative from each department that I work in during each visit. I do not visit any locations on a daily basis. However, some contractors do this. Representatives of Pepsi, Coca Cola, and other brands work on a daily basis. As a merchandiser, I do not work on a daily basis at any location.

I do not know how American Greetings and Hallmark representatives work their work. Are the merchandisers? Are they contractors, such as Pepsi and Coca Cola representatives?

2. We still have not heard much about Hallmark. Do any members have experience with merchandising with/for Hallmark?[/quote]

For AG at Walmart...We are considered suppliers. So our merchandising is not under the new only 5 merchandisers can merch in their stores. We own our product until it is sold. So we can maintain it daily, weekly, whatever is needed for the particular season. I go with the flow. I go in when I have orders to put away, clean up over a busy weekend or holiday, but during my time there, because I am there so often, I have come to know many of the managers and they have all been willing to help.

I, too, have great coverage for any emergencies. No one has made me do anything on my own. But I could do it. I just think these companies fall under some misconceptions.

For the record, I am employed part-time as a merchandiser for Hallmark. My husband is also a Hallmark RM at the same store and we both consider this a perfect job for this time in our lives.

To answer the OP's question of which company, AG or Hallmark is better, I honestly think it's a toss up, since there are so many similarities. (Disclaimer: I am basing this only on the territory I currently service.)

From getting to know a few AG RMs in the Central FL market, the biggest differences I can identify are only three:
1) The AG RM's budgeted hours are insufficient to adequately perform the job;
2) AG gives "longevity raises" and "merit-based raises"; Hallmark gives "longevity raises" only; and the expectations of AG's RMs are a lot higher than Hallmark's and
3) AG RM's don't appear to have a handheld computer with the same capabilities as the Hallmark RMs enjoy.

In summary, if you like or need a flexible schedule, like or need a regular paycheck and are self-motivated, you can't go wrong by choosing either company.

Good luck!

(heart)

We at AG have handheld scanners and tablets now. I am not even sure if all territories have them yet as I heard it was rather new. We still can't access pricing on them though. It's hard to merch items when you don't know the price since you get in alot of gift bags that aren't POG'd and are supposed to work them inline. lol. That's true with a number of things though. You receive them and they have no real home or you take down a display and are supposed to find those things a new home. ...just work it in. ha ha.

AG just gave me a merit-based raise and I am very happy. They backdated it to my start date and retro paid me as well. I visit my Walmart 4 days a week for a few hours at a time. I think it is the perfect job and I have the ideal management team to work with! After reading more posts I now realize I have stumbled into a very unique and wonderful position. I love securing more space for products. I love being creative on new endcaps that open up. Which is usually because whatever was POG'd on the endcap sold out before the time period was up. I snag a few free weeks to a few free months. Depends on where/when it is.

To answer another poster AG hires directly not thru a merchandising company. You find the jobs online.