View from a vendor

Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 16

Hi everyone, glad to be here!
I am a vendor that services products only in Lowes stores. I used to work for Lowes...3 and 1/2 years to be exact, as an Appliance Specialist. I actually service the store I used to work at. Let me say this...I really feel for all of you Lowes employees. You work looooong hours for average hourly pay or take a salaried position that ends up paying you less, the more hours you work! I've been there and I wouldn't go back. I miss many of the people I used to work with but, I don't miss management cutting hours, stabbing employee's in the back(happened to me), discriminating against certain employee's, sucking up to District Managers and the general feeling of being a number not a person. Nope, don't miss that any!
Now, being a vendor I get to see how people are treated in 3 different Lowes stores. Many things are the same, such as...more and more being asked of salaried workers such as hours worked, budgets, etc, etc.
But, think about this...have any of you noticed a huge increase in the number of vendors you now see in your stores? Its amazing! Some mornings, I swear there are more guys(and gals) wearing tan Vendor vests than there are folks wearing red ones! This is all by design. Lowes is trying to slowly eliminate ALL hourly positions and shift everyone except Loaders and Checkout Operators to salaried jobs. More hours=more productivity! Haven't the Specialists and Zone Managers, etc all been told to work a minimum of 50 hours in most cases? And what about the sudden appearance of all of us vendors at Lowes? We are supposed to "support" Lowes personnel in freeing up more time for you to sell. But, I see that we(vendors) are actually taking the place of many hourly people in the departments. We do resets, change labels, display merchandise, clean and all the other jobs that hourly employee's used to do. I can't believe that Lowes would venture down this path if someone didn't think it would be more profitable for the company. And as usual, Lowes employee's pay the price.
So, maybe I don't get a piece of the Lowes stock party but, I no longer take my job home with me and the stress level in my life has taken a nose dive! After all, what good is "retiring rich" if you end up being a wreck just to get there!

Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Posts: 20 Location: anywhere , America

Thank you, Mr. Vendor. I could have written that letter myself (except that I am not a vendor). I have been telling my co-workers these issues for a while now. They said I was paranoid and reading too much into the situations. They believe their job performance speaks for itself. It does not. Money is the bottom dollar (pun intended). They feel that as long as they do a good job, they are safe. There HAS been a recent onslaught of vendors "taking the heat off employees". There has also been an exodus of hourlies. Some co-workers are being strongly advised to apply for specialist positions. I suggest you take it,or look for another job. They are trying to save your job, but can't tell you that. If you refuse, you could start seeing petty harassments like changes in shifts, denying requested time off, monitoring breaks, or adding job duties. The higher paid hourlies are the first to go. Just curious.......how is the salaried/hourly ratio in all your stores/departments? Lets compare notes and see if there IS a pattern.

Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 9

hey men...... how to be a vendor? do u have to be experience?
i want to be one. what do u do as a vendor need info please.
i just quit cant take the stress and to much workload specially if they let you work alone and closing by yourself.

Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 16

Well, most companies like to see some retail experience on a resume in order to consider you for a vendor position. I had worked at K-Mart Corp for 8 years before starting work for Lowes. I worked at Lowes for 3 and 1/2 years, left, worked on my own business for a year, then took this vendor job with AMS. I make almost exactly the same money as I did when I left Lowes...work no weekends or nights. The only real downside is the lack of stock programs to participate in.
My advice would be to simply approach some of the vendor's you see in Lowes and ask if their company is or will be doing any hiring soon. If they can't answer that question, ask them for their bosses' phone number. You have to be aggressive sometimes. In my case, I simply answered an ad in a local newspaper! lol!
As far as the actual breakdown of hourly employee's versus salaried? Well, back in December '97 when I was hired at Lowes, there were 6 hourly employee's in the Electrical Dept. in the store where I worked. Now, in the same store, there are three. After 6 months I moved over to Appliances. When I got there, that dept had 3 Specialists and 3 hourly's. Today, they have 3 specialists only...zero hourly's. And believe me...its "dog eat dog" in that Appliance dept! People are screwing each other left and right to earn spiffs but, its that way in all three of my stores...albeit to a lesser degree. However, management LOVES it like that! Everyone hungry for the next dollar and not caring what is done to get it. Its sickening. I did well over 1 million $$$'s in sales each of my last two years at Lowes and only got the standard raise each year. Never a "thanks!" or a "good job!"...nothing. If you are waiting for management to pat you on the back at Lowes...you'll be waiting a long time! Meanwhile, they kept raising our budgets and extending our hours although, I finally said screw it and just worked my 48...no more, no less. Before someone says I have a bad attitude or wasn't giving it my all...I will say that I wasn't always as beaten down as at the end of my 3 and 1/2 years at Lowes. When I started (earning $7 per hour by the way), I was hopeful and energetic but, within a year the reality of working for Lowes had set in. If you weren't an ass kisser, you weren't going very far...if you didn't work 55-60 hours per week, you were said to have a "bad attitude"...if you pointed out bad policy's, you were threatened with a write-up...in fact, you were threatened all the time! Finally, it just got to be too much and I was starting to really suffer stress related symptoms. A incident that I won't go into allowed me to get out of Lowes and it was like a thousand pound weight was lifted off my shoulders when I walked out the front door for the final time as an employee. Now, many of my former workmates that I see every few days as part of this vendor job, tell me I look so much better and seem alot happier. Its all very true. I'm not saying that I'll retire with this company...odds are that I probably won't but, even with working inside a Lowes store, I see the faces of you employee's...know how hard it is for you and just thank God I'm not there with you anymore.

Joined: 12 Jul 2003 Posts: 13 Location: Lowes Land

I've tried to get a Vendor position. Most of them tell me I have to be away from LOWES for one year before they will hire me. I actually interviewed for Spectracide, they told me that I would have to get approval from my store manager before they would consider hiring me.

Oh well maybe Home Depot needs vendors.......... Doh!

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