i love it

It's time for the Little man at the top of the chain to go away and for OMAX to appoint a leader with a set of......

Leadership with a knowldege of the industry would be nice.

To bad G&T has forgotten that customer loyalty is required for companies to succeed. Loyal customers will stay with you despite failed strategy if they believe you have their best interest in mind.

I have been with Grand & Toy for 20 years and in the past 4-5 years I have witnessed this company go from being respected to one of which is not very well liked by both employees and customers. How on earth did the customer get removed from the equation? I think that is part of sales 101 that without the customers we are NOTHING! Everything is about the numbers!

I have been at G&T now for several years and I have seen people come and go and stratgey change along the way. I however am very happy working here (just see my ratings). That is my experience,...I own how I feel. I have read some of the entries here and can see how people might feel that way. Again - I just don't get caught up in that stuff. I know what my role is and I work to do my best. ...

can someone please explain who or what omax is and what are they doing with grand and toy thanks

Why do they keep hiring more managers? Why more meetings? It looks like Fascism. Do as I say. What happened to leading by example? Why should we be scared to use the wrong words in fear of reprimand? Does anyone know where we're heading? Why so many individual software packages to do reporting? Why so much reporting? It just does not have to be hard.

Eight years ago when I started with G&T I could not believe I had landed at such a great company. It was not rare to hear the customers say 'Grand & Toy is a great company'. Price was secondary to many customers because doing business with G&T was easy and painless. We turned ourselves inside out to service the customer. Today G&T is saying we are a sales organization, customers don't care...

been working here for over 15 years, all the negitive comments you read below are the truth. \upper managment are so far from reality they auctually beleive thier own properganda. They have lost site of our customers and the staff. Management is running this company into the ground. No one will take responsibility or make a decision about anything. They hire managers they think can lead by...

I am currently quite happy with my position and my environment. The management I have contact with are: respectful, passionate, driven and positive. They inspire me to want to do a better job every day. We have a great crew and our manager uses positive coaching and uses the "we" must attitude as apposed to the "you" must attitude. I am in a retail store and have been with G&T for over 17 years....

I agree that we are top heavy. Everyone I deal with in mgnt is scared to make any decision in case they have to answer for it. It takes way too long to get anything done. Come on and grow a pair. Moral is at an all time low and when half your employees are actively looking for work outside of G&T you know you have a problem. The incompetence of some of the people they hire is just ridiculous and...

I have been reading this for months now. It looks like help is on the way. Omax is coming up for a couple of weeks in July and is going to interview 3 levels of senior management. Make sure you tell the the truth. Last chance to fix this place and remove the leadership that has fired people to protect their own incompetence. Anyone notice whats happening in sales? Make sure you tell them...

I really do not wish to give a response to justify why i rated the way i did. The score should be enough. This site will not let you proceed until a comment is identifed with so many characters typed. The only word of advise I have is if you are seeking a role with Grand and Toy, research it well and ask lots of questions. If you have a "Red Flag" be smart and get answers to your questions...

I agree with so many of the comments that claim that G&T apprears to be going down the crapper. Continously hiring and firing sales staff and closing retail stores in convenient locations seems to be accompishing nothing.

I'm in administration however, and not sales and my biggest contention with this company is that warehouse and admin staff are deemed "non-essential" by head office and...

They just got to learn how to hire the right people.

It looks like about 90% of the ratings here are from the sales team, and that doesnt surprise me. Compensation changes, layoffs, etc... It would be interesting to get the perspective from different areas of the business. I'm not in sales - and although things aren't perfect - it could be a hell of a lot worse (oh, some of the horror stories I could tell you from the other side of the...

Repost from rater 29 comments for all to see

What can I say...I'm a newb to this site, but after so many folks have told me to check it out, here I am.

The guy/gal who started this thread talked about us hoping for a saviour to come along. I'm thinking we need more than hope. If this company was a member of my family, I'd bring together everyone who cared and call for an intervention. It's...

Grand and Toy seems to really be falling apart over the past couple of years. Look elsewhere if you are a sales person. I am constantly amazed at the organizational chart. There are far to many executive positions, that don't seem to have an important role in the progression of the company. The upper management team in the sales department seem to turn over constantly, and no company can...

Does anyone remember when we had 120 stores? Now we are down to about 33 - I am sure some will be closing by the time I finish this post. What happened with the Franchises; after working for many years to build their stores the company just came in an turfed them out. How did the lawsuit end? Those guys were good business people and good managers. I enjoyed working with my boss. You know,...

Clearly Rater 37 is in Sr. Management. I work @ G&T...Despite what appears to be a great strategy they have a shattered and disenchanted sales force. Sales force "Transformation" means everyone is doing way more with way less time. Although typical in this day, this makes it difficult to execute the "new strategy" as the outside reps are bogged down with too much account administration. Recently,...

They hire more managers and directors to come up with these bird-brained strategies which obviously continue to fail and the front line soliders take the hit for management failures. Have you ever know a sales force that is not given a car or phone allowance, NOTHING! They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on meeting and get togethers to brainwash us with their dumb strategies and...

The company is way, WAY too top heavy. They have directors and VP's everywhere, yet they keep cuttting the front line revenue drivers....like sales. Most of the VP's and managers and directors seem useless, on a day to day. Red tape and rediculous reporting has made this company very tough to work for....if you are looking for a sales job....look elsewhere.......

Steer clear here folks. No strategy, no bonus, no raises. It is like a ship lost in the fog that can't find a way out. I was let go for no apparent reason and got my lawyer's help to get extra severance. I used to look forward to reading the daily announcements to see who the fortunate were to be let go and have a chance to move on to something better. There are some good people at the company...

Well, I must say this... I am a current G&T employee and no it's not perfect, but there are very few jobs available that are. To those current employees begging for packages and begging to be let go... well I've never seen anyone in mgmt holding a gun to our heads making us stay. You know where the door is, leave and find another job if it's so bad. Simple. Stop complaining and do your job or...

48 hour promise a facade for a company in deep trouble. The management team is struggling to keep their jobs. Sales...my goodness what a mess. They cant get anything going. Leadership is paranoid, paralyzed and incompetent. Firing everyone but themselves is the proof. Wait for you good bye money...but be proactive and get a good lawyer first. The big problem is screw face.

I have worked for Grand and Toy for over 10 years. There was a time that I could say I had the best boss I ever had, that this was the best company I ever worked for, and that we were at the top because we cared. Now, none of those things apply at all, the boss took a package, the company or represenative of has shown a level of disrespect that a jail inmate should never expierence, and I have...

look for another employer

I AM A CUSTOMER. I had to enter this site as I too have found most of the comments and observations of Grand & Toy right on target. They have changed from where five years ago staff were openly proud of the company, what it did and how it treated them. Today they are an organization who has fired most of the good staff in my area of the country under circumstances that only a very poor...

The company has been firing people for over 6 years now. In the beginning, the packages were fair. Then one day the former president got rather upset because people were fired and no one sued the company. The packages were made smaller and less fair. Then recently, they fired people and told them that if the packages were not good enough to not bother with a lawyer and to come back and talk...

I rated this as the poorest rating I could give cause i worked there almost 2 yrs.... I ended up quiting by asking them to shove the job up their ass. Management is a joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am trying to rate thgem with one star for each category, but get an error that apparently no company is worth one star each.........................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER WORKING FOR THIS COMPANY. The only people in the entire company who even remotely care about what is going on, accept responsibility for their actions, and work their tails off to give this company a decent image are the delivery drivers, sales team and the retail associates.

No other dept. no other division will ever go above and beyond on a daily basis like the front...

I work at the Vaughan DC, and this company is nothing compared to the vital, growing, thriving enterprise I started with over 20 years ago. We had an excellent profit sharing program that did more to reduce waste than any form of management could possibly accomplish. Ownership cared, management cared, the sales force cared, the warehouse people cared, and the drivers cared. Customer service was...

Great! Just Great! They fired a bunch of people today. They told us a bunch of lies so, I have no idea why these folks were fired? There has to be more G&T people on severance packages then working. How does this make sense? What do I need to do to get a package? With this new bonus system and the elimination of commissions, how am I to make a living? Fire us all. Just fire us all. Put...

Sweet! Yet another comensation plan. That will motivate me to work.

Sure, it will.

Mgt simply keeps on pumping out silly forecasts and sales are supposed to achieve them.

In your ear! I like the bigger base. I will sit at home and call it in.

If you don't like it - fire me. Package me out!

Weakest senior leadership team I have ever worked with...lack of skills, values, and integrity. Egos of a number of them get in the way of doing what is right. Sales declines are aligned with terrible morale...those not already fired hope to get packaged out...others are held hostage by a weak job market.

Grand and Toy has been trying to execute against its strategic direction for four years now. Its obvious to anyone that leadership is paralyzed and cant move forward on even the simplest initiative. The change necessary to drive the organization forward is not being supported or encouraged, in fact the team dedicated to making that change happen has been systematically removed from the...

The rating and note below shows the integrity of management at G&T. They cannot deal with the business problems they created so, they spend their time on propaganda. Why can’t they deal with the problems? They do not know what they are doing, they don’t even know what they have – MATRIX STRUCTURE! Please open up a textbook and look up the definition! You have a fat marketing department with...

Grand and Toy is on the brink of a breakthrough if it can stay focussed on The Last Mile and execute. A matrix organization that needs to pull together for Q1. This company provides a wonderful work environment and young dynamic leaders. Advancement is very much available for those with the right stuff. Teamwork is encouraged and associates are empowered to deliver on results through clear...

If you're looking for a company that empowers employees to make decisions, a company that encourages an entrepreneurial attitude, a company that values the skills that each individual brings...you've got the wrong company. If your looking for a company that is paralized by indecison, can't execute on strategy and demonstrates clear disrespect for for anyone below VP level, you will like G&T. ...

I agree with a previous comment 'Packaging without substance'. Marketing thinks the sun shines out of their arse and they are supreme beings who rule the G&T world. The only people they are marketing to are themselves. The market place and the sales force pay no attention while the marketing dumb dumbs blow the company's money on stupid rapper videos and brochures that no one reads. Get over...

I still work for G&T and I wish i could be as lucky as others to be let go...my department is too short staffed and too central to let anyone go. The management is incompetent and anyone who is not a manager will agree. We have had so many great managers leave because they knew this company is not where they need to be. We had a manager who was so fantastic but gave up as the seniors above him...

I was fired last week. It is such a releif! I was an inside sales rep for almost 20 years. I have done my job well for many years. I have putup with all the garbage that management has comeup with. My numbers were not where I would like them to be (unreasonable forecast that could not be met) but, I was doing better then my colleagues. Then (...) became manager. HIs sales style is that of...

This is by far the worst dump I have ever worked for. Run, run away as fast as you can!!!!

The management of this company spends the majority of their time eating catered meals in the big boardroom devising the most useless strategies in the world which ultimately only benefit upper management while the rest of us pond sucking scum lower employees within the organization suffer. They screw up...

The person that wrote the recommendation below has her/his head in the clouds.

Look around, G&T is not a safe place to work! The company has been turbulent (more like hurricane) since 2000! If you did not know that then you must be working in the deepest darkest corner of the warehouse, only on the midnight shift, and you arrive to work with a blindfold and ear plugs on. In the last 9 years...

I will preface this by saying I dont wsork at head office ! I am a long time employee of Grand & Toy and while the last couple years have been turbulent, I believe the current management team has a good strategy and the right vision to lead us into the future. I have been recognized and rewarded for my hard work and feel supported by my coworkers and managers. I hope to continue working for G&T...

Let's discuss a multicultural type workforce and compare that to the reality at Grand & Toy. So the company has embarked on another useless plan called "diversity." They are trying to recruit and have more visible minorities in key positions. Just a scheme so they can maintain federal office supply contracts basically. Wow, that is so great!!!

Wait a minute, let's look a little closer. ...

This is the most regressive organization you will find anywhere. The Management is all talk and no action. The mission statement is a joke and it is built on nice fancy words without meaning. It is nothing but a marketing campaign gone wrong.

It is all about the packaging without substance. Look for a job somewhere else unless you are unskillful and can't get a job elsewhere. In this...

Was once a great company with thousands of dedicated hard working long term employees. Unfortunately this is no longer the case. The only reason that G&T still can recruit is due to the less than great current job market.

Head office is over staffed and much too bureaucratic to ever be effective or efficient. They spend more time on trying to come up with better processes and reports than they...

This company suck's sh1t!!!! It is a horrible place to work. Stay away from this garbage company. I would recommend you take a job at Burger King at 20K per year vs 70k here. It's only good for the first 3 months and then it is over. You will be overworked and given no life balance no matter what they tell you. It sucks so bad!!!!!!!!!!

This is by far the worst company I have ever worked for. All we here is lies about the economy but see senior management getting fatter and fatter. The seperation between senior management and the slaves (regular employees) is so destinct. I'm ashamed to say who I work for when I apply for new jobs. Ther word on the street is this is the worst company and we show it with the way we terminate...

This company was a great employer once upon a time, but the fairly tale came to an end. Back then, employees were proud of working there and it was demonstrated in the way they walked and presented themselves and the company. One day senior management came to the conclusion that a few senior sales representatives were making what they called "too much money" and instead of dealing with this...

I left an excellent position with an excellent company in order to join G&T at a senior level. Soon I realized that my voice was not important, that the company has an inward focus, that senior managers see junior people, in particular sales, as useless.

My role was not to lead but to follow. Fresh ideas were threats not opportunities.

Then they fired me because I was a threat. Looking back,...

I worked with G&T for a period of 15 years. In that time I saw it go from a family run company where everyone literally did feel part of a big family. Then it was sold a couple of times and has pretty much been in a downhill spiral since then. Most of the employees seem to be recent hires (my condolences) and the ones that are left are, for the most part, depressed, demotivated, badgered by...

II worked at G&T for 25 years. Of that, 23 were wonderful years where I worked hard and was recognized for my effort. The last two years were simply terrible. G&T became a toxic place to work due to poor senior managers making their mark by ignoring sexual harassment, nepotism and other unethical behaviors. This passive approach to destruction evolved into taking profitable stores from...

After having worked at G&T for over 7 years, both as a CSR and within the sales force I saw 3 things happen. 1) Management becoming increasingly incompetent and unknowledgeable about what is actually realistic in terms of generating revenue, 2) lack of respect for the long-time employees who gave their blood, sweat and tears to make the organization successful, and 3) a style of micromanagement...

working for the organization for over a decade, I witnessed a great Canadian success story disintegrate into an entity which 1) doesn't care to or listen to the "front" line soldiers

2) sets increasing unattainable compensation reliant forecasts

3) I finally had to leave in discust

As the American economy sits in doldrums, I can imagine the pressure Big Bro Office Max is applying to it's sales...

I worked with Grand & Toy for over 25 years. The Grand & Toy of old is no longer. Their new management style, inherited from their parent, coupled with their complete and total disrespect for long term employees defines and shapes their new image. They have discarded, in many cases, the very people that helped them grow to be what they are today. Very sad for those that shared many years of their...

I have worked for them for close to 10 years and when i was told half the building was about to be layed off from the economy issues i was appalled.

Calgary is a great city to live in but a major company like this should have been more balanced in the managerial skills.

10 years hard work-Enough said.

Before I begin, this comment relates to the retail side of Grand and Toy.

The sense of teamwork and accomplishment at Grand & Toy comes entirely from the need to pull together in order to function despite the horrid working conditions. Most of the equipment was old and no longer functioning. When new equipment was requested, broken parts from other stores were sent to replace the current...

In business for over 120 years, the company was an institution and respected brand in the country. Their new style of management imported from their parent company shows a blatant disregard for provincial labour laws and complete disrespect for associates in the hiring, and dismissal stages. The pervasive micro-management techniques clearly indicate that there is little trust at any...