Just another warehouse job - Guitar Gallery - Guitar Handler Sweetwater Employee Review

1.0
Sep 21, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- see awesome and new guitars. - nice work hours (if a morning person or college student). - Cafeteria with nice food. -very easy/straightforward work.

Cons

- Favoritism among management, this is a glaring issue that is displayed often especially considering… - weirdly competitive environment. Promotions was very scarce, numbers is super important. You may get written up for low numbers consistently. - Promotion requirements are very arbitrary and aren’t guaranteed, this is a cultivation of previous points. Working hard and consistent doesn’t mean you have a high chance to get promoted. Being a favorite with management with having sweetwater as your career/ having a great attitude on top of that are factors (emphasis on favorite, it’s pretty bad). - low pay, starting at 15 per hour in the guitar gallery. Hard to use benefits/hard to afford, hard to purchase with employee discount/wholesale prices. - Promotions are 50 CENTS raises with each promotion in the gallery, yearly raises occur with a CHANCE to max at 50 cents as well ( there are instances where some other employees received a 30 cent raise despite working hard). -Despite work being easy, you will be handling numerous guitars that are high in value and cost (from 300 to 15,000 thousand dollars) and one accidental box swap can lead to write up. Sort of feels like responsibilities and infractions doesn’t match the pay despite the work being easy. - Work & Social culture carries the same issues as any other warehouse; Very high school clique-y, favoritism, and men to women ratio heavily leads in the favor of men by a lot, Which does lead to some questionable situations or interactions that comes with that. - Promotions are Soft promotions, previous responsibilities aren’t fully relinquished, you are given ADDITIONAL responsibilities for a measly 50 cents! -Management expects loyalty for them but don’t reciprocate that energy back to the employees. -mandatory overtime during peak, while this is preventable of course, this needs to be mentioned as during peak season (holiday) there’s a chance that everyone will be working 6 days a week if backlog is high.

Explore other reviews about Sweetwater

5.0
Jun 19, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Structure for private lessons -Create your own hours -Pool for new students -Food discount -Benefits

Cons

-I personally did not have problems

4.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

If sales and music are your drives, Sweetwater is as good as it gets. Management in my experience has been very supportive and development-oriented, creating a positive culture around the company. They have a fantastic training program (albeit intense) that trains on both products and sales methods, so even if you're lacking experience in a given category there's plenty of coaching and training to get you ready for the role. Over time, the position can also be quite lucrative which compliments Fort Wayne's low cost of living well. They also offer relocation assistance since all positions are on-site, and a great benefits package. I've been fortunate to become great friends with many of my coworkers and honestly some days don't even feel like work. Ultimately, with this job you get what you put in, and making a solid living to geek out over music gear all day is a pretty sweet gig.

Cons

The job is very demanding - it's a fully commission sales job that revolves around constant customer outreach via call, text, and email. This means starting out is tough financially, and days are usually long. Try to have a savings cushion before you start, especially if you're moving from another city/state. You also work nights, holidays, and rotate through weekend shifts which won't be new for those who have worked retail before, but it's still a tough adjustment. Starting out I struggled from a social aspect as well. Fort Wayne is a cool city, but it's no LA, NY, or Chicago. Long hours at work make going out and making friends or getting involved in community groups/organizations difficult.

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