I got out!!! - General Manager Ulta Beauty Employee Review

1.0
May 21, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I came to work for Ulta because of it's store/salon concept and product lines. The company was growing and the pay was in line.

Cons

The number one reason I hated my time at Ulta was the district manager. She has no idea how to talk to employees or do her job. It is never ok to yell at your employee in front of other employees AND customers! There was no support on her part. If you had a question she would make you feel terrible for not knowing and tell you to ask someone else. Then that manager would not know and you would be lucky to ever find the answer. This leads her staff of GMs to think she has no idea, but she can't even own up to it and simply say, "I am unsure" and help you find the answer. The open door policy at Ulta is a joke! Follow the chain of comand or call HR, then be ready for full on retaliation! You might as well hand over your keys and walk out because your life will be hell until you do. Does not matter that you are meeting your key sales goals. Meeting payroll even though you do not have the hours to run your store. If you don't make your payroll you have to work 6 or even 7 days a week to make it up! And forget ever having 2 days off together because the DM will not let you unless you request it and she feels like approving it. The same can be said for holidays and vaction. This goes way beyond the norm even for retail! This lady is full on nuts! It was difficult to keep good employees! My true dissapointment with Ulta was the open door policy. It was not followed by the company because if it had been things would have improved on the issue of the DM. I would have hoped that she for be let go, but at least retrained and followed up on! I tried to stick it out because it was my job, but she made it impossible to do my job. There is also a huge issue with communication with Ulta. Policy (even with new manuels and such) is unclear.

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Pros

Indoor facilities, no extreme weathet

Cons

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2.0
May 4, 2026
Recommend
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Pros

good benefits for full time employees from what I hear. hourly pay if commission goal isn't met which is nice for those building clientele

Cons

this could just be the case for my store, especially because it's a very high volume store, but as a stylist I don't feel valued at all. I expected this to some degree coming to a huge corporate salon, but the biggest issue is that they try to pretend they care about you. but at the end of the day, if you're not meeting the sales they want/growing quickly enough, they don't care about you as a stylist. if you don't already have an established clientele, business is highly unreliable as there is no late cancellation/no show policy. many services are underpriced in my opinion, making it hard to meet their sales goals as an entry level part-time stylist unless fully booked every day. all they care about is getting as many clients in and out and quickly and possible and they hire more stylists than there are chairs, making every day inconsistent and chaotic. the relative stability of hourly pay is commission threshold isn't met seems enticing for stylists still building a clientele, but the hourly pay is wildly inconsistent between stylists, even those of the same tier. as a stylist of over 3 years who moved and is starting over with no clientele, I make over $2 less per hour than a fellow stylist who just got her license a few months ago and started taking clients for the first time last week. you're better off working at a place like Great Clips or Hair Cuttery because at least they're honest about what they are.

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