Nearly 34 years ago The Container Store opened in Dallas, creating the first-ever storage and organization retailer by bringing time- and space-saving products to everyday people in need of organization. As our company has grown over the years and become even more meaningful in what we do, we have continued to deliver matchless products and service to our customers.
Being matchless can present unique challenges, though. As a company grows, so do its needs. New roles are created, departments are assembled, markets open up. So how do you find experienced employees to hire for a retail concept that has only one player: you?
You simply hire great people, and you grow them yourself.
Here in the distribution center, we have an operations analyst who started his career loading trucks while learning to code data in his spare time. Our director of data analytics started part-time at one of our stores on their truck crew. All throughout our home office we have former store prime-timers (that’s what we call our part-time employees since they work the “prime” hours of our business) and distribution center employees who were hired simply as 1=3 great employees, but whose own motivation and spirit carried them to greater responsibilities. We call them “homegrown,” and they are plenty.
Our IS platforms manager started in our store fixture shop. Our store project director started as visual sales in one of our stores. Our very first cashier at our very first store, Barb Anderson, retired as our vice president of stores after 30 years with the company. The list is long, a wonderful indicator of our commitment to our people, our identity and a consistent experience for our customer.
Of course, in addition to our focus on employee development, our best-in-the-business recruiting department scours the country to find the perfect match for every new position. After all, we truly believe that in hiring and training passionate, 1=3 Great employees, we can fill any position a retail operation would require as long as each employee truly embodies our culture. The combination of homegrown employees and top-class hires from across the industry helps keep The Container Store’s Foundation Principles alive and our company successful, a tricky task for any expanding business.
So bring on the future and the challenges that come with it, even if we don’t know who’s going to handle them.
Yet.
— Steven D., Distribution Center, 1.5 years
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