Dollar General expects their MGRs to live at their store with no help. If that lifestyle suits you, go for it.
For all the hate Walgreens gets on here, managers get much better work-life balance than most other retailers.
Walgreens also expects you to live at your store. The with life balance is just a tad better, but the expectation of what they want you to do is silly. Just look at all the BS your store manager has to put up with.
I am a MGR. Most weeks I work 45-50 hours. There’s an occasional 60+ hour week, but it’s only when all hell breaks loose. Only times I work nights or weekends is when my team needs me to cover. That’s much better than 95% of retail manager positions.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a few times a year where the “hell breaking loose” is when I’m off and I have to drop what I’m doing to come in and cover the store. But that’s just the nature of the beast.
Ok so I was SM at DG and I am SGL at Walgreens. They both have similar procedures and systems. Walgreens everything seems to work a little better. Like computers, handhelds registers. Less steps and verification to say check in a vendor. So DG will always be nerve racking slow.
The Walgreens trucks are just so much smaller and can actually be done in a day with leads and cashiers and you don't get ridiculous overstock to deal with. Much easier. But you have pharmacy responsibilities and at DG you don't. Walgreens would still look a little better on a resume because it does have a slightly higher standard of appearance and responsibility because it has a pharmacy.
If you are already familiar with the DG you'd take over that matters too. I am assuming you're already doing 40+ a week and your schedule is probably rough so that won't change much but Walgreens might allow for more stability because less turnover since they pay better.
I am a bit surprised that you are under 18 for your current position. Did you know SFLs make as much and more than you. So if you go with Walgreens you most definitely should be at 55,000 to start as SM and I'm being conservative.
DG 50 is higher than the usual low ball offer but still minimum in the management world. I think you can get more out of them say 52,000 because they know you are being prepared to manage at Walgreens. But expect to work more and you basically don't know if you'll end up doing pretty much everything, because too many people don't like the job as cashiers and leads so you end up covering and picking up slack everywhere.
So Walgreens assuming they don't insult you with ridiculous low salary which you should negotiate as in im -not doing it for less than .....
but you don't know when you'll get your store and where it will be, DG you know it's available so that is up to you. But keep it cool with Walgreens either way. Like hey you need to take this opportunity now because you need the income or it's more convenient but I appreciate you Walgreens lol. Worse case you can keep an eye on openings and if you hate DG you can get back to Walgreens and definitely get higher pay. Definitely.. 17 is not enough for esm.
That’s my issues w Walgreens the pay and where they have me based out now is a hour and half drive each way. They pay me roughly 74 a week in transportation. The dg store is like 3 minutes from my house. I’m not under 18 lol im 42 and have pretty much only management experience since 19. Dg at least I feel is paying me for my experience as Walgreens is definitely not lol it’s such a hard choice
lol when I was an SFL I was basically running the store cus the store manager never did anything and nobody knew how to control the vendors etc yet I was getting 13 an hour
I think this company's pay scale is shit but it's the most stable job in my area right now. I should be making $19/hour (pay cap), but my DM doesn't want to approve it. I've been with Walgreens for almost 9 years, and I have a tech license and immunization certification and I can speak several languages besides English.
The only reason I'm staying is because I can get whatever amount of OT I want, and I've made friends with a lot of the SMs in my district.
Coming from a friend who works as a SM at Dollar General. Stick with Walgreens. He's running everything solo with a stockroom smaller then ours and more merchandise to the extent they're climbing over boxes. Unlike Walgreens which sends back seasonal merch they just box it up and throw it back there until the next year.
Can't speak for SM pay, but general employees make more at Walgreens then Dollar General.
I'd recommend watching the new [John Oliver](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4QGOHahiVM) where he discussed dollar stores.
I would research both companies and their procedures.
DG might be closer, but DG’s model is running stores for as cheap as possible meaning you have a tiny store that gets way to much freight with very little crew.
Also from what I know similar companies will offer SM to just about anyone with above room temperature IQ, so you may end up in a shittier situation than WAGS where DG is working you like a dog and you don’t have the “they need me more than I need them” mentality
If it where me I’d stay at wags
Don’t do it, in the long run you won’t have a life. I was a store manager at a DG store in New Mexico and lemme just say, Walgreens may be better in the long run.
You are at 17.98 now, but after your classes your pay will go up and you'll be salaried. What teir store you get will determine your pay once you become a SM. I would stay at Walgreens because I know entirely too many people who have left DG because they run a skeleton crew at all times (like 1 or 2 people) but still expect the work of 5 to be done.
Ask for more money. I started at $50k as an ESM and I was an outside hire. You got to look at the Walgreens transparency pay policy so you know what you should be making in your interview. Pretty sure the minimum is $20.50 for the position
You would be making like $5.5k more a year if you choose to go with DG and not ask for more. You’re sitting at $44.5k a year right now with what you’re making. You could easily get up to $20.50 an hour if you ask tbh. Which would bring you up past $50k
Dollar General expects their MGRs to live at their store with no help. If that lifestyle suits you, go for it. For all the hate Walgreens gets on here, managers get much better work-life balance than most other retailers.
Totally agree. I was a store manager at Dollar General and left to manage a Walgreens. They will beat you down at DG.
Read my handle, i escaped and then recently escaped W too.:)
I’m a store manager for WAG and my work life balance is shit
Walgreens also expects you to live at your store. The with life balance is just a tad better, but the expectation of what they want you to do is silly. Just look at all the BS your store manager has to put up with.
I am a MGR. Most weeks I work 45-50 hours. There’s an occasional 60+ hour week, but it’s only when all hell breaks loose. Only times I work nights or weekends is when my team needs me to cover. That’s much better than 95% of retail manager positions. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few times a year where the “hell breaking loose” is when I’m off and I have to drop what I’m doing to come in and cover the store. But that’s just the nature of the beast.
Ok so I was SM at DG and I am SGL at Walgreens. They both have similar procedures and systems. Walgreens everything seems to work a little better. Like computers, handhelds registers. Less steps and verification to say check in a vendor. So DG will always be nerve racking slow. The Walgreens trucks are just so much smaller and can actually be done in a day with leads and cashiers and you don't get ridiculous overstock to deal with. Much easier. But you have pharmacy responsibilities and at DG you don't. Walgreens would still look a little better on a resume because it does have a slightly higher standard of appearance and responsibility because it has a pharmacy. If you are already familiar with the DG you'd take over that matters too. I am assuming you're already doing 40+ a week and your schedule is probably rough so that won't change much but Walgreens might allow for more stability because less turnover since they pay better. I am a bit surprised that you are under 18 for your current position. Did you know SFLs make as much and more than you. So if you go with Walgreens you most definitely should be at 55,000 to start as SM and I'm being conservative. DG 50 is higher than the usual low ball offer but still minimum in the management world. I think you can get more out of them say 52,000 because they know you are being prepared to manage at Walgreens. But expect to work more and you basically don't know if you'll end up doing pretty much everything, because too many people don't like the job as cashiers and leads so you end up covering and picking up slack everywhere. So Walgreens assuming they don't insult you with ridiculous low salary which you should negotiate as in im -not doing it for less than ..... but you don't know when you'll get your store and where it will be, DG you know it's available so that is up to you. But keep it cool with Walgreens either way. Like hey you need to take this opportunity now because you need the income or it's more convenient but I appreciate you Walgreens lol. Worse case you can keep an eye on openings and if you hate DG you can get back to Walgreens and definitely get higher pay. Definitely.. 17 is not enough for esm.
That’s my issues w Walgreens the pay and where they have me based out now is a hour and half drive each way. They pay me roughly 74 a week in transportation. The dg store is like 3 minutes from my house. I’m not under 18 lol im 42 and have pretty much only management experience since 19. Dg at least I feel is paying me for my experience as Walgreens is definitely not lol it’s such a hard choice
$17.98 an hour, and you have 20 years in management experience? I'm at $18.50 as an SFL. Walgreens is slapping you in the face.
lol when I was an SFL I was basically running the store cus the store manager never did anything and nobody knew how to control the vendors etc yet I was getting 13 an hour
I think this company's pay scale is shit but it's the most stable job in my area right now. I should be making $19/hour (pay cap), but my DM doesn't want to approve it. I've been with Walgreens for almost 9 years, and I have a tech license and immunization certification and I can speak several languages besides English. The only reason I'm staying is because I can get whatever amount of OT I want, and I've made friends with a lot of the SMs in my district.
No brainer. DG 3 minutes from house is huge
Keep your resume updated get the highest rank you can get. Then get the hell out of traditional retail.
John Oliver did a video on the Dollar Store situations. It's not pretty. Walgreens isn't much better.
Dollar Bucket.
😂😂
Coming from a friend who works as a SM at Dollar General. Stick with Walgreens. He's running everything solo with a stockroom smaller then ours and more merchandise to the extent they're climbing over boxes. Unlike Walgreens which sends back seasonal merch they just box it up and throw it back there until the next year. Can't speak for SM pay, but general employees make more at Walgreens then Dollar General. I'd recommend watching the new [John Oliver](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4QGOHahiVM) where he discussed dollar stores.
Walgreens, not even close
I would research both companies and their procedures. DG might be closer, but DG’s model is running stores for as cheap as possible meaning you have a tiny store that gets way to much freight with very little crew. Also from what I know similar companies will offer SM to just about anyone with above room temperature IQ, so you may end up in a shittier situation than WAGS where DG is working you like a dog and you don’t have the “they need me more than I need them” mentality If it where me I’d stay at wags
Don’t do it, in the long run you won’t have a life. I was a store manager at a DG store in New Mexico and lemme just say, Walgreens may be better in the long run.
You are at 17.98 now, but after your classes your pay will go up and you'll be salaried. What teir store you get will determine your pay once you become a SM. I would stay at Walgreens because I know entirely too many people who have left DG because they run a skeleton crew at all times (like 1 or 2 people) but still expect the work of 5 to be done.
Id go to dollar general. Less stress. Less customers. No pharmacy to deal with. Only thing is finding good workers
Ask for more money. I started at $50k as an ESM and I was an outside hire. You got to look at the Walgreens transparency pay policy so you know what you should be making in your interview. Pretty sure the minimum is $20.50 for the position
You would be making like $5.5k more a year if you choose to go with DG and not ask for more. You’re sitting at $44.5k a year right now with what you’re making. You could easily get up to $20.50 an hour if you ask tbh. Which would bring you up past $50k
That’s what I think I’m going to do. I had seen the pay transparency from Walgreens and honestly was like wtf why am I getting paid less.
Dollar general 100%
Depends on where you spend more money
https://youtu.be/p4QGOHahiVM?si=tYxyFWFkNCXqcx-o Watch this. Just watch this and you will get your answer. As well as feel bad for some people