What's better? F&B or Merchandise?

Hi
I have my interview in June and people have said that we have to say whether we'd prefer F&B or Merchandise at the interview.
I was just wondering what people who are currently or have previously worked there thinks is better?

 

Hi,

Basically the difference is mainly the money. In merch you get paid a set $7.65 an hour, if you get a trainer position you get paid a dollar more an hour for every hours training you do. You can also put yourself forward for being a 'floorstocker' where you would be responsible for banking the days takings, tidying stores and ensuring registers are stocked etc, managers generally rely on you and trust you a lot when youre picked to be a floorstocker. Merch can be lonely, but when i worked there it was a close knit team and i LOVED it! We had lots of time to talk to guests and interact, play games, listen to the British Invasion (now 'English Channel') and cheer on the world showcase players - street entertainment.

In food and beverage its much more fast paced, you begin as a podium person (greeting guests to the restaurant) and also you work in the fish and chip shop, a quick service food location. After a couple of months, if you want to, you can ask to be put forward for working in 'service' where you work as waiting staff in the restaurant, in a tipped position where in busy periods you can make a nice amount of money, but then you tend to be working more hours as busier times of the year.

Depends on what your forte is, im really not a food person, so i loved Merch! There were some people in F+B who couldnt bear the thought of merch though!

 

I applied for Merch and still got F&B despite having absolutely no experience in that area whatsoever! As far as I know there are far fewer Merch positions so you may be given F&B anyway like me. In the interview they asked me my preference but then also asked whether I would mind working in F&B so they will consider you for both no matter what you choose. Indeed, you don't HAVE to have a preference anyway, you can say you don't mind either way.

xx

 

I read around 80 get f&b and 30 get merch.... I got merch but I did say in the inteview that I would love to get some exsperience in merch as I already have lots in f&b. So maybe if you really prefer one and explain how it will benefit you it'll go in your favour...who knows! Good luck in the interview!

 

Thanks for your advice everyone

Do you get paid less in F&B then?

 

The podium/chippie wage is a little more than the merch wage iirc (not by much though). However, once you move to a tipped role, food running/service/bar, the wage is about half that of merch. However, you do earn tips, so it works out as more.

 

Personally I think it depends on you. I'm a current merchie and love it. Yes, you work on your own a lot, but that gives you so much more confidence to talk to guests, and slider was right about the close knit team.

My roomie works in f and b though and is a server now. She enjoys it but at times it can be hard work, although the tips are good.

In merch the floorstocker role has been dissolved now. Basically we are all floorstock trained and get to do it once every two or three weeks. It's good because it means you're not stuck in "rotation" all the time. In both f and b and merch there's chance to be a trainer too, you have to do interviews and stuff for that. There are a lot fewer people in merch...like 25 or something atm but I love being merch as it suits my personality- i couldn't cope being f and b and being so busy!!

I'm gutted British invasion went, but the "UK rock group" or "performances" now are a welcome change...ROOOOOXXXXAAANNNNEEEE.....!!

xxxxxx

 

They dissolved the floorstock role?! Oh i don't think i would last 5 minutes there now, i was not a fan of rotation, i preferred training and floorstocking! Im glad the team is still close knit, any favourite or non favourite managers or co-ordinators Kat?

 

It depends on you, although it may not matter what you picked. I said I was willing to do both, although I would prefer to work in Merch as I had more independent experience in that area, and wasn't overly confident with waitressing. However, I still got F&B. The guy I was interviewed with had 7 years plus Merch experience (maybe more years!) and also got Food and Beverage.

 

yeah, when I started is when they changed it, so we've all been trained in floorstocking and then will get a floorstock shift every now and then. It's good as it means everyone gets a chance to do it although I don't seem to get many floorstock shifts atm so rotation gets a bit dry.

I get on with all the managers and coordinators (I'm too "nice" and a bit passive), so I never really mind who is in. Celia left in Jan, and Ricky left last week so it's a bit different atm...we have two management interns who are pretty cool though. Dolores makes my life though...who did you like slider?

CDS now rule the world...ERs and stuff have to go through them now too...grrr...
xxx

 

I will be working in Merch even though all my experiance is in F&B. Will make a good change not working in a busy restauant for a year. I'm kinda scared that people say its a bit lonely. Is it really? x

 

it depends. it's not lonely most of the time- just unless the floorstocker is in your shop or people are tasking you can be stood on your own; but you make the time to chat with guests. Depending on your register you can interact with others most of the time- if you're in toys you can hover over to kidcot or wave at the person in crown and crest. If you're in sports you can take a wander to HRC or wave at crown. Tea and Queen's can get away with chatting quite easily too. Cart's probably most lonely- but I like it because there are lots of guests around and the pins often need stocking.

I can honestly say that the only time I've really been bored/lonely is during Extra Tragic- but again that depends where you are....If you get bored you can dust, chat to guests, make magic etc.

I really enjoy being merch, and I'm sure you will too

xxxxxx

 

I am looking forward to starting merch in december! kat i was just wondering how you got on with your thyroid meds, i have an overactive thyroid and just wondered if you have had repeat scripts out there etc and has it cost alot?

pleased your having fun! xxx

 

This thread seems a bit merch heavy, so I shall big up the F&B :-D. Personally, I would have died of boredom had I done merch and the money does make a huge difference. Once you're in service you can make in one night what the merchies make in a week. It's a lot more fast paced and a lot more varied. If you like running around, then go for F&B. Thing is, merchies have better hours, so have time to do stuff, but can't afford to, F&B have plenty of money, but no time to spend it lol. Also, there's a lot more people in F&B, so you get to talk to more people and work with different people each day. Merch does have a tendency to be a bit cliquey because they're a smaller group and I guess are limited to when/where they can go (mind you, they probably say the same about F&B lol).

Whichever you get (fingers crossed), deffinatley go to your throw ins and lasses etc, otherwise there'll be people across the road you've never even seen before haha.

 

Well you all make both sound good so I have even less preference then I had before haha.

 

Just out of interest, what's the likelihood of getting into at tipped position - what skills and qualities do you need to show (or more to the point WHO do you need to know?) It's awesome to know that you can actually earn decent money on this programme because I've already accepted that's not the reason why I'm going from what I've heard about the pay! But yeah, where do you start to work your way up into service?

 

You have to follow transfer guidelines and stuff, and there's set times at which you can do things. So your record card has to be in a good shappe. The earliest you can pick up your pre-service pack is at 30days, take your pre-service test at 60days, and start food running at 90days. Once you've started food running you then get trained in that, have a culinary and a bar day (a day in the kitchen as a chef, and a day on the bar) and then you get trained as a server before taking your service test. The service test isn't easy - you have to basically serve the managers, whist serving the rest of your section. They watch that you can deal with an allergy, open a bottle of wine, hit all the service standards (mostly times), have a full knowledge of everything on the menu, and be really happy while doing all of this.

It may be hard, but a lot of people do get into service. You get three tries at the pre-service test, and two tries at the actual service test. It's all about knowledge and skill sets really, and they teach you the skills in your training.

 

I hate how they change the rules every five minutes. when I went into service, we weren't allowed to even get our pre-service pack till we'd been there 10 weeks...and you only got 2 chances at it.

In terms of your service test, as long as you don't mess up on your allergy you can pretty much charm your way through the rest. My manager had to help me open my wine and I still passed lol. Most people who fail the first time, pass the second. I only know a few who failed twice (then you spend your year on podium).

Everybody get's the chance to do it, unless the managers say otherwise (which in my year, happened to 3 people I think)...it's mostly lazy people and even then the managers will say to them "Give it a month or two, show us you really want it and are willing to work hard, then we'll give you a go".

Also, after service, you can go on the bar and earn even better money still. However, there's only about 8 people on the bar, so if you want to do it, you'd have to win over the current bar staff. If they don't want you there, you won't get on it. Same, if the managers don't like you, you won't get on, no matter how much you learn your stuff.

 

Its such a shame that means the A.R.M. is now no more (anti-rotation movement). When i worked there Floorstock was based on seniority and the shift bid, i didn't do too badly out of it. I LOVED floorstocking except all the late nights, but then it generally was nicely balanced with a few early shifts of 10.15-4.15, loved my work pattern at times and at other times it was horrific!
CDS always used to rule, always funny putting in your ER only being told in the morning briefing there would be none on that day.
I was quite fond of Tom because he was a laugh and used to let me task a lot, do odd jobs and floorstock etc. I LOVED Katy, she was brill, helped me out quite a few times when i had down days. Me and Cassandra had a bit of a love hate relationship, we got on really well generally but when we didnt it was a bit like 'brother sister' style, im sure there are plenty of scenarios she can tell you about that happened. Dolores was relatively new when i left, she seemed cool. Ricky was such a ladies man but he knew us well and understood us well because he had a wife from the UK.

You enjoying it Kat?

I would say Merch or F+B is a choice of preference and the type of person you are.....

 

so what will the hours be like in merch? like from when to when and how many hours a day. i am very used to doing long hours as i am a supervisor in a restarant. just wondering what they are like. x x