We’re a for-profit company with a mission: To End the Age of Waste. Our job is to receive people’s unwanted but still-good things and find them new homes. We prevent wasting by salvaging still-useful things that people have taken to the dump, by picking up things from people who call, and by receiving goods from up to 100 vehicles a day. We sort, clean, price, and sell the merchandise in retail sales. We negotiate sometimes. We have three acres of secondhand goods.
The work is fast-paced, physical, and requires great skills at organizing, endless patience with a friendly and sometimes challenging public, and a temperament that can let you straighten up yet another mess routinely and without complaint. The personal rewards are to help people solve problems, to help them find things they need, to watch a river of both unusual and ordinary worldly goods flow by, and to know that while your work prevents pollution and conserves resources, you also offer customers a genuinely good deal.
We appreciate all human heritage; diversity enriches us. We don’t discriminate based on race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation or identity, national origin, or ethnicity.
Must work safely. Must be able to work full-time, including both weekend days. Must be on time and reliable. Must be able to add, subtract, write legible receipts, spell simple words related to the merchandise, and handle cash honestly and accurately. Will be trained to negotiate and run the point-of-sale system.
Job description: General Store staff members bring carts of reusable goods from the Receiving area, where they have been cleaned and priced, and put them out for sale on the sales floor. General Store staff may help sort, clean, and price the goods. Sales staff approach customers and help them find what they are looking for; sell merchandise without pressure tactics; restock merchandise; and maintain the sales area in a clean, orderly, and appealing condition. With experience, sales staff may learn to buy and accept materials that are dropped off. All staff members help each other cooperatively as required to achieve the goals of the day. This is a full-time position.
Activities: General Store Sales staff members work heavily with both the stock and the friendly but demanding public. The tasks below indicate but do not limit the responsibilities.
Maintains site and stock
Distributes stock to sales areas and displays it in a pleasing arrangement.
Replaces stock that has been moved out of position during sales activities, rearranges stock as necessary to keep sales area orderly, clean, and appealing, and maintains the department and merchandise displays in a clean, orderly, and appealing condition.
Culls inventory for old or unusable goods and puts them into scrap bins according to Urban Ore’s internal Zero Waste system.
Helps unload incoming stock if asked.
Sorts goods bound for different merchandise areas if asked.
Cleans and processes incoming merchandise according to protocol if asked.
Helps the public
Approaches customers, welcomes them, and helps them find what they are looking for.
Provides information about our merchandise, insofar as personal expertise permits.
Helps customers think through situations and solve problems creatively for how to use our merchandise, insofar as personal expertise permits.
Prices and sells
Prices merchandise, as delegated by Department Manager and Assistant Managers.
Sells merchandise, including bargaining with customers, as experience permits.
Helps customers load if necessary.
Receives and buys
After experience selling and receiving substantial training, and if asked, helps receive dropoffs and buys incoming merchandise, negotiating terms with supply customers.
Helps other staff
Helps other team members and performs other tasks as required to keep the site orderly and appealing.
Handles money
After training, uses cash register to receive cash and credit card payments from customers. Pays out cash and trade credits to purchase materials from suppliers.
Works weekends
All sales staff work at least one weekend day. New staff work both weekend days.
Physical requirements:
Walk and stand for most of the day. The department covers about 30,000 square feet, and department staff may walk as much as 3-5 miles in a day.
Individually lift and maneuver objects such as furniture, cabinets, boxes of books, electronics, housewares, or hardware. Weight: up to 50 lbs. Frequency: up to 30-40 times a day, every day.
With a team of 2-5 people, lift large objects such as heavy furniture, larger cabinets and counters, or wood stoves from the ground onto a forklift or sometimes onto a truck bed, or from a truck bed onto the ground. Weight: up to 400 lbs shared by the team. Frequency: several times a week.
Environment: Primarily inside an unheated steel warehouse. Staff include feral cats that help keep rodents away. People with allergies or environmental sensitivities of any kind should inquire during the job interview to assure the conditions are appropriate for their health. Personal protective equipment (work gloves, dust masks, aprons, boots) is provided as needed.
Dust. This environmental company prevents landfilling by salvaging at the dump and receiving unwanted used materials. We clean up dirty objects and sell them. They have often been sitting for long periods in garages and basements, and cleaning them creates airborne dust. Also the warehouse is naturally dusty.
Minerals and chemicals. A lot of our merchandise is painted, and paints contain various coloring minerals. We handle a lot of plumbing, which contains brass and zinc, and windows, which contain aluminum. There are many other minerals and chemicals such as cleaning agents onsite as well.
Personal characteristics we will look for: Honesty in handling cash; safe work habits; clean, neat appearance; focus on work; patience and cheerfulness with the public in a fast retail environment; experience with and interest in the items for sale. Must be able to work weekends, must be willing to learn to bargain. Interest in reuse, recycling, or other environmental matters is an advantage.
Wage and benefits: This fulltime job starts at $13.60 base wage plus an average incentive of $8.55 per hour, or an average hourly wage of $22.15 per hour. Benefits include fully-paid health and dental coverage for the staff person and all dependents; vacation time accrual that would yield 12 days of paid vacation a year; up to 22 total days off a year; and a 50% discount on purchases for personal use.
To receive an emailed job application, write to [email protected]. Then print the application, fill it in by hand (important), and bring it in person (important) in an envelope. You can also pick up an application at either cash register and fill it out right away. No emailed applications will be considered.
COME JOIN US IN SAVING THE EARTH ONE OBJECT AT A TIME!