I manage a boutique in a great neighborhood in a big city. I've been there over a year. It's a family-owned business. They are very tight-knit and have very high expectations of their employees, almost delusionally so. I've worked for big corporations, other family businesses and non-profits, and these bosses are not the best employers I've ever had. Communication is poor, they freak out about small mistakes, become livid at the tiniest things and are not friendly or welcoming to new employees. They trust me, but not too many others. I've tried to address certain things but there's not much I can do. I am in charge of interviewing and hiring and they are so out of touch about Salary, the realistic Talent Pool of part-time retail workers and are Snobs. No other word for it but that they are SNOBS.

They have always had money, and didn't comprehend the neighborhood or the community before they opened this store. It has been my job to educate them on the community. We've expanded our inventory to make the store affordable for all kinds of incomes. One owner has lived in this neighborhood for awhile and is now moving out and so I'm the only person with 'roots' in this neighborhood (I don't live there, just work there). So I'm trying to get acquainted with more people in the community...but the owners already seem to have a bad reputation, I am slowly discovering. Not just in the community, but with vendors too.

A regular customer whom I've come to know stopped in yesterday to address a piece of gossip with me. There's all kinds of neighborhood gossip. He asked if the landlord who lives above the store is part owner of this business. I told him he's not. But the owners and the landlord are 'friends.' Apparently, the landlord owns a bunch of buildings and just recently kicked a bunch of people out of their homes and businesses to start building condos. The neighborhood is in an uproar and small businesses that have been around for 35 plus years have had to close their doors. And the gossip is that the boutique I manage is 'friendly' with the man who did this. So it's like people are going to boycott!

I have handled a lot of stress in my life, but when it comes to reputation and community business development, my kindness and courtesy to the community can only carry so far. Customers aren't going to shop there to support ME...they think of the owners. I go into work everyday trying to do something NICE and create a pleasant and welcoming environment for the folks in a super friendly community, but my work is lost on the outside situation. Needless to say, it's very stressful everyday. But I stay strong and try my best to keep my staff motivated and on task and keep morale up, especially as I am hiring new employees!

If I quit, the owners would be LOST without me. The only reason I'm not quitting is because I care about my small staff and I actually LIKE the regular customers whom I've come to know. But I am being taken advantage of and there is NO CHANGING the owners snootiness. I am getting together references and looking at other opportunities out there...but until something better comes along, this is the mess I have to deal with. I really want to help and support small business, but perhaps this isn't the right one.

Any advice?