Not a career; just a way to barely make it
Pros
It's a good starting point in retail. Allows one to gain multi-dimensional experience in retail environment (cashiers are expected to stock and recover during shifts and solely stock and fixture in other, etc..). Gives one a basic foundation in a grocery retail environment.
Cons
Vast environmental inconsistencies: Store traffic, customer base, employee demographic, management styles, store efficiency, staff rules and training. Lack of register autonomy: Cashiers have to have a supervisor (key holder) void out items which happens quite frequently because corporate seldomly gives resources for managers to post actual price match. Corporate charges higher amounts on register than what is posted on shelf. Inventory and stock inconsistency and disarray which results in hazardous and inefficient store and stock room conditions. Corporate offers little, if any, financial support to its store, meaning practically everything comes out of a store's overhead which is the same place employees hours come from. This leads to understaffing which results in shrinkage, slow product placement, and ultimately customer dissatisfaction. In particular, my store's helium "machine" has been without a nozzle for about 5 months with no resolution in sight. We can't sell the balloons, which can be hot sellers during certain holidays, However, the recent malfunctions of our money counter present more serious implications and difficulties (closers get out much later which isn't usually accounted for in scheduling). Scheduling has also been somewhat inconsistent for me, but is much worse for my co-workers. When our manager finally hired an AM and an additional key holder, it resulted in hour cuts for PT associates because management positions are FT and higher pay (which comes from our overhead). Working conditions can be adversely affected by limited overhead (like lack of necessary hygienic amenities in the restroom, break room, and store as a whole to working in unhealthy conditions due to a broken AC or heating unit), For a $10 billion dollar revenue from a company which seems to be trying to keep the general store concept alive, it shows little appreciation for its PT associates by not even offering any sort of employee discount, or any service member/senior discount for that matter, or basic benefits. Cashiers can be penalized by the number of voids they make on their registers (due to their pricing inconsistencies). Corporate's pressures on management ultimately reflects on us, the bottom of the totem pole, who represent the greatest number of their employees who also interact the most with their products as well as customers.