Pros
If you needed time off for something that came up quickly, it was easy to get someone else to cover your shift. Also, some of the other associates were great to work with and I am still friends with.
Cons
The pay is obviously very low and the only time I received a raise was when minimum wage was raised. The reason I had an easy time finding someone to cover my shift is due to the lack of hours at the store. Other associates were very desperate to pick up extra hours wherever and however they could. No real advancement opportunities and those that do advance get thrown out or leave on their own pretty quickly. There was a lot of work during the shift where you almost had to be in 3 different places at once. You had to stock shelves, blow up balloons and run a register at the same time. The store is very understaffed and there will be a lot of running around. The POS system as well as the other equipment was very outdated (still running Windows 98 on the registers) and broke constantly. Some of the regular customers were cool although most of the other customers were snobby but I guess that comes with the territory being that I worked at a more upscale location. They give you checklists where your tasks are written down because they don't trust you to get things done and treat you like you are in Kindergarden instead of an adult. Internal corporate communication was nonexistent especially if you were non management. I had to find out company news not from an internal memo or a newsletter, but rather Yahoo Finance like everyone else outside the company. Management was also something that left a lot to be desired. My manager always sold expired products which I would always try to see to it that they got damaged out, but sure enough they would be back on the floor the very next day. Also, they often times got very flustered under pressure which did not help the regular employees.