Pros
Allowed me to work on my communication skills, got lots of hands-on retail experience, got used to working with the public, raises don't take too long to get if you're lucky to get upto 40 hours a week here and there. Where I worked I got a *minimum* of 24 hours per week which was great considering all the stories I'd heard about store employees rarely getting 20 hours a week for part-timers. I wasn't stuck on the cash register all day--lots of stuff to do to keep you busy. Didn't take long for me to reach part-time seniority status due to the high turn-over rate. I also had a cool boss and a few cool employees. Scheduling was pretty flexible--but you had to give at least a 2-week notice about appointments, etc. if you needed a day off or something (and hope no one else took that day off before you). If you master your job quickly you will be given extra responsibilities and maybe allowed to train newbies. Not impossible to do all your daily duties and still have an extra hour at the end of the shift to do whatever (guilty of changing the tones on the bell to the steamboat and coo-coo clock noises, reading the paper on the counter in-between customers, prank co-workers on the pump microphones, etc.). If you ever want to become a Team Leader though you also need to have a Bachelor's degree in Business apparently. Tenure doesn't mean jack to upper-management. Even if you've been there for almost 10 years and know more than your boss does about the job.
Cons
There was lots of internal drama between co-workers, there was a lack of benefits and a 10% employee discount for "General Merchandise" that had to be used in the store, upper-management was willing to do anything to prevent employees to acquire full-time status (cutting hours was a popular method), where I worked the paycap for my position was $9.80 and it took about 4 years to get it... Oh and you're forced to join a union that no one cares about. Also, lots of interesting (not always in a good way) customers, pre-pay stations = more agitated customers and not every co-worker takes the job seriously--but that's common in retail apparently. Seniority worked an hour earlier, thus left an hour earlier (1st or 2nd shift). Can't leave the property on lunch breaks. If a register froze it took at least 15-20 minutes to reboot it and that was annoying during rush hours. Once both the registers froze and they were down for almost an hour. That was fun--lots of angry customers that day. You know, the usual retail mumbo-jumbo. P.S. Sounds like I left at a good time considering the hour and raise cuts thanks to Obamacare. When I was there, we got a 10 cent raise for the first 350 hours, a 25 cent for the next 350 hours and then 25 cents for every 700 hours until the pay cap. Reached $8.25 after almost 2 years starting at $7.40. Wasn't great then and it's even worse now.