I have been a cashier twice before working at Pick 'n Save, and upon hiring, I was not able to negotiate a proper wage and was given the lowest seniority wage albeit my former experience. I have been working there since last year because of the difficulty of finding another job in Milwaukee. I work really, really hard when I'm there, I've always believed in delivering my best work for whatever amount I am being paid. When the store is slow/empty and I don't have a customer at my register, I am cleaning and restocking the front end, and my co-workers are mostly standing around talking. Although my supervisors, managers, and customers show me their appreciation with words, I don't really feel like it means anything as I'm getting paid well below a living wage and my hours are constantly getting cut. I'd rather the appreciation be showed with action.
I don't like the disorganization and lack of support for the front-end. There are certain things that should have been done a long time ago and have not been done. For instance, updating the registers to include numbers for the bulk items (many customers do not write down the PLU of bulk items) or at least updating the list in the binder we have in our drawers when they built the bulk section. In terms of support - when there isn't a UC on the floor (which is usually the case for about half of the time you are there... which I understand because they have a lot of other things they need to do like carts and cleaning the bathrooms), there is no one who can do a quick price check for you or run back to get an item a customer needs. I have no problem doing that myself, but most of the time my supervisors won't let me and they won't run back to check it for the customer, which I think is very poor customer service.
Although not as serious of an offense, I wish our uniforms were different. I think we can maintain a professional look without the black and white uniforms we currently don. I don't think the white shirt tucked in is very practical when you are doing work that requires you to bend and lift things a lot. I see a lot of co-workers wearing large sweaters over their non-tucked in shirt (even in the summer) because of this issue. I think a shirt with our company name on it (or even a nice polo or similar kind of shirt just with a Pick 'n Save pin to reduce costs) and a nice pair of pants would be just as fine and professional looking, but most importantly, easier to work in.
It is very obvious to me why there is a lot of turnover. I could go on, but I won't. If you are looking for a job as a student, then this would be a good place to work; if you are something other than that -- I'm not so sure.