Pros
It's often a fun environment with all the toys and excited children. It's satisfying to bring a smile to a child's face, and to help a clueless parent find something worthwhile for their child.
Cons
There is not much communication and training from the management. The management at times complain to associates about less than stellar gstat scores, but the company hardly trains and guides the employees on guest servicing, SOPs, product knowledge, etc! They way things are done in the store it seems like most people (including managers) are just randomly "winging it" as they go along. A lot of people work hard and are kind of disillusioned by the lack of acknowledgment for the work they do by management. There are hard-working, helpful, friendly people working there, but it's at times jarring how some managers and associates there are rather cold and impersonal towards each other. They don't seem interested in interacting with their fellow employees and act like they don't want to be approached for anything. The head store manager's presence seems non-existent in the store. Most employees have never seen THE store manager and have absolutely any idea who it even is. This person is cooked up in their office most of the time. Strange how someone can be in charge of this particular store but walks around in it only once every few months (usually just to go shopping or greet a VIP visiting the store). The company can at times be stingy providing hours to its employees, even if it's a very high volume store that needs a lot of help and work done. The salaries offered to associates is not competitive with other major retailers in the area. It's no wonder why a lot of great employees quit and work at other retailers. The company discount (10%) is seriously a joke, and excludes a lot of major items. Major retailers typically offer their employees at least double that rate year-round, and some offer triple (and up) that rate.
