Pros
Automatic pay increases. Co-workers, when not being a bit too OCD in their areas, are friendly and interesting, as are customers. It only takes one bad apple to screw up a day, but conversely, it only takes one fantastic interaction to turn things around. We have some great customers. Cashiering is almost like getting paid to talk to folks! Certain employee discounts are awesome. Learning retail is interesting (but a bit back breaking). Hours of operation are reasonable - no night shifts.
Cons
What is corporate thinking? Just out of curiosity, I peaked into the receiving area of a Dollar General once, where there was....nothing...no warehouse, no stock up to the ceilings, just a place to park stuff when it came in before it hit the floor. Retail chains that grow quickly, efficiently, and will go far are onboard with current technology that tells the buyers and the distribution center when to send things out and who needs what. It sounds like Bi-Mart buyers are living in their own world "making great deals" and then just shipping the crap out to the stores to deal with, even if there is not an inch of space to put it in, or a plan to even put it out for months. Talk about inefficient (and brutal to the folks who fight for space in the store "warehouse"). It feels to me like, when working in the departments, that we are purposely touching every item of stock multiple times. And customers complain that once-upon-a-time we left everything in place, but now we move things constantly. Why? Does that really increase sales? I doubt it. Because if I can't find what I was looking for, I go somewhere else. No 401k match. Really? Wow. Instead they give you stock shares in the company, but it is based on pay/longevity, so, there's no ability to put more into the kitty for your retirement up to a company match, you are just going to be "given" stock if you stay long enough to be vested. The stock may or may not go up in value depending on valuations of the company (which is not public). Not a fan of that. I expect someone is getting enriched, but it's not the store staff... The part time scheme for cashiers is sort of frustrating. There appears to be a limitation on hours, perhaps because of health insurance, so that instead of giving part time workers more hours, they just keep adding part time workers, bringing everybody's hours down when there are more staff. I'm looking for another part-time job due to the inability to predict my hours/pay. It will take a while to advance, and it can be painful to see the involvement the district manager puts into hiring/advancement. It feels quite biased. Ridiculous dress code requirements for people sweating like crazy all day! Why are men required to wear ties?! I've seen this through-out different employment sector - the folks who make the least amount of money are expected to look the best.