Decent plate to start, pay usually higher than similar positions but no advancement - Sales Associate Petco Employee Review

3.0
Aug 20, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The animals are fun to be around (except cleaning up!) The atmosphere is pretty casual and customers were generally satisfied. The payrate at the was a good $1.50/hr higher than other retail places. Overall, I'd work here again if need be.

Cons

There was the lack of instruction to new employees. I was only to work the register but there are a handful of weekly sales goals management expects and none were ever explained to me until I failed to reach them (and was then punished). One of the managers would easily let blame slide to associates even if customers called him out by name (if they'd spoken to him earlier, etc). The GM of the store was reluctant to let the cashiers do ANYTHING else. I ended up leaving because I was tired of working a register 8 hours a day for 6 months straight and asked for more responsibility. I was not the only one who couldn't do much else.

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5.0
May 6, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good environment and great people

Cons

There is no cons here

1.0
Jul 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Wonderful people under the Sr. Director level - Dogs in the office - Brand name carries weight on your resume

Cons

- Sr. Directors and above are largely nepotism hires rather than merit-based promotions - Leadership team is toxic and disrespectful, and that tone trickles down to other senior leaders - Gender favoritism shows up repeatedly, with women being asked to pick up the work of men without additional pay. Or men being promoted over women due to favoritism and not merit. - Nearly every employee I worked with was disengaged and functioning out of fear of layoffs rather than job satisfaction (layoffs happen multiple times a year) - The company's declining position also makes it harder to land your next role, since a recent Petco title now reads as coming from a struggling brand

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