Pros
Discounts and Prodeals Coworkers to go out and do activities with Coworkers are always willing to help each other Coworkers become great friends Fairly relaxed working atmosphere No commission sales You help the customer learn and sell to fit their needs, budget, existing gear Flexible work schedules Learn a lot about outdoor products Management and supervisors are generally really nice people who are willing to work with your schedules Management will listen when and if you are interested in learning a new department (when there are openings... tell them before the next hiring period).
Cons
Selling memberships: It always feels awkward to insert "Are you a member" into your conversation with customers. It really is a neat benefit to the customer, but customers get annoyed especially when every sales associate they've talked to that day (or in their lifetime of shopping) asks this question. Some sales associates do a great job of not making this question seem out of place. Membership sales can effect your hours and your raise. It's the company's measurable performance goal for you as an individual. It is still retail, so you might seem like all you do is pickup and zipup jackets and clothing that messy people leave everywhere. You start to love the people who put away and zip up the mechandise they were looking at. Very rarely get an rude customer, but they do happen. Customer service deals with a lot of upset customers and some that take advantage of the company's return policy, returning "well-loved," not faulty merchandise that at times have been 5-10 years old. People return things that should be in their own garage sales, not REI's.