Pros
Better discount than most retailers - 40% Fun atmosphere, most people are very outgoing and social It's enjoyable dealing with the customers (they call them "guests" at BKE) Kind of decent training if you have dealt with sales before Sales manager is usually very involved and helpful Flexible with asking for time off
Cons
Terrible pay - less than minimum wage and difficult to make good commission unless you get lucky. My manager always said it wasn't luck, but it was. I had co-workers that had been there for years and KNEW which people that walked in would drop 500 bucks. Too crazy about tracking sales and presentations... come on, it IS retail. Management is hard on the sales team if they are not making their "numbers" - it is impossible to prospect and cold call for RETAIL, once again. If it's blizzard-ing outside, no one is going to come in. Hence: no one is going to buy anything, so everyone's numbers suck. Manager may care too much about his/her own salary which is affected by how much the store sells. It makes you wonder if they care about your own progression or just their paycheck. People will steal your sales when you turn around. There goes 3 bucks in commission. Too many teenagers working there/drama. They bugged me EVERY DAY about wearing the clothes. I knew I wasn't working there long, so I honestly didn't feel like spending 100 dollars on jeans ... after the discount. Yes, some jeans are 150. It is too hard to make money there when they expect you to buy a ton of clothes because let's be honest, the stuff is not cheap at all. Basically, only kids who live with their parents and can afford to blow their whole paycheck on clothing should work here. You won't make enough money to do anything else, anyways. And there isn't much opportunity for advancement so don't get your hopes up. Most likely, if you get to the store management phase, they will send you very far away.