Pros
Was Easy to get started as an employee, and was a great place to help get me on my feet freshly introduced into the job market. Co-Workers are usually friendly, and often share the same interests. Corporate will typically back managers decisions. Managers would typically back Employees. Excellent teaching tool for multiple aspects of business and management.
Cons
Very little room for advancement. Very Competitive for advancement.The Knowledge required to advance from a basic worker to management was very steep and specific. Even when a chance for advancement came up, it was always based purely on time spent at the specific store, instead of a combination of knowledge, sales, and time. The difference between upper management and Managers was made clear by the upper management, and not in a subtle way. It also seemed that upper management was trained in the "my way or the highway" aspect of business. The most disturbing part of NAPA was the way in which employee notices where handled. During my time at NAPA any time an employee handed in a 2 weeks notice, the owners/upper management would ostracize the leaving employee, and usually after 2-3 days would tell them their not needed anymore.