Pros
Good place to start if you are interested in retail experience; you can be trained in several areas Fellow associates are generally fun to work with Management can be reasonably accommodating with schedule Good benefits if you are lucky enough to be full-time 10%-20% associate discounts
Cons
Low pay, annual raises are very small (on the order of 25 cents/hour). Payroll is very spartan, often not enough for efficient operation of the store. Especially if you are part-time, the # of hours can fluctuate significantly from one week to the next....do not take a pt sales associate job if you need to have a reliable and steady source of income. The company tries to keep staff at a minimum and squeeze the maximum amount of work from them. Sometimes I think they run so lean it is detrimental to the efficient operation of the store and the morale of the employees. Floor associates are often called from their tasks/projects to work the cash registers and cover breaks. This practice is sometimes frustrating, especially when floor associates have heavy workloads of their own to deal with. Like in any retail setting, you occasionally have to deal with customers that are nasty, demanding, and/or condescending.