Vantaggi
Regardless of what position you hold in the company, you will learn a lot about sales acumen, merchandising, operations, inventory control, hiring, training, and HR. In short, you will learn a great deal about running a business. Approach any store position as an intense crash-course in retail business.
Svantaggi
First and foremost, retail is not a family friendly occupation. Many lives have been turned assunder due to retail hours. It is mostly nights, weekends, and holidays--and I mean ALL of them--ok, 98%. That leads to numerous breakups, divorces, and latch-key kids for associates. It also means upset and depressed associates. And it's even worse for managers, who sometimes (depending on the season of the year or severity of the problems at work) don't even get a day off---in their 60+ hour workweeks. If they are recruiting you for supervisory or management, they will tell you it's 50-55 hours, but most managers end up putting in an extra hour a day (off season) and an extra couple of hours a day (October through January) plus work one of their rare days off. And so, in peak Christmas retail season salaried employees can put in upwards of 70 hour weeks.