Vantaggi
They were super flexible with my school schedule, and I had a lot of great experiences with people and managers. Really broadened my speaking and sales skills, which has massively improved my ability in interviews and the like.
Svantaggi
I had some really bad managers sometimes. If we close at 9 and we're supposed to be out at 9:30 why are we consistently leaving at 11/12? Why do we have people on staff that obviously make other staff uncomfortable? Why am I guilt tripped because I need to leave at the time it says in my schedule due to other engagements? And when I relent and stay an hour later, why am I guilt tripped again? Some customers treat you poorly, management might stand up for you, but they're just as likely to throw you under the bus. I was threatened with a "talking to" because I turned away a customer because they were incredibly rude to me.
That is all on top of increasing demands to sell, and decreasing likelihood of actually making a sale. There will be months where no one will sell much of anything, and you'll be threatened with a firing. That's after you worked 40 hours that week and you're the only person in your section. I closed 3-4 sections, got no help, and was forced to stay late or I'd be fired. Look, I met a lot of great people, it was fun sometimes, but god I have 10 bad stories for every 1 good one.