Vantaggi
If you work hard and ambitious there is room for growth. After 4 months as a visual associate I was promoted to Assistant Manager. If you have a strong store director, they will see your worth and be an advocate for promotions.
Svantaggi
Lack of retail leadership structure. Each manager will treat its associates differently. There is no cohesiveness amongst managers and associates. Associates were often spoken to degradingly. Many associates confided in me about the disrespectful ways they were treated by store management. There is often no set structure on training. I worked as a visual merch for 4 months and left without any training. I learned from watching others. You work 8 hours without a 15 min break, and often scheduled to take a lunch 2 hours into your 8 hour shift. J.Crew is incorporating technology that should make customer servicing easier, but in fact it made it more difficult. Store are more concerned about competing against each other for top sales, rather than driving client experiences.