Vantaggi
Coworkers were largely very friendly and caring, and in general the majority of customers could be very pleasant and easy to get along with. The friendly people were really what made the job worth it-- coming into work every day and having coworkers who were kind and enjoyable to be around really made all the difference, and the majority of management as well were personable and fun. Also, the shop sells some absolutely fantastic foods, so you really do get something worthwhile using your employee discount! Lastly, at least when I worked at this location, the employee base seemed to be very diverse, which was a relief coming from an unusual cultural background myself. I suppose in fairness it would be a bit odd for an international goods store to be anti-diversity, but even so, such internal consistency is never guaranteed, so it was good to see.
Svantaggi
When the customers were difficult, there was little to do except for suffer in silence. Furthermore, training for new employees starting the job was often less than comprehensive, sometimes leading to confusion and frustration when new employees made preventable mistakes and were chastised for them without knowing what they had done wrong. Lastly, some of the safety standards could have been better. One of the reasons I quit was the stress about getting hurt after multiple instances of having to hang heavy rugs and other displays while balancing on the top piece of a ladder with a coworker doing the same on another ladder holding the other end of the rug. It was all very precarious, and although I don't necessarily blame anyone for some of the lapses in safety, this along with poor instruction and safety regulation around using the compactor, carrying furniture, etc. was enough to become a major stressor.