Pros
Majority of my life I've worked in retail roles mainly around fashion stores. Petbarn has been the most positive experience out of all of them. The team I had worked with were incredibly inclusive, fun, vibrant and knowledgeable. I know it's retail and generally that in itself sucks, but coming to work knowing I had a great team really helped. My manager at the time was great as well, really cared about the team. There is only so much a manager can do when head office makes changes to budgets and rules etc. For that the manager was always doing the best they could with the resources they were provided. My store also had a good area manager, put pressure when needed to but mainly had a hands off approach. Petbarn is a very internally hiring company - you do need to obviously prove your work ethic and skills and need to be communicative of the direction of growth you would like either to become assistant store manager, work in head office etc. As long as you communicate it, majority of the time they will do their best to try and get you that as long as you prove yourself. Although pay itself is the usual retail rate which isn't great alone, but the low stress and pressure from working here is completely worth it . Again I was lucky I had a great team, manager and assistant manager that I felt really cared about me and my mental health. I've already had worked in the animal industry prior so I had gained a lot of knowledge prior, so was very rewarding to teach new and current owners how to better care for their pet, which felt like I was actually making an impact. If they could offer a full time role (which they don't - only for manager and asm) I would continue to work there :) - also just a note you do not need to have any knowledge on animal products the team will slowly teach you - as long as you love animals you'll be fine! To be honest yes there were some difficult customers, but nowhere near how you experience in fashion stores. Majority of these customers were super open to your knowledge and willing to learn and always held gratitude and kindness towards you. I think it's a great place for young people to start their first job in, and even for those who a more mature that need a mental break from a stressful life/corporate job, where you can provide real help and change to customers and pets lives.
Cons
Really depends on which Petbarn store you apply to as the area manager of that store and store manager and assistant store manager will dictate the team morale, work ethic, budget, responsibilities and pressure. Unfortunately no way of knowing until you're in. They do promote twice a year charities so you will need to push for that during those periods everytime you are at the counter, so it can feel a little rehearsed and uncomfortable - but I guess you are doing it for a good cause.