Avantages
What I liked about the experience was you were proud of being a great group of people who honored each other's contributions, which, in turn, led to a great store experience.
Inconvénients
However, with the advent of changing to a publicly held company, that ethos continues to be trotted out in marketing campaigns; however, the internal world has changed. If you are part-time, unless the geographic area is expanding, you are going to be in that role 20 hrs per week indefinitely. Full timers are former managers in their own right. The model is doomed to failure because eventually the overvalued (and it is overvalued) company as a publicly held firm will eventually have the rubber hit the road in terms of the culture having to change. It is already happening. The glory days of old have passed and now the associate experience is driven by whether or not management is walking the floor. Otherwise, good luck. It is maybe a year or so away from becoming mediocre.