Pros
I enjoyed my position and am grateful for the experience I received. It was nice to work for an up and coming company in the Chicago area and be part of the reason it was growing. The nature of my position allowed me to have good relationships with colleagues both in-store and with Corporate. Mariano's is well-known and continuously growing, so there are certainly career opportunities available for people interested in this business. My particular position did not allow room for growth within the same area of expertise, and unfortunately I decided to look for a better opportunity that better suited my needs personally and professionally.
Cons
For too long, I kept hoping things would get better and eventually decided the company could no longer serve me personally or professionally. Although I respect the people who run the company and work for Mariano's, their problems include: - poor communication - long hours - inability to have any sort of personal life - unwillingness to work with each employee's personal situations - INCONSISTENCY among decision-makers - unrealistic expectations - lack of leadership (especially consistent leadership) Although expansion of stores in the Chicagoland area is great for residents and for employment opportunities, the rate of expansion is too much for the company to handle. Their focus is quantity, not quality, despite what they advertise. The expansion rate causes lack of development in current stores, and there is not enough corporate leadership to make sure stores are running consistently as the company should be. Notice "consistency" (or lack thereof) is a common trend in the Cons section? Mariano's is great at teaching employees how to react quickly and assist customers with great customer service. But you can't run a company on the principle that "reaction" to problems is good enough. There is no "preventative" training set in place, no ideals on how to stop a problem before it becomes one. Ever been to a store opening? The staff is literally SCRAMBLING to keep up with demand and just hope to survive the typical 15 hour work day that comes with assisting in a store opening. Most of the employees you see at a store opening actually don't work at that store and are there to help. After two weeks, stores are left to fend for themselves with no real training set in place for the 400+ employees that were hired on with no grocery experience. I know Mariano's is working on correcting some of their issues, but I worry that it's too little too late. I truly hope they are able to overcome the challenges they face. I'm still a customer and know many people who make a living from the company (despite being worked to the bone).