Pros
It was fun working with such a large group of employees, and meeting a lot of new people because of the high turnover rate and seasonal employees. UO attracts pretty liberal employees for the most part. The discount is great and employee deals are definitely a plus if you love the clothing/housewares but cannot afford to buy from UO without a discount. The playlist of music in the store is great -- this seems like a futile detail but I found that good music playing in the store really made a workday go faster. Especially when you spend a few hours saying hi to everyone that walks in or folding graphic tees.
Cons
The Urban Outfitters I worked at fostered an environment of competition. It was constantly like a popularity contest between employees, especially with choosing favourites when large numbers of new employees were hired. There's a whole social aspect as well, where you suffer at work if you don't party with the other employees, especially long-standing ones. The gossip was at times unbearable. I experienced on several occasions, managers exercising favouritism where more popular employees would be asked to do more desirable tasks (flying a drone around the store vs. cleaning a back room). The management team is noticeably easier on male employees, to the point where even those employees noticed and would joke about it. There is an underlying feeling of competition with female employees, making the workplace uncomfortable and positive exchanges disingenuous. I would leave work with my self-image and self-esteem feeling low. I was constantly booked outside of my availability. This was common, even with availability given in writing. 'Mandatory' overnight shifts would be booked a day before several employees had classes the following morning. Managers would promise the shift would be over by 2am when in reality we had to stay until almost 5am. There were little to no opportunities to move up in the company. There are so many employees and so little positions aside from being a sales associate. Some employees would work strictly Team Lead shifts (a position overseeing associates) for weeks without being paid as a Team Lead. Because you must have your bag looked through before leaving the store, I would often wait for almost half of my break time just to be searched so I could go and get something to eat. Whenever there was a mistake made with merchandise not having security tags or put in the wrong place, you would almost immediately be accused of attempting to steal. The job was fun at first but after a year I dreaded going to work.