Pros
Employee discount, occasional freebies and the ability to talk about culinary methodology and technique. it's possible to be inspired on a daily basis and guaranteed that you'll learn a great deal if you're already passionate about cooking and entertaining. The core product offering is top notch if you can ignore the gimmicky garbage that they shove into the cashwrap displays.
Cons
Wretched, wretched, wretched. This is the most concise way to describe the corporate structure and culture. Tenured management is an example of failing upwards; essentially if you stick it out for X number of years you're guaranteed your own store to run into the ground until someone eventually fires you. While they WILL eventually fire you, it never comes soon enough and is never for the right reasons. Sexual harassment? Eh. Cliquish relationship with other long term do nothing managers at locations in your district? Big deal. Theft? It's probably built into the margins. Absolute ignorance of even the most basic parameters of your job description plus an actual physical aversion to working on the sales floor? So what- who likes the customers? Certainly not the store, area or regional managers. Never have I been so confounded by ingrained incompetence and managers (also employees) who exert such an exhausting amount of work to avoid executing their actual job responsibilities. There is nothing nice that can be said about a company that allows corrosive and toxic employees to continue to poison the well with no consequences until there's a dip in sales numbers. Corporate support staff is actually very good - responsive and concerned - but the total toxicity of management hamstrings anyone who actually cares at all about running a store that is pro customer experience. (A side note on the customer experience: as a shopper, the employees WILL talk about you, often within ear shot and always on their non protected social media accounts - and it is seldom kind and consistently goaded on by upper level store management.) SLT has allowed their employees to become disdainful and dismissive of their client base - and it is consistently an attitude that trickles down from store management to even the most part time employees. Everyone that shops with SLT is an idiot and they will always know better than you, whether it's the proper way to use a Scan Pan or the things that you're obviously doing incorrectly with the $1200-$5000 coffee machine that they talked you into. In fact, it's a near total guarantee that the piece of paper affixed to your return has a not at all subtle dig about what a complete idiot/schmuck/waste you are. (I.e. "idiot - broken - put in dishwasher.") Management and culture aside the current product offering is becoming increasingly downmarket and the company is losing its way - unless of course they're hoping to position themselves as a Bed Bath & Beyond kitchen kiosk that will occasionally sell you something nice with your American Flag cupcake toppers and tall boy Corksicles. As a former manager, my advice is this: Come for the discount but leave with your dignity.