Quality retail environment requiring creativity and a self-driven personality.
Pros
Customer 1st approach allows to run a business as it should be run on the store level. Creative freedom allows for growth and positions to be taken if an associate wishes. If you are a self-driven individual, you can create your own career path. Discounts and Benefits are, for the most part, better than competitors in addition to better-than-industry-standard Work/Life Balance.
Cons
Regional and Senior management are, for the most part, distant and disconnected from their locations. This may allow for more creative freedom, but with major changes/directions created to be applied equally in each, vastly different location, it creates plenty of headaches as a manager. Fred Meyer (and Kroger as a whole) are becoming better at adapting to changes in the marketplace, but we continue to be 6 months behind competitors in bringing products into locations to satisfy customers wanting the newest, finest goods immediately. Unfortunately, salary and wages are below industry competitors at the management levels making it difficult to hold onto those key players.