Pros
Discount is great! Environment and dress code are very relaxed. The customers are better than most in retail. PTO and Sick time are generous. Store teams are the type of people you want to work with- usually drama free. Great product with an honest history. Paul and Steve Van Doren are two of the most genuine people ever. VLS in California for SMs every year (although I'd rather have the money in the form of a bonus).
Cons
All of the typical complaints about retail- poor allocation, sticklers on payroll, waaaay too KPI focused, expect big results with little to no reward or recognition. Bonus structure is only good if your store did terrible the prior year. If you had a very successful LY, do not expect to bonus too often. The company recently became 100% owned by Vanity Fair and they seem to be sucking the long lasting culture out of Vans. You barely see skate in the stores anymore. The new (in 2016) training program eliminated two very important competencies that made Vans employees special. They try to claim that it is not any different, but anyone who has been with Vans for a while knows they are becoming more corporate- less Vans, and less people focused. They rose prices this year to become more "competitive" (so they say), but we all know it was cause their sales were trending down on the year for the 1st time in 13 years. They try to sell us on fake ideas like "they love their people," but do little to show it. Unless you are in charge of a top volume store, you really don't matter. In most cases, it is the DM's to blame. They hear the same messages that we hear and although we are required to carry out these messages in our store, they do little to nothing to carry them out on their end. They have been hiring a lot of external DM's who are bought in by the brand rather than true long term fans of the brand, and you can tell because they treat every employee like they are only as good as their sales or KPIs. The DM's are not very supportive either. I have worked with several and they all have trouble responding to emails, phone calls, etc. but then get upset when you don't respond to their messages within the hour. Ultimately, everyone is replaceable- Store Manger and down the line. The only way you tend to move up is if someone quits.