I worked here 1996 for 5 yrs then again for xmas 2012. I…read morehad 2 great bosses. Mary T district manager no nonsense lady but fair and teaches and trains well. The other lady Inez a fair and just boss as well. Pagoda standards are high in training. meetings for customer service and product knowledge. we went thru a lot and also about piercing ears. not all is great in piercing babies ears. I did well at it. They offer 2 at once fro a childs ear but to me everyone might not pierce straight thru. Our training is not to angle the gun down but pull the gun up against the back of the ear so you get a straight line most put the gun on the ear and then pierce. Do not go to this gal as often the angle goes down. all about training. back in the day it was life time warranted until ppl abused it and stretching the necklace is not normal use. So there went that clause. Penske owned the company long ago in the 80s. Now zales owns it. They also bought out silver and gold connection and gemstone jewelry which I was part of training for all the stores in oakdale mall. It has a nice pricce range of jewelry and variety. I miss some of the old stones products and watches but they go upon the demand for the area which is smart. they keep their jewelry cases clean offer piercing discounts and your not paying overhead like in the big inline stores. This is affordable to even teens to buy their special ones jewelry. I got stock certificate fro suggesting a bright idea award. After five years I got a gold pagoda charm for a necklace. After you work 10 years one got a diamond put into it back then. A GREAT company to work for. I will always be a pagoda patron. Pros- discounts, meeting cool people, seeing fun new products, flexible scheduling, proper training which I like in all businesses, bonuses adn commotion at certain times. Cons- Daily jewelry counts for all merchandise for sale including piercing earring cartridges, before opening the store or as you go along in the early morning must match the night count.Very time consuming especially if a piece falls under the tray or in the cabinet ad worse if someone takes a piece and YOU must answer for it during YOUR count then its a game of who did what and when..the night person or morning person who to trust or where did it go? then the DM is called to visit.. above all the customer comes first before a count so this can be distracting and hard to do. You cannot leave store unattended and take a half hr lunch. You must sit near by to eat lunch and watch store or wait until another member comes in to relieve you. If you go to the bathroom or need to go to the bank for change or deposits you have to pull high value stuff and cash drawer and lock it up in cabinet and put up the sign and lock up cases and hurry back so you dont lose customers. You are not allowed to sit at anytime in the booth nor eat in the booth. You can on fully staffed days have your breaks and go with no worries.