Hello! So I worked at a Safeway Starbucks kiosk for 7 years, moved to corporate location about 3-4 months ago. I was the kiosk operator (manager basically), and now I’m a shift supervisor, and I can honestly say I’m so happy I switched. I loved the team I worked with at my kiosk, I loved that the slower pace at the kiosk really leant itself to letting you have deep conversations with your customers, but I wouldn’t go back.

It is faster paced for sure at corporate, but they also always have at least two people on staff at a time so you’ve always got someone with you and having the knowledge of the drinks already will make learning to speed up to your team’s pace will be a lot easier! The pay is better for me, I used to make $15.50 as a kiosk operator and now I make more than $16 an hour for a lower level of responsibility. Benefits are solid, and you get a free pound of coffee, via, or box of tea every single week. You also get a 30% discount on anything you buy with your partner card, and three free drinks during your shift and a half hour before you start/ after you clock out for the day.

In terms of cons, you need to find a store that has a good staff because everyone needs to work together or you will feel it when someone in the team is slacking. Don’t just look at that location because it’s fast, go in a couple times and watch to see if the same people stick around, and if they seem to like their work environment. If you get the chance to observe their store manager, awesome. There are brilliant managers and there are managers who get away with yelling at their employees on the floor, and that is not something you want to step in to.

Also, if you like your job where you are, have you tried talking to your manager? At Safeway we had to be available a minimum of 18 hours a week but beyond that, your written availability should dictate how you can be scheduled, not whether or not they have enough people to cover shifts you can’t handle with your busy schedule. If there’s a way to let them know that they’ll loose you too if they overwork you, I’m sure they’ll want to do what they can to avoid loosing people when they’re low on staff.