Going from retail to trade work 20 years ago was a world of difference. If someone has a day off, it's a DAY OFF and you better not even call the motherfucker. Workers will even get yelled at by the boss for disturbing fellow employees personal time if they don't absolutely have to.
Retail is just all hell. If anyone is doing that, get out. Get out any way you can. There is no future, you will NOT be rewarded for going above and beyond, and you are just a corporate asset.
There's also another major difference. In the trades, comraderie grows organically as you work with others on a job. In retail, it's all forced, with dumbass morning meetings and songs and shit.