Saturday, I worked at a Safeway store. Safeway is also called Von's in some areas.Most Safeway's have a large self serve counter and also a smaller full service counter. I really dislike a store that tries to have a full service counter and then doesn't get enough help to run them properly (like they do where I work: 16 journeymen 40 hours each, 1 apprentice 40 hours, two clean ups 40 hours each). It bothers me that customers are ignorant enough to think they're going to get a better cut of meat from the full service counter when the exact same stuff is in both counters.
I wish that Safeway (and similar stores) would eliminate the full service counters.
jeez larry reading some of your post you really hate safeway.....time to find something new pal..lol j/k ;0P..... most places i have worked had that and i think its a good thing i think its imporant to interact with the customers......thats basically all its for
I use to like being able to talk with my customer, most markets did the dumb thing and walled the markets in, I was glad to see the over counter case come back in, I think if you are able to work it right you can sale a lot of meat from one. customers like to have the interaction with the meat cutter. A big smile, a big hello, a big from the heart may I help you goes all the way to the cashier.
But if you got a big volume market, over a 100,00 I would say do away with it because you are moving a lot of wrap product, if you got that kind of traffic why take away from it by slowing it down
jeez larry reading some of your post you really hate safeway.....time to find something new pal..lol j/k ;0P..... most places i have worked had that and i think its a good thing i think its imporant to interact with the customers......thats basically all its for
Yes, I seriously dislike Safeway. Maybe I wasn't clear in my original post. I am not a Safeway employee. I work there maybe 10 days per year on days off from my full time job. I don't mind going there 10 days per year when I feel like it. The union dispatches cutters to other jobs when they are available.
My full time job is in a meat dept with a huge (120' long) counter. ALL full service. NO self serve. All fresh meat, no packages of stuff. I'm very happy at my job.
My point was that I don't like markets that have BOTH full and self serve. I want one or the other.
Here are some pics of what our counter looks like. This is my old store (I don't have pics of my current store) but it's the same set up. I enjoy my store because we have a 100% full serve counter and enough help to run it.
that is awsome larry i would love to work at a place like that
I feel very privileged and lucky to work there. The job is more about selling meat than cutting it. Every single item that people buy must be obtained from a cutter. Like I wrote we have LOTS of help. Since everything is on ice, everything gets pulled out of the case every night. You can't simply just cover the counter. Each morning three people come in at 4 to refill it. One meat, one fish and poultry and one guy to shovel the ice. New ice must be put in and leveled. It takes about 14 man (or woman) hours to refill the counter each morning. At 6 another guy comes in to put the sausages and gourmet (marinated) items. At 7:30 the ground meat guy comes in and another fish/poultry person. Either the 6 am guy or the 7:30 guy will clean and put in the signs. We have another person come in at 9:30, 10:30, 11:30 and two at 12:30 and sometimes a 8 or 8:30 guy. All journeymen cutters, no clerks, but we're trying to get one. It's huge pain to empty that counter each night and even worse to fill it back up each morning. Before we empty it each night, we MUST make sure every pan is full at least one layer. Then we put paper on top and flip it upside down and return it to the counter. AFTER we close, we empty the counter. It takes about 10 racks and several large boxes to hold everything. The rack are old, they don't roll well.
The "wall deli" and freezer is not meat dept. We don't mess with those items. They are grocery.
I guess i'll say WOW to that is one beautiful case. I would love to be able to sell over that counter. Larry how many customers come to you every time they come in, have you built up your own customers or is it a first come thing, do they take a number or can they just hollar for their meat man
I guess i'll say WOW to that is one beautiful case. I would love to be able to sell over that counter. Larry how many customers come to you every time they come in, have you built up your own customers or is it a first come thing, do they take a number or can they just hollar for their meat man
Meat Pimp,
Since the cutting room is open. No closed door leading to it and we're right there cutting in full view of the customers, we just have to keep looking up for customers. Our company wants us to notice them the second they approach the counter. One of the worst things you can do is to keep your head down (not looking up). I don't care how fast you're cutting. You got to look for customers. It's hard sometimes. A cutter will leave the block and say "good morning, how may I help you?" or any acceptable greeting you choose. While you're helping them if another customer approaches the counter you wait a second and if no one sees her/him you call for help. We don't have numbers (or a bell) because we have enough guys. Sometimes people have to wait a minute, but not real long. There are a few customers who have their favorite cutter and in that case, he will always help him/her when they come in. I have several. I hate to say it, but sometimes those are the difficult type, however, some are very nice and not difficult at all.
We have front tables and back tables. Usually at least one person is on the back table and he tries to cut all day while people on the front tables will notice and help customers. When it's busy, everyone is helping customers.
-- Edited by CarniceroLarry on Sunday 24th of April 2011 02:06:37 PM
a set up like that larry do you feel it would be better to be a 24 hour gig where you can swap out the counter as you go?......man thats alotta work.......its a beautiful case though must feel good when you get it all in and look at the end result it would depress me to have to pull all that though..lol.................do you have high volume?....and what are some of your best cuts you sell.........
I should have taken better fish pictures and I forgot the poultry section. I missed about 20 feet of counter. Fish and poultry is a different dept. Different people with a separate schedule. We are all behind the same counter and we stay with our customer when they go from meat to F & P. I of course skin their salmon, cut their chicken or pound their boneless breasts, etc. whatever as requested. I mean even though I don't work that side, I sell it and service the customer. Also, as needed you may be assigned to the other dept for a day once in a while.
Like I wrote before, that is my old store. Not my current one. It (was) much newer and nicer. Our counter IS very much like that one but displayed in a different order. Some things are slightly different. Different managers set their counter slightly different. It changes from day to day just like yours. If you come to my store, you'll see a counter just as nice. BUT the store is very old and run down. A very nice counter in a very old store. The store where all these pictures were taken had to close down. Business was terrible. Very sad because that was our only store that we built brand new the way we wanted it. All our other stores were old businesses that we bought out. We built in the wrong area. I mean our store didn't offer what the community wanted. It was mostly Indian and Asian people and our market didn't look anything like the many Asian markets in the same area.
I'm not sure what our sales volume is. I don't know if I'd be allowed to post it here.
I'd say business is excellent there.
We sell lots of lamb. Maybe 15 per week. Whole carcass lamb from California. We sell about six or nine veal per week. (3 deliveries with 2-3 each time). Again, local veal about a week or two old. I think they may be bull calves from dairy farms. No one else in the area offers veal selection like ours. We sell a good amount of everything. Pork sells well. Steaks of course. The sausage sells great. Some of the beef roasts don't move real well, but we grind them every morning. I don't think we could be open 24 hours because that counter really does need to be emptied every day and have new ice put in. But, I guess it could be done a section at a time. Our hours are 7:30 am - 9:00 pm.
