I have to meet with a fella Wednesday with the save a lot company he wants to talk , my questions are to those that both work for or have worked for this company...1. what is the company like to work for? 2. are their wages competitive? 3. would you recommend save a lot to someone looking for a job? I understand every store is different but as a company as a whole what are your thoughts?, now don't get me wrong I am happy where I am, and will only consider moving if things offered are ...A. reasonable, and B. my wife n I decide its a good move for me.
save A Lot is a franchise. There are hundreds of owners for them and each owner can run the store pretty much the way he chooses. Pay scales and hours will depend on the owners.
The Save A Lot I worked for wanted only one meat cutter and one wrapper. I worked there 7 days a week for 4 years. I guess I didn't have to do that but at the time I was content with it so I never asked for help or days off.
I am aware of other Save A Lots that are very pleasant to work for. Keep in mind, they are Save A Lots because they keep their prices at the bottom so unless they are very high volume its unlikely they will be able to pay a high wage. Ask your interviewer what kind of volume the store does in the meat department. Take a look at the meat case yourself. Does it look sloppy or impressive? Those are keys to how well it pays and how well the crew works together. I never go to an interview with out first checking out the meat case. A nice meat case indicates that this is a meat dept. that takes pride in their work and that usually means they are paid at least decently.
So as far as the work environment and pay scale goes that really just depends on who owns the store and how he runs it.
Now for the business model. I really like the simplicity of Save A Lot. That is the part of the franchise that the owner can not change. It has a warehouse feel to it. For example you do not use price guns on the lunch meat items. You just cut the top of the box off and display it like that right in the box. It is very easy to do. All the merchandise is displayed in the boxes they arrived in.
Save A Lot keeps things simple. There is only one brand of each item. One brand of sugar, one brand of water for example. I think there is more than one brand of things like coffee but for the most part there is just one brand of everything else.
This model helps keep expenses on supplies down and that can help with the wages to employees. I liked this part of it and after leaving save a lot I had been wanting to go back to another save a lot but I never had the opportunity.
We have a few members here that worked or still work for a Save A Lot. The last meat dept. Leon managed was a Save A lot. I hope he can find some time out of his busy schedule to give you some information. We have some other members I can think of but haven't seen on here in awhile. Maybe they will stop by to fill you in.
thanks for the input...from what I seen this one has around 5 people in the meat dept. the case is well organized and clean...its a fairly new store bout 2 years old.
I spent my last 5 years working for Save A Lot, Dalton, Ga. but it was own by Houchens Industries, INC. out of Bowling Green, KY. they had at that time 243 Save A Lots
I hired in at I5.00 hour as a part time cutter, I was a market manager at another Save A Lot own by another group out of S.C making 800.00 a week plus a bonus of about 2000.00 a year
When I left it I became the market manager in Dalton after 6 months I went to I8.00, after a year I made 20.00 a hour with I0,000 a year put in my ESOP fund
I like them because their market managers could run the market as they want after following a few company policy rules. They were a great company to work with.
Most Save A Lots are corporate stores, is the one you going to try to get on a corporate store, I think most corporate stores pay cutters from I2 to I4 a hour, market managers from I5.00 to 20.00 depending on what part of the country you in.
This link will show you the store banners Houchens Industries, INC. sells under, if you can get on with one of them you will be with a ESOP company that will put funds in your account after the first year and every year after.
I had a MD retire from this company after 8 years and took I.2 million dollars with him because of the ESOP program
sorry about this rant but i dont know where else to do it...
so i spoke with the market manager today at my local save a lot we discussed what i knew how to cut ect. i asked about the money , he says the regional handles that and need to speak wih him, so i leave my number , two hours later they call ask if i can come in, i get there meet regional, tell hjm same things i told market manager, the time came for discussion of money, now i am by no means ignorant of the business side as i was manager in resturants i know there is a hirirng budget, ect. get help as cheap as possible, i get it. the guy offers me the same amout im making now 9.50 hr i polietly say i cant leave my current employr for that amount, he then offers me.50 more, i will get a dollar raise in 2 months at current employer for being there a year. i say to him i will go to my boss tomorrow and tell them what i was offered and see what they can do, he then tells me he ill not get into a bidding war over pay, (i never called them they called me, they got my number from my neice who works there.), i was a little taken aback at that ..did he think he was doing me a favor? i am not saying i am that good cause i know im not but i know me and my abilities, (at my current position in the 10 months i worked there i have managed to put myself in a no lose situation, when my lead cutter gets promoted to market manager in the near near future i can either go with him and be a lead or stay where i am and be a lead. its win win for me). seriously?
I would feel insulted by that. To me it sounds like they need a cutter bad but don't want to pay for it. If it were me I would tell them how much I want. If they want to play that way I will just say. "My services cost this much. If you want my services and want me to leave my current job for you then you have to pay me this much with this many hours per week." If you need an attorney that attorney will tell you what his fees are and what he expects up front. It is not negotiable . So why should it be with a meat cutter? It you don't want it to be it doesnt have to be.
I would be very wary of these save a lot people. They sound like they are trying to low ball you and insult your intelligence. You might convince them to pay a little more hourly but then they'll cut your hours so it will be meaningless. I already don't trust them. Go with your gut. if it feels wrong stay away. There are a lot of shady owners out there. They are evil bastards.
Abe I always tell them when they ask how much is it going to take to get me or they make a stupid offer,
My customer service bull **** is worth $I3.50 a hour, if you want me to use a knife, that is more money, So what are you offering for my meat cutting & merchandising skills
Abe it may be a poor state but you got some beautiful country girls down there lol
I know that for a fact, I was cutting room manager for the A&P, Delchamps in Pascagoula, & Food Town in Moss Point back in the late 60's, I worked part time for Wayne Lee's Grocery & market, I was there when Camille hit in 69, a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 180 - 190-mph
The next day I had to walk over mile through two foot of water to get to the store, A&P was on highway 90, across from the store was a ocean going tug boat.
My store suffer very little damage but our store in Long Beach ( below ) bit the dust. luckily no one was in it at the time it hit
