I'm a bagger from 6am - 2pm and it's during the weekend. It's really dead in the morning and there are only two cashiers available. What are several things I can do to stay busy?
the front end is always short on supplies. paper towels and filled spray bottles, pens, register receipt and cataline coupon tapes, bags of all types, kroger plus cards. also the trash if they didn't get it the night before.
Quite a few Kroger stores are actually changing the earliest start times for courtesy clerks from 6:00-7:00 am. This is because many courtesy clerks who come in at these times stand around and do nothing.
This is not to say there isn't anything to do, because, believe you me, there's always something to do. But, someone actually has to make sure the clerk is actually doing something, like an ACSM or a manager. They're usually really busy in the mornings though, so they don't have time to check up on the clerks...supposedly.
I'm a courtesy clerk . I have to be at work at 7 actually lol and mostly on the mornings I just clean , stand around (Only time customer service isn't stalking me ) and talk to the other Bagger .
Baggers aren't allowed to stock, including candy. Depending on your manager you might be given a hard time for doing this.
"Courtesy clerks" may or may not be allowed to stock candy, but many of the "baggers" are technically store clerks, who are not excluded from stocking checklane candy.
Let me start by first saying thank you, thank you, thank you for caring about your store enough to ask this question. Most people would stand around and do nothing until told to do so. You are a cut above all the rest.
Here is a list that, as a cashier, I think are the most important things to address.
First make sure all the carts are out of the lot. This is the first thing that a manager sees when he's pulling into the parking lot to go into the store. Next make sure the lobby (or cart area) is clean and swept. Then, you could ask the cashier what needs to be done (go-backs, supplies, trash, etc... anything that they can't do because they can't leave the front end). But if the cashier has a large order, always help to bag the order.
on way in to work get a 24 oz cup of coffee. then at work buy a 12 pack of those Kroger asst donuts. hang out and just make sure things are in order for the day - ie: trash cans have liners in them; bags are plentyful; pens are available; simple things that seem to always run out when you are busy. drink coffee and eat donuts as you can! go outside and watch sunrise. toss donut crumbs out to birds. wash off conveyor belts. read about Justin Bieber's latest breakup on Esquirer magazine. Learn new SKU numbers for Braeburn Apples. Realize that you been using the wrong code for english cucumbers all this time. find a couple nasty coins stuck under the cash register. chit chat to some employee you never really gave the time of day to and realize they are actually pretty cool. learn to do the alphabet from Z to A. clean out all the crap that has accumulated in your apron pockets. go thru your cell phone's directory and wonder who the hell half of your contacts are. send a text to your old boyfriend telling him what a douchbag he is. pick you nose and see who is looking.
that should get you up to 7 am. good luck!
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I am no longer part of the oppressed, evil workforce of Kroger! Can you say "Hallelujah"
