in the DELI slicing MEAT. if the over all census is " don't be excited" "Kroger sucks" may I ask, why are you working there? the pay sucks, I agree, but they let me pick my hours around my school schedule. I just turned 30 and will hopefully be getting my criminal justice degree soon...is it unheard of to cash in on expired hams/meats? do they let you take home extra chicken? is it better to open/close? if anyone has any useful insight as what to expect, I would appreciate it.
It takes a while to get used to everything, so just remember that. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. A positive attitude will help your whole experience, from your interactions with customers to how you feel at the end of the day. Sounds cheesy, but it's true. Try to keep your head up.
Opening and closing each have their own pros and cons. This is based on my store (we're a pretty small store) and my experience: Opening pros: you have a couple hours where you only have to prep for the day and don't have to worry about customers yet, you normally have more people working in the morning/early afternoon. Opening cons: more customers to deal with, you have to work the stuff that comes in on the trucks. Closing pros: not many customers after 6pm, if the morning shifters did their job right, you normally don't have a whole lot to do except help prepare for the next day. Closing cons: you might have to pick up the slack of the morning shifters, you often get scheduled to work by yourself.
In my store we are not allowed to take home the leftover food from the hotbar, we have to scan it out and throw it away. I've heard some stores allow you to mark stuff down at the end of the day though, so you'd get first dibs on that. We're also not allowed to sell expired meats.
in the DELI slicing MEAT. if the over all census is " don't be excited" "Kroger sucks" may I ask, why are you working there? the pay sucks, I agree, but they let me pick my hours around my school schedule. I just turned 30 and will hopefully be getting my criminal justice degree soon...is it unheard of to cash in on expired hams/meats? do they let you take home extra chicken? is it better to open/close? if anyone has any useful insight as what to expect, I would appreciate it.
Okay, so you work in the deli, NOT the meat department. Don't get the two confused and say the wrong thing. Working in the meat department entails cutting and slicing raw meats, cutting steaks, seafood, etc.
I worked in the meat department for 1.75 years. I don't work at Kroger anymore.
great! thank you very much! I'm sure it will also help others with the same questions..as far as the customers go, they seem to be the biggest complaint, but I see myself as the cool deli guy that will give the customers a free slice of meat when asking.."is this thin enough?". rather its thin enough or not, they'll get it, rather than just putting it in the lbs or so they purchase. I think I would rather be with customers slicing ham and cheeses instead of pepping potato salad or something in the back
great! thank you very much! I'm sure it will also help others with the same questions..as far as the customers go, they seem to be the biggest complaint, but I see myself as the cool deli guy that will give the customers a free slice of meat when asking.."is this thin enough?". rather its thin enough or not, they'll get it, rather than just putting it in the lbs or so they purchase. I think I would rather be with customers slicing ham and cheeses instead of pepping potato salad or something in the back
Actually, that is a bit of an unwritten requirement for "highly satisfied" results. Especially working in a Boar's Head store (you have to offer them cheese at this point too, even if they don't want to buy it).
Depending on your store, you will be a Jack of all Trades. Some days, you will cook. Some days, you'll be exclusively on counter. Some days, they might even throw you on dish duty. Generally, salads are rotated out every 2-3 days, so you really don't have to worry about that if you never open.
Keep your eye on the temp logs. If you miss even one slot, you get a write-up. I learned really quickly to cover my own ass because I got written up for missing temps which I was never taught about at that point working.
As for the chicken, this is what I hate about Kroger; they want you to make chicken every 4 hours or so and throw away whatever is unused because health safety purposes. However, as long as said chicken isn't in the danger zone for too long, it's still perfectly good. Our last batches of chicken were always our biggest because of dinner time, and more often than not, we find ourselves throwing away at least 4-5 8 pieces worth. If you want it, you can pay for it, but if it's going to waste, why not have the workers take it?
The meat/cheese has an expiration date. Depending on your store, you will probably go through your unopened stock before said expiration date. Once it's opened...
Ham, turkey, and chicken get a 7-day expiration (6 on the scale).
Italian meats (ie: salami) get 14 days (13 on the scale)
Cheese gets 21 days (20 on the scale)
If it's slimy, throw that sumbitch out. I wouldn't even contaminate a scale to measure it to scan out. That **** be nasty.
I was also told that if a customer asks how long it would last, tell them 3 days. It technically can last longer, but as a customer, I've had it go slimy within 2. Err on caution.
You WILL hate Cold to go.
You WILL probably hate Grab-n-go simply because you have to cut several pounds worth of meat (and if you have a manager like I did, they will probably want double. I came in one day to SIXTY hard salamis). But you will begrudgingly like it only because it is indirectly responsible for how many hours the deli department gets the next week.
If you ever have to close alone, pray to the deli gods that it's not the night before Eco-Lab comes.
You WILL hate Eco-Lab with an undying burning passion. Simply because they will scare the **** out of you, and they're kinda like roaches--they come when you least expect it, and they never want to leave.
You will hate the mesh glove. I'm a lefty; I know awkward. Mesh glove is beyond awkward.
PPST's unless done meticulously (as they should), is almost never accurate. Somehow you will find missing chickens and something just won't add up. Go with the flow; there ain't nothing you can do if you physically wasn't there. Same with any other paperwork. If nothing was filled out before 2pm, and you came in at 3, there is nothing you can do about it. Don't stress.
One more thing: Try to have fun. It's Kroger, and yeah, you probably won't, but I found that the customers (some of them anyways, especially the elderly) made it worth being back there even when I didn't want to be. Fake it till you make it.
It takes a while to get used to everything, so just remember that. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. A positive attitude will help your whole experience, from your interactions with customers to how you feel at the end of the day. Sounds cheesy, but it's true. Try to keep your head up.
Opening and closing each have their own pros and cons. This is based on my store (we're a pretty small store) and my experience: Opening pros: you have a couple hours where you only have to prep for the day and don't have to worry about customers yet, you normally have more people working in the morning/early afternoon. Opening cons: more customers to deal with, you have to work the stuff that comes in on the trucks. Closing pros: not many customers after 6pm, if the morning shifters did their job right, you normally don't have a whole lot to do except help prepare for the next day. Closing cons: you might have to pick up the slack of the morning shifters, you often get scheduled to work by yourself.
In my store we are not allowed to take home the leftover food from the hotbar, we have to scan it out and throw it away. I've heard some stores allow you to mark stuff down at the end of the day though, so you'd get first dibs on that. We're also not allowed to sell expired meats.
Good luck!
This is a big no no in my division. The customer is supposed to get first dibbs on mark downs.
I know of two employees that were fired for shopping on the clock. One used to pick thru the mark downs. They were doing major shopping. Not just buying a pop or candy bar. They were filling baskets. They were also warned to stop or else. They both found out what the "else" was. Can't fix stupid.
You can be terminated for shopping for anything on the clock. Make sure you are clocked out before even picking something out to go buy.
The Seafood and Bakery have the best gossip and start the most drama. Avoid sharing too much of your personal life with people. Avoid all drama. Work is so much simpler that way.
Good luck OP. Kroger has been good to me. Some people don't like the rat race. I do.
I think I would rather be with customers slicing ham and cheeses instead of pepping potato salad or something in the back
I used to be like you. Now I kill for the days when they have me making sandwiches and 4 or so people working on the counter so I don't have to. Those days go by so much faster compared to the days when I'm stuck on counter.
It takes a while to get used to everything, so just remember that. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. A positive attitude will help your whole experience, from your interactions with customers to how you feel at the end of the day. Sounds cheesy, but it's true. Try to keep your head up.
Opening and closing each have their own pros and cons. This is based on my store (we're a pretty small store) and my experience: Opening pros: you have a couple hours where you only have to prep for the day and don't have to worry about customers yet, you normally have more people working in the morning/early afternoon. Opening cons: more customers to deal with, you have to work the stuff that comes in on the trucks. Closing pros: not many customers after 6pm, if the morning shifters did their job right, you normally don't have a whole lot to do except help prepare for the next day. Closing cons: you might have to pick up the slack of the morning shifters, you often get scheduled to work by yourself.
In my store we are not allowed to take home the leftover food from the hotbar, we have to scan it out and throw it away. I've heard some stores allow you to mark stuff down at the end of the day though, so you'd get first dibs on that. We're also not allowed to sell expired meats.
Good luck!
This is a big no no in my division. The customer is supposed to get first dibbs on mark downs.
I know of two employees that were fired for shopping on the clock. One used to pick thru the mark downs. They were doing major shopping. Not just buying a pop or candy bar. They were filling baskets. They were also warned to stop or else. They both found out what the "else" was. Can't fix stupid.
You can be terminated for shopping for anything on the clock. Make sure you are clocked out before even picking something out to go buy.
The Seafood and Bakery have the best gossip and start the most drama. Avoid sharing too much of your personal life with people. Avoid all drama. Work is so much simpler that way.
Good luck OP. Kroger has been good to me. Some people don't like the rat race. I do.
Wait wait wait.... SEAFOOD is where the drama's at? Woah. never would have guessed that one.
i completely agree that bakery is the drama land though....... me and my manager agree that while we're the younger ones, 2 older women are the ones acting like 13 year olds right now.
us and deli have so much drama, probably because between both departments there's only 1 guy in deli....and like 10+ women in the two departments.
There's two guys in our bakery and at least six in the deli. There may be more, but if there is, they only work during the evening hours when I'm not there. Needless to say, I never see any personal drama.
Wait wait wait.... SEAFOOD is where the drama's at? Woah. never would have guessed that one.
i completely agree that bakery is the drama landthough....... me and my manager agree that while we're the younger ones, 2 older women are the ones acting like 13 year olds right now.
us and deli have so much drama, probably because between both departments there's only 1 guy in deli....and like 10+ women in the two departments.
I stand corrected. The Bakery starts most of the drama at the two stores I have worked at. Seafood is good for gossip. :)
It takes a while to get used to everything, so just remember that. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. A positive attitude will help your whole experience, from your interactions with customers to how you feel at the end of the day. Sounds cheesy, but it's true. Try to keep your head up.
Opening and closing each have their own pros and cons. This is based on my store (we're a pretty small store) and my experience: Opening pros: you have a couple hours where you only have to prep for the day and don't have to worry about customers yet, you normally have more people working in the morning/early afternoon. Opening cons: more customers to deal with, you have to work the stuff that comes in on the trucks. Closing pros: not many customers after 6pm, if the morning shifters did their job right, you normally don't have a whole lot to do except help prepare for the next day. Closing cons: you might have to pick up the slack of the morning shifters, you often get scheduled to work by yourself.
In my store we are not allowed to take home the leftover food from the hotbar, we have to scan it out and throw it away. I've heard some stores allow you to mark stuff down at the end of the day though, so you'd get first dibs on that. We're also not allowed to sell expired meats.
Good luck!
This is a big no no in my division. The customer is supposed to get first dibbs on mark downs.
I know of two employees that were fired for shopping on the clock. One used to pick thru the mark downs. They were doing major shopping. Not just buying a pop or candy bar. They were filling baskets. They were also warned to stop or else. They both found out what the "else" was. Can't fix stupid.
You can be terminated for shopping for anything on the clock. Make sure you are clocked out before even picking something out to go buy.
The Seafood and Bakery have the best gossip and start the most drama. Avoid sharing too much of your personal life with people. Avoid all drama. Work is so much simpler that way.
Good luck OP. Kroger has been good to me. Some people don't like the rat race. I do.
Wait wait wait.... SEAFOOD is where the drama's at? Woah. never would have guessed that one.
i completely agree that bakery is the drama land though....... me and my manager agree that while we're the younger ones, 2 older women are the ones acting like 13 year olds right now.
us and deli have so much drama, probably because between both departments there's only 1 guy in deli....and like 10+ women in the two departments.
There was a point where there were 4 guys in the deli department at the store I was in. One quit within a month (he got something much better), another went away to an internship and he was there for over 2 years. I left before the other two, but I remember one of them waiting for an internship to start, so I'm thinking there's a lone wolf among the sharks now.
I guess I should Consider myself very fortunate.........in our deli we are like a family. I truly love everyone I with. We are good team ..help each other out when we can......
Oh don't get my wrong. My bakery team is like a family.
We're just a dysfunctional one.
We can get along when needed. WE get each other Christmas presents, etc.
Despite all the complaining, I'd miss any of them if they left. My new manager is the best, and the rest aren't allowed leaving because i'd probably go nuts without them lol
Avoid sharing too much of your personal life with people. Avoid all drama. Work is so much simpler that way.
Oh how I wish more people understood this very simple reality. Srsly, some of the things I heard in my first week, I could have stood going my entire life without knowing!
Avoid sharing too much of your personal life with people. Avoid all drama. Work is so much simpler that way.
Oh how I wish more people understood this very simple reality. Srsly, some of the things I heard in my first week, I could have stood going my entire life without knowing!
True. We had a FES that liked to tell us all about her drunken brawls, and how each black eye and bruise happened.
