Christopher is what we call a grocery veteran. He’s been around the way from the east coast to west coast and back to east coast and now in the west coast again, checking out groceries. He compared his experience working in Lancaster, PA to working in Portland, OR as a grocery clerk…
Grocery stores are essentially the same in a lot of ways, but, through working at a few of them, I’ve noticed that they can be very diverse. I’ve worked at 3 grocery stores in my life, and they seemed to be totally different.
The first grocery store I ever worked at, I started when I was 15. It was a super small store run in the small town I was raised in, in eastern Pennsylvania. It was an extremely small town(population about 1100.) It is, to this day, the strangest place I’ve ever worked. It was a self proclaimed “Christian Business”. There were even shelves on the rack for people to place bible tracts, ya know? Those little cartoon like things that evangelists give out. It was there that I acted as a Christian Vigilante of sorts, stealing the tracts I didn’t see fit for human eyes due to ridiculousness, corniness, and overall misrepresentations. I started as a bagger at this grocery store at the beginning of high school and worked on and off there for the next 8 years, eventually working my way up to the head honcho title of “Charge Cashier”, which was more of a fabricated title, but it made for a little bit of power.
The next grocery store I worked in was a larger tri state chain in Lancaster city, a much larger town and small city of about 55,000. I worked there for 3 months as a dairy clerk, and witnessed the shear magnitude of it’s disorganization. It had the most shrink I’ve ever seen in a grocery store, it was by far the easiest job I’ve ever had. In it’s laidbackness, I pretty much did dairy all day free of any interruptions, not even from management.
The third and current grocery store I worked at is a much LARGER chain in Portland, very organized. There is literally a protocol for every little thing, which def cuts down on the shrink factors.
The atmospheres at all 3 grocery stores are different for many reasons. like the small town vs. big city difference, and the large chain vs. big chain difference. But, I think the most dominant difference would have to be the east coast vs. west coast difference. There just seems to be a huge difference for some reason.
Here are a few of the major differences:
Dress code: The grocery stores on the west coast seem to have more strict dress code policies. With the east coast stores, there was a uniform standard, but it was much less specific. For whatever reason, the west coast stores have a much more corporate look in the way the employees dress. I remember the day I had my interview, and was under some what of a shock when I found out the stores policy do not allow me to have the physical feature that I was most proud of, my beard. To each his own, but, the funny thing is, you’d think it would be the other way around and the west coast would be more lax with dress code then the east coast.
Bags were another huge difference. Obviously, the people on the west coast are a little bit more on the ball about reusable bags, there is truth to the stereotype that west coast people are more environmentally conscious then the east coast, and the proof can be found if you look at the number of plastic bags that their stores go through. Also, people on the east coast are much more uptight about the way their things are bagged. On the each coast, you might find that you get much more specific of directions from the customer on how they would liked their things bagged.
The bottle room was a foreign concept to me when I moved to the west coast. The east coast really doesn’t have that many states with deposits on bottles with places to return them.
I know there are some other key differences that are slipping my mind, but, what do YOU think? Have you noticed any major differences of the overall environments of grocery stores in different parts of the country?
Thanks Christopher, Portland, OR via Lancaster, PA
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
As a Christian, I must say a grocery store that passes out tracts is pretty disgusting. (No offense to them, I’m sure they mean well… but c’mon. Tracts are essentially wasted paper.)
…and I’m sure I say that ’cause I’m from the west coast.
Chris probably can’t or won’t answer this, but the curiosity is burning and I have to ask. That first store he worked at, was it in Millheim, PA? The description fits perfectly…
I can see how there would be differences between the east and west coasts, but I am shocked that the east is more lax about dress code.
@Renae It was actually in Gap Pennsylvania, a small town in lancaster county that more or less borders chester county, but yeah, I’m fairly certain there are MANY grocery stores that fit that description.
@suzicate Well, that was just MY experience. I’m sure if I worked at different places, it’s completely possible that completley different conclusions could be made.
@Erika yeah…I think I’ll just email you, so we can have a more in deph religious disscussion
My company recently became pretty lax on the dress code. Although, the current store i work in is a disaster. We go thru waste like it’s nothing! lol
Btw West Coast California here–and he’s right about that strictness! They’d bring out a measuring tape if they have to.
Hey Paul, I can’t wait to hear your take on SoCal’s grocery culture!
Stores are different no matter what region you go to. There are the differences you mentioned between the east coast and the west coast, as well as differences between the north and the south. Currently we’re in the south and trying to find healthy food is like pulling teeth (which most of the locals don’t have, either). Being uptight is definitely an east coast thing, but I blame the lack of adequate sunshine and fresh air. It’s either freezing or sweltering most of the time, whereas in CA it’s almost always beautiful. At least it was when we lived there.