I've worked at three different Kroger stores: a medium Signature store that (while I was there) averaged 750k a week (can't recall if that included fuel + pharmacy), a large Signature store that (again, while was there) averaged between 900k to 1.1 million a week (we often broke a million without fuel + pharmacy factored in) and now, I'm at a Marketplace that averages between 1.3 and 1.5 million a week. Of the three, the Marketplace is easily the best. Are there a lot of customers? In the evenings and weekends, you bet, but Marketplaces are budgeted with far more hours in play than Signature stores, and it may just be my Marketplace since it's a top performer in my district and one of the top overall in the division, but we have plenty of help, making the workload so, so much more manageable than in the smaller stores I've worked at. The work is more evenly distributed among the employees, which means less stress and less pressure. Employees are happier as a result. You know what also takes a lot of pressure off of employees and makes them happier too? Next to no surge checking. My Marketplace barely ever calls for surge cashiers or cart round-ups, even on weekends, thanks to how well the front end is staffed. It's very, very rare for any department to have to go up front. It wasn't like that at my other stores, let me tell you!
I would not leave the Marketplace I'm at for any other Kroger store. It's the best store I've worked in out of all the Kroger stores I've been at. So, for me, it's far, far better working in a big store than a small store.
But in the big store they are always on you about being perfect! And higher ups are around more often
They are always on you about being perfect? That depends on your store manager and co-managers, honestly. You can have that problem in any size store.
Higher ups are around more often? Eh, probably... but even then, it's not like it's a weekly or even every other week, thing. True, it's no fun when they do show up, but when they're not there, it's not that bad, and I'll gladly take the occasional bad periods over it being basically bad all the time whether the higher ups were coming or not, like it was at my other stores.
I can't speak for all big stores, but I'm definitely happy at the Marketplace I'm at. Happier than I've been at my other stores.
They call my kroger the gochi..and higher ups come in a lot like the district manager and cordnaters.. and standards are a lot higher here compare to other krogers cuz caters to the rich more..makes it very hard to pass a store walks
my store is quite small, only 15 aisles. it's nicer to be able to easily sort through aisles and find things without having to worry about walking a football field distance. what sucks though is that our warehouse space is scarce so we have to store a lot of crap in backass places, like reefer trucks or in the good ol' shipping container out back. getting pallets down the aisles is also really fun, as there's about a 3 inch tolerance between the pallet and the stupid cardboard shippers they litter at the end of every aisle. other than that, i can't complain.
It doesn't whether it's small , medium, or big. They should be on you about being perfect anywhere. If they aren't giving you a hard time they must not be expecting or relying on you to do the work. I've noticed the harder the worker the more they put on you. The slackers usually have it easy and aren't expected to do their job, right!
It doesn't whether it's small , medium, or big. They should be on you about being perfect anywhere. If they aren't giving you a hard time they must not be expecting or relying on you to do the work. I've noticed the harder the worker the more they put on you. The slackers usually have it easy and aren't expected to do their job, right!
I agree with the second half of your post, but not the first half. Perfection doesn't exist in the retail world. Often times, you start out less than perfect because of what the warehouse does (or does not) send you. That is outside of your control. Something else that is outside of your control is the customer. Once customers come in and start shopping your department, it can be very difficult to maintain a full and well organized department. Management shouldn't be giving employees a hard time one-hundred percent of the time, either, unless the employee is slacking off. There are plenty of great employees that try hard to balance a great looking department with customer interaction and still get spit on and yelled at by management. That is wrong and only contributes to the deteriorating morale in stores. Low morale reduces productivity and friendliness, the opposite of what Kroger (supposedly) wants from its employees. Management and department heads should be acknowledging great employees with positive reinforcement while working with them to help them become even more valuable members of the team.
Sadly, this doesn't happen nearly as often as it should in all size stores and because it doesn't, you have the kinds of problems that plague Kroger stores today.
