Allan Appel Photo
Walk-to-work employees Henry & Gooding.
While city lawmakers debate government should make a point of hiring firefighters and cops who live in town, managers at the new Stop & Shop on Whalley don’t need to wrestle with a similar question. Cashier Shaquana Henry, bagger Ozzie Gooding, Jr. and nearly all their coworkers already call New Haven home — often living close enough to walk to work.
At the six-month mark of the store’s opening, store manager Anne Demchak reported that of her 161 employees, nearly all are New Haveners like Henry and Gooding (pictured above).
The first 150 people hired when the store opened in 2010 came from the city. Demchak said 104 of the 120 part-timers she now employes still have New Haven addresses. Only seven of the 21 full-timers live in the city; when the store opened and required expertise, many of the full-timers, like meat department heads, were transferred in from other stores in other towns, she said.
Allie Bryant and Anne Demchak.
As she chatted the other day in front of the customer service desk, staffed by Allie Bryant, Demchak called out to passing employees, asking them where they lived.
Several confirmed what she already knew: New Haven, and within a very manageable walk from the store.
Demchak, who had made a commitment to hire New Haven employees when the store was debuting, has been true to her word.
Of the 800 people who lined up for jobs on opening day in April, she said her staff noted the addresses and those close enough to walk over in a few minutes.
Like Shaquana Henry. “It’s very convenient,” Henry said as she worked the late morning and early afternoon of her 15-hour per week shift.
She drops off her child at school on Goffe Street and then walks right over to the store. When her shift is over, she goes over to the school and does pick up.
Ozzie Gooding, Jr. in front of a gleaming aisle.
It’s also easy for Ozzie Gooding, Jr., a New Havener for the past 45 years. He lives on Brownell Street and also walks to work. “It’s good exercise,” he said.
Demchak says it’s good for the store as well. As she pointed to the gleaming floors, she said, “Have you been in other Stop & Shops?”
Demchak, who has managed several in the Greater New Haven area, said this is the tidiest she’s seen. The walk-to-work employees have a sense of ownership, she said. The store is in their neighborhood — for many, practically in the front or back yard.
Allie Bryant, the assistant head of the customer service department, agreed. Bryant, who also walks to work, said the floors are gleaming at night, as opposed to often being a scuffed mess at other stores. That’s because many of the employees not only work, but often shop themselves as customers.
“I see them [the employees] all day long, and they all shop at night,” Demchak said.
Gooding, Jr. was a little more skeptical about whether walk-to-work employees care about the place they work more than those traveling from a distance.
That could be true, he said. Then he added, “It all depends on the person.”
The advantage to managers is obvious. Henry said that the other day, “Reggie [a manager] called, he needed me. I came to work.” Presto, from a short distance away.
Demchak also pointed out a friendly atmosphere in which customers and staff often know each other because they are neighbors.
She surveyed the produce section of the store and pointed out people talking in the aisles in twos and threes.
Demchak said the store is not going to have a party celebrating itself or its employees until the anniversary in April 2012. In the meantime, Stop & Shop, while supporting many local institutions, has taken a special interest in Fellowship Place, the mental health care organization, around the corner on Dwight Street.
Demchak said the store is collecting coats and socks, both very much in need for Fellowship Place’s clients this winter.
There are five or six Fellowship Place clients who work at Stop & Shop. “They love to come to work every day, and I love to hire them,” she said.
They also walk to work.
For those interested in dropping by with coats, socks, and other warm winter items, Demchak said that a “giving tree” will soon be placed inside the store at the southerly entrance.
It should also be pointed out that the employees at the new Whalley Stop & Shop are the most conscientious grocer employees in the area. They will even bag your groceries while you're in the self-check-out - unheard of in today's markets.