My local Ralph's is a place I frequent. It is a grocery store just across the street, and although my wife and I have other stores that we prefer, we'll often make a quick trip to Ralph's if we don't want to make the trip somewhere else.
The store is crammed with stands, aisles, and products. The color of brown and the overall warm tone of the store is definitely preferred over the overbearing, soul-crushing flourescents of Walmart. This does not fix the problem that the store is a maze, one that you can navigate through with the signs hanging from the ceilings. People quietly shuttle with their carts to their destinations, the low music cutting the horrors of awkward silences. The staff are can also be heard most time throughout the store, often communicating with walkie-talkies or over the intercom. It's informal for the most part, often asking something like, "Do you know if the lentils are priced correctly Jim? Can you check on the bathrooms Laura?"
The language that matters the most, especially to myself as the customer are where the sales are. I have a pretty good idea of what our home needs after living in this space for a few years, and I'm always looking for a deal on one of our core purchases. There are your regular price tags, and then there are the yellow price tags. The yellow price tags are especially important because they often show the best deals, but they are a discount price for a members only club. Luckily for myself, I am a member of the Ralph's club, and therefore have access to these prices. Therefore whenever I shop at this store, I have a particular eye for the color yellow.
Often times in the store you will notice the big double doors that lead into the back stock area. The bathrooms always seem to be located here, and it will give you a glimpse at the darker, more industrial parts of the store. Of course, other then the bathrooms are restricted if you're a regular customer, and unless you are dressed like the simple, polo-wearing, functional khakis employee, you'll be spotted pretty quickly. The colors are also a give away, which seem to be a light tan and black, often with an apron. These people can do anything from helping you find the gluten-free pastries, to scaling the towers of plastic wrapped cargo to begin it's sorting.
For the most part, the workers here feel content on doing a good job. They often try to smile and have pleasant small talk with the customers. Customers are often disinterested or don't know what to say, leaving things a little one-sided. You get the sense that all of the workers often don't end up working at the grocery store from their own volition, completely based off of the observation that there is no true spark or passion for their jobs only when I have observed them. But they are content on doing a job well, probably because they know they are helping with people with their day-to-day, which in itself is something they can take pride in.
The store is crammed with stands, aisles, and products. The color of brown and the overall warm tone of the store is definitely preferred over the overbearing, soul-crushing flourescents of Walmart. This does not fix the problem that the store is a maze, one that you can navigate through with the signs hanging from the ceilings. People quietly shuttle with their carts to their destinations, the low music cutting the horrors of awkward silences. The staff are can also be heard most time throughout the store, often communicating with walkie-talkies or over the intercom. It's informal for the most part, often asking something like, "Do you know if the lentils are priced correctly Jim? Can you check on the bathrooms Laura?"
The language that matters the most, especially to myself as the customer are where the sales are. I have a pretty good idea of what our home needs after living in this space for a few years, and I'm always looking for a deal on one of our core purchases. There are your regular price tags, and then there are the yellow price tags. The yellow price tags are especially important because they often show the best deals, but they are a discount price for a members only club. Luckily for myself, I am a member of the Ralph's club, and therefore have access to these prices. Therefore whenever I shop at this store, I have a particular eye for the color yellow.
Often times in the store you will notice the big double doors that lead into the back stock area. The bathrooms always seem to be located here, and it will give you a glimpse at the darker, more industrial parts of the store. Of course, other then the bathrooms are restricted if you're a regular customer, and unless you are dressed like the simple, polo-wearing, functional khakis employee, you'll be spotted pretty quickly. The colors are also a give away, which seem to be a light tan and black, often with an apron. These people can do anything from helping you find the gluten-free pastries, to scaling the towers of plastic wrapped cargo to begin it's sorting.
For the most part, the workers here feel content on doing a good job. They often try to smile and have pleasant small talk with the customers. Customers are often disinterested or don't know what to say, leaving things a little one-sided. You get the sense that all of the workers often don't end up working at the grocery store from their own volition, completely based off of the observation that there is no true spark or passion for their jobs only when I have observed them. But they are content on doing a job well, probably because they know they are helping with people with their day-to-day, which in itself is something they can take pride in.