Is Raley's too Friendly?
Everybody has their favorite grocery store to shop at. We pick them based on price, selection, location, or whatever. Mine happens to be Raleys, the one on East Ave. I use this store because of location and the fact that they have a pretty good health food section. I don't do all my shopping at Raleys, I think we all use a combination of three or four stores, but whenever I need a commercial type grocery store, that's where I go.
Raleys is a great store in many ways, although I hear a lot of people say their prices are high. That may be true but I wouldn't know because I am a convenience shopper, not a value shopper. There is one thing however that Raleys does that bugs the hell out of me and I wish they would just ease off a little bit. At the risk of sounding like an old bah-humbug, I'll explain....
After going to that store for several years, I have become aware of what I call "the cycle of friendliness". They must have periodic meetings about this because it gets really out of control all in one day, and then after a few days it settles down again. It's fine to be greeted now and then by an employee or asked if you need help finding something, but at Raleys, you get bombarded! Everybody who works there greets you, asks how your day is going, do you need help, did you have a good weekend, what are you up to this weekend, and by the time your finished shopping you feel like you don't want to do anymore shallow talk for weeks!
Personally, I don't go shopping to meet people or to do small talk with strangers. I don't care to tell a 19 year old kid bagging groceries what my plans are for the weekend. It's not that I'm a private or shy person, I just like to focus on shopping when I'm shopping and sometimes I don't feel like talking to every employee in the store. I appreciate their kindness, but when they go overboard, it doesn't feel real. It feels to me like they just had a pep meeting the night before. I call it a cycle because soon the employees settle down and become less aggressive with their over the top friendliness. Things will be normal for a while, and then bang, one morning you go in there and it feels like you just won a popularity contest! Once it starts at the door, you know you are going to have to verbally acknowledge every employee in the store, they are going to kill you with kindness and you have to respond.
I know the employees are just following store policy, but the higher ups who dictate this kind of policy should know better. Customers appreciate a smile by an employee or just knowing that if you ask, they are more than willing to help you find something. What we (and maybe it's just me) don't like is constantly getting pulled out of our concentration or our "shopping mode" to have to talk or respond to twenty different people. They need to find a better balance.
I know, this sounds pretty damn shallow when I'm writing about folks being too friendly. It's really no big deal, in fact, it's a lot better than employees who ignore you or are not around when you need directions, and I'm sure it's harder on the psyche of the employee than it is the customer. I couldn't imagine having to verbally greet hundreds of people a day.
So in spite of their friendliness and eagerness to assist me, the great health food section, the clean environment, convenient location, large deli, fast check out service, and the fact that the Raleys employees do seem like genuine good people, I will keep shopping there anyway.
Comments
Don't get bugged - get even. It gives me a chance to practice my social skills under pressure. Von's Store (owned by Safeway)is also guilty of this "training."
Posted by: Celeste Van Anda | July 12, 2008 12:04 PM
It's Raley's, not Railey's.
Joe's reply....Thanks, I fixed it.
Posted by: wally | July 13, 2008 02:33 PM
I, too, am a faithful Raley's shopper (Notre Dame Blvd.) and, yes, it bugs me, too.
By the way, Raley's managers, I don't want the bagger to automatically assume I want to be helped out to my car. I want to be asked if I want help. And the answer is, no, I don't.
And, if we're going to discuss peeves, perhaps someday (in the waaay distant future) you will allow me to write a guest post about how 98% of Americans do not know how to use apostrophes or reflexive pronouns. Off topic, I know, but it bugs the daylights out of me.
Joe's reply....You are welcome to write a guest blog anytime, I would welcome that! I know I am not good with apostroph'es....And I hate it when I, meself, mess up on reflexive pronouns.
Posted by: Kathy | July 14, 2008 01:24 AM
I don't find that the personnel at Raley's are too overly friendly. I appreciate the friendly service. Now, during the late 1990's when I lived in San Francisco, I found this to be the case at Safeway. Upon showing my Safeway Club card, often the checkers with a big smile said "Thank you Mr. Ballin" instead of thanking my wife at the time, who was shopping with me. When I shop if I have difficulty finding an item, I like to have a clerk help me find it instead of saying something like "It's on isle 10-A" and then only not to find it. This kind of thing happens in so many stores today. Of course I don't like to be badgered in stores, and I don't find that to be the case at Raley's. However I do notice that Raley's has cut some of its staff. Sometimes when it's very busy, they will only have around 3 check stands open. This wasn't the case before.
Joe's reply....I never felt badgered at Raley's. Sometimes I just don't feel like responding to every employee in the store who greets me, but of course I still do, and like I said, it's better to be over friendly than to be ignored.
Posted by: Walter Ballin | July 14, 2008 05:53 PM
Joe, It also is my understanding that the management at Raley's treats the employees very well, and better than at Safeway. When there was the possibility of a strike at Safeway, Raley's management signed a "me too" contract with the union where they agreed to go along with whatever settlement is arrived at. While the butchers and the pharmacy staff are members of the union, the checkers and baggers are not but Raley's goes along with the union as far as their wages and benefits go.
Posted by: Walter Ballin | July 14, 2008 11:02 PM
I work at Raley's. They force you to be fake and overly nice. And they underpay us. It is absolutely ridiculous. People don't give a rat's ass, they just want their food!
Posted by: Philip | July 31, 2008 10:14 AM
Philip is right. I work for the company too. I work in the bakery as a cake decorator. I honestly don't have the time to stop and greet everyone I pass.
Lately I stopped doing it because I find it annoying coming from a customer's stand point. If I want something, I'll ask. You know. So I smile and walk past hoping one of the managers didn't see me.
I used to work for Safeway too. We would get written up if we didn't greet and do all that stuff. I know most employees there hate their job, and I don't blame them. The company is evil to them (We called them the greedy big red S). They start employees at minimum wage and give crappy 25 cent raises 2 to 3 times a year. I was there for 1.5 years and all i received was a 5 cents raise (long story short, they messed up my pay when they hired me). whats more frustrating is that the only holiday they get off is christmas. and some stores get employees to work on christmas by bribing them with triple pay. they also will work you 6 days a week. sometimes they force you into working 12 days in a row (raleys does this too but its usually 10 or 11 days) and get angry at employees when they arent doing their job correctly. its hard working early morning shifts then getting off having 3 or 4 hours for yourself then you have to go back to sleep to be at work 2,3,4,5 in the morning. So I can understand why Safeway employees are rude. I'm surprised you shop at a store with employees like that. They must have a good store manager who is humble.
at raley's, the pay is $2 better than Safeway but they cut your hours back to the minimum (24 hours) to where you end up getting safeway pay anyway. they dont always pay you off of your experience either. even though i have the experience doing birthday & wedding cakes, along with their pastry desserts, they still started me out at their lowest pay. with my skill, i should be getting at least $4 more (but whatever a job is a job when you need one). ive been there since may and i started hating the place last month. and we do not get any benefits until after 6 mos of employment and 3 years for real coverage like kaiser. i work with at least 2 other people who left safeway and they say that through the years, raley's is starting to turn into another safeway.
i dont want to seem like im complaining, its kind of hard to tell whats really going on without insider's info. but i do think the way the service is in each store depends on how the managers are treating the employees knowing of these crappy conditions. it also part of how the customers act. i do have to say that the customers are nicer in raleys than in safeway so i can see where the overly friendliness can kick in.
Posted by: - unknown - | September 17, 2008 01:24 PM