Now, I'm fairly close to the top seniority wise as I have been working there since April 11, 2007. The only people ahead of me now have worked there forever.
So we have been struggling through this hour-cutting stuff for about a month and a half. Its been brutal at times because you are always short staffed, you can end up with huge line ups which aggravates the customers, you can't get any one to do a price check because they're run off their feet as well, and you oft times are paired with a younger cashier that has no idea of work.
That last one really pisses me off.
TANGENT>>> WHY DO WE STILL HAVE THESE PEOPLE?
And more IMPORTANTLY IF WE ARE HIRING NEW CASHIERS THEN GET RID OF THE STUPID SLOW ONES.
OFF TANGENT.
There I feel better.
*****
Anyway, don't I pick up the paper last Friday and read how our store had record profits. Somehow it really bites that we are busting our butts, worrying about jobs and all that fun stuff but feel 'safe' in the knowledge that the COMPANY has made a profit.
I am enclosing the article below and I have changed certain words in the article to keep up with my 'disguise'. I have used symbols for all store names and changed the city name. I don't think I had to but, what the heck, lets be safe.
ARTICLE FROM PAPER:
*****'s sales up 23 per cent in Q3
Grocer sees move to discount stores
August 07, 2009
Ross Marowits
THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL (Aug 7, 2009)
Grocery store operator ***** Inc. enjoyed record profits in the fiscal third quarter, despite a continuing consumer shift to its discount banners.
The Montreal-based company said yesterday strong sales contributed to a 23 per cent surge in profits.
It earned $112.6 million, or $1.01 per share, for the quarter ended July 4, an increase over year-earlier profits of $91.9 million, or 81 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings per share totalled $1.01, up 25 per cent from figures posted a year ago.
Quarterly sales rose 4 per cent to $3.5 billion from $3.4 billion a year ago. Same-store sales, or sales at locations that have been open for at least a year, rose 4.2 per cent.
The results beat the expectation of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who forecast 93 cents in earnings per share.
"Clearly the recession is having an impact on consumer behaviour. Our conventional stores are growing, but we are seeing a shift towards discount," CEO Eric La Fleche said.
In addition to its ***** and ***** Plus banners, the company operates discount stores **** ****** in Ontario and the former **** ***** ******* stores in (my city here).
Competition remains fierce in both Ontario and Quebec, especially among staple products. However, unlike in past quarters, La Fleche said the competition is rational.
In both markets, it achieved higher sales, more customers and larger sales per store visit. And it claimed to have increased its market share in its Quebec base.
In Ontario, its supermarket conversion plan is on schedule with 128 of 159 stores converted to the ***** banner as of July 24, 2009, including all former ****b stores.
***** is in the process of rebranding Ontario stores originally purchased under the ******** banner and converting them to the ***** name.
La Fleche said the company was pleased with its record results, especially since they are compared with the third quarter of 2008 when it returned to positive earnings growth after taking a hit from price wars in Ontario and information technology problems.
The supermarket chain expects that food price inflation, which reduced to 3 per cent in the quarter, will continue to reduce over the coming two quarters. The impact will be felt on imported goods such as produce if the Canadian dollar creeps up towards parity.
Irene Nattel of RBC Capital Markets said ***** benefited in the quarter from food inflation, increased sales volume as consumers buy less expensive, but higher margin private label products and improved productivity.
*****'s board increased its quarterly dividend by 10 per cent to 13.75 per cent.
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