One Can A Week Makes the Big Time
Since Richard is a “walk around manager” the first thing you do is scan the 28,000 sq. ft. layout to determine if he is on the floor. If not, just ask any Sprouts staff member because he or she will know where he is or how to reach out to him.
On Friday I stopped by to see if Richard had heard from management about starting up One Can A Week again. (Remember, when Sprouts was still the Sunflower Farmers Market a couple of years back, Richard instituted One Can A Week because he could call most of the shots in his store. The new owner is a much bigger corporation with nearly 150 stores and they are more involved in everyday operations.)
I got the attention of a young lady in a Sprouts green tee shirt who quickly yanked the ear pod out of her ear while walking up to me.
“Is Richard around?”
With out a word, she rose up on the balls of her feet and looked around. “No, but I’ll page him if you can wait a minute,” she replied settling back on her heels.
And it wasn’t but a minute before Richard came out of the back and walked over to where we were standing.
“Any news from management?” I asked.
With a big grin he said, “Yes, they read all of your materials and would like to start in early July.”
Richard then proceeded to tell me that they had a number of promotions in the front of the store in June so we have to wait a while. He was almost apologetic about not being able to start right away. I assured him that starting whenever he was ready was just fine with me.
Then the thought sunk in. The management of a large supermarket chain just approved One Can A Week in one of its stores. That’s big. That accomplishment will keep me going for some time so the start date can wait.
In March of 2009, I began presenting the One Can A Week concept to various supermarkets. Richard, as a chain store manager, was the first to see the potential in the program and it took a little over four years for events and circumstances to propel the idea up to the management level. In the end, it’s turning out to be a big deal for both of us.
When Richard and I finished our conversation I thanked him very much which he acknowledged and then said, “Well, it’s a win-win for everybody.”
It sure is.
About Sprouts Farmers Market - The corporate office for the nearly 150 stores and 11,000 employees is in Phoenix. Their stores are located in seven states (Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah).
Megan Guthrie, daughter of Becky and Mark Guthrie on 12th Street was just accepted into grad school at Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
When Mark told me the good news on Sunday I said, “That’s one of the best schools of journalism in the country. You must be very proud?”
“I am,” he replied and just continued smiling.
We collected a total of 210 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $41.00, a $25.00 check and $16.00 in cash.
See you Sunday,
Peter
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