deli associate

cake decorator

bakery clerk

seafood clerk

Lowes Foods

I spent 2 years with LFS as a bagger, cashier, and finally a Dairy/Frozen clerk. When I first started I was poorly trained by co-workers who didn't care about their job. I was trained for example to use mirror spray to clean toilets when there was a bleach cleaner readily available. Also starting a Lowes I had a sexist front end manager who was a creep. He made all guys baggers which was (7.40/hr) and all girls who just so happened to be "bustier" started as cashiers (8.00/hr). This was extremely unfair as the jobs where the same. 

During my time up front I eventually asked the co-front end manager if I could cross train to cashier to help with demand. He agreed and I began training almost 4 months in. Some stores offer pay increases if you're cross trained but not in my case. Throughout the year I spent as a bagger I also took it upon myself to learn Lowes Foods To Go and Self Checkout. I never received a pay increase and felt I did so much more than my co-workers and also showed passion when cleaning and dealing with customers. During this period I also received around 1 to 2 days a week. LFS hired anybody who walked through the door and all the staff wanted was for them to stop hiring so we could get more hours and more pay.

Towards the end of my bagging carrier our store received a new assistant store manager who finally noticed the work I put in. When I finally turned 18 I was able to switch departments and my assistant manager moved me into the Dairy Department.

I really enjoyed the Dairy Department because of our team. Our Grocery Manager was a pain and when you found yourself short on time she would make sure you did her stuff for her like breaking down a grocery truck. There were several nights I needed to stay after 30+ minutes to do my original job. Then I was threatened by the grocery manager with write ups for staying after. If I found myself with 2 days in the dairy department the assistant store manager would give me another day building end caps or something to help me out with money. He was one of the few managers I have ever felt cared about the employees. I had seen 6 different managers while at LFS. Then when he left it all spiraled out of control. 

Our store manager believed the more hours cut the more money the store would make, but the store suffered. We weren't able to clean our dairy cooler at any point after the assistant left. We we're too busy covering for a cut shift or doing extra stuff that had nothing to do with what we where supposed to be doing. Our new assistant never helped dairy/frozen he was always in produce with the store manager. Produce was not this assistant's side of the store so we felt hopeless sometimes. 

I really felt like I was working as a slave at Lowe's Foods. It was always too much work on our plate. Managers were never satisfied and hours were so tight you couldn't stay 7 minutes after. The atmosphere with the workers and customers was great. It was the only reason I was there for 2 years. Management was so poor it was unbelievable. None of us could understand why our store manager received 2 store manager of the year awards because he screwed up everything and could care less for his employees. 

Also the benefits sucked. You received an extra 5 cents towards gas when you spent $100 in the store. Then as of recently they implemented 10% off all store brand products which still sucked.

While working as a Customer Service Leader at Lowe's, there were many experiences that pushed me forward and created better learning and understanding for me as I continue working with the public. I oversaw the front end and had to work on being an effective manager of people that were my own age--which can be difficult in a mostly college-aged workplace. I met many obstacles in working with customers who were unhappy with products, services, or did not understand our policies. By encountering new and challenging circumstances each day, my communication skills grew and my ability to problem-solve as well as creatively amplify the workspace improved. 

    Pushing through the moments when the customer is not always right are the situations that were hardest for me. As a leader in a prominent business, our policy is that what makes the customer happy and satisfied, is what our company will provide. There are situations that customer service employees have to discern from though when people are trying to steal or circumvent policy and it is our job to not offend the customer but protect the company as well. That task requires tact and patience, and learning how to properly handle customers who require more attention has required me to step up and use more critical thinking and creativity in standing by policies but understanding how to go about things in a way that does not lead to an unsatisfied or upset customer.

    My favorite part of working at Lowe's would be the customers. Yes, customers are also the hardest part of my job--customer service is a double-edged sword by all means. While certain situations and customers can present difficulty in my day-to-day tasks, there are wonderful, unique, interesting people that I have the opportunity to interact with daily. I have made close friends with regular customers, people that I will truly miss speaking to everyday as I leave Lowe's. There is a sense of happiness and pride involved when I can make a person who looks less than happy with their experience so far completely change their opinion or when I have customers speaking to management about my cheery demeanor and how much they appreciate that. As a Customer Service LEADER, it is my responsibility to lead employees in morale, in company policy, and in customer relations. I not only take pride in doing those things, but I truly love being a leader and taking care of my customers.

Corporate has a wonderful IDEA of what the culture should be, though kind of poor execution. Especially when it comes to in store managers and support. I feel as if there should be more accountability in ensuring culture is upheld especially by the ones doing the hiring, and the management themselves. A lot of the store managers are too old school and too unwilling to make changes. At my main store, and others I worked at the front end management team is cliquey and mean. And ironically they are the ones doing the hiring. DO NOT get caught up with them. 
The pay is offensive. I worked full time, incredibly hard, and was noted around, but I could barely even survive with my paycheck. I trained multiple people that were making WAY more than me. I was trusted and preferred to train, but yet I only received one raise. 
Corporate treats themselves like royalty, then gives you a $25 or $50 gift card at the end of the year. Thanks. They get free this and free that, and we get only a 10% discount on stuff, and now that I think of it I don't even think that includes things that you would buy for lunch from the deli. So the people on the ground have to pay for their stuff, and they get free beers every thursday. Probably catered food too. And coffee. Yes, we even have to pay for coffee, discount or not. 
Also corporate seems to be a little cliquey too. 
In store does not seem to care about work-life balance. I have heard too many department and store managers complain about hosts, part time and full, wanting time off. They're the kind of place to punish you for wanting specific days off for school even, and god forbid you ask off for your grandchilds birthday (yes that is a complaint I heard). Even if you're "part time" you will probably still be complained about all around by management for not working more. 

TLDR: Make sure you're getting the pay you deserve, fight for it. Always be inquisitive of moves up, because they are pretty good with promoting from within. 
Stay away from the mean ones, because apparently they are there to stay (they never ever got in trouble and have been thriving in this company for a long time). 
It's a great culture concept do your best to promote it yourself, even if you do not see management doing so.
Cool cool cool place to shop, fine place to work.



Lowe's Foods has a very warm and inviting feel from the very moment you walk through the front doors. I enjoy working for Lowe's Foods and being involved with a company that sincerely strives and makes it a priority to provide a positive environment and experience for not only its guests but also its employees.

Once hired I went through the Lowe's Foods orientation and that was a really informative and enjoyable experience. At the time the location I was hired for was a newly built store which my orientation class was full of new hires and it allowed for many of us to become introduced to one another and get to know each individuals work station within the store. The team building workshop was very interactive and helped us to learn about all the new concept stations, departments and layout of the new store. The training I received for the position I was hired for was exceptional and the individual who was in charge of my training was very thorough and organized in her methods of teaching.  

What I have learned since being with this company in short form is how to always provide the utmost in guest services; a better understanding and comprehension of the retail industry; strategic sales knowledge and valuable team building skills.

Working alongside management, whether it be the store, department or on a corporate level has always been positive. Granted, there may be times where I have not completely understood  a requested task or objective, but with that said there is always an open door for communication and in my experience thus far have effectively without any skepticism from management been able to openly communicate any questions or concerns. 

The hardest part of the Pick and Prep job is not having more hours in a day to keep up with the demand of product. The demand for Pick and Prep product shows just how valued and desired this service is and being able to provide this high quality and affordable service to our guests in return makes this the most enjoyable part of the job.

Tldr: management incompetent, huge workload win little pay and short breaks.

The management at the Clayton, NC store are pretty pathetic in managing anything. The deli manger in particular never understood that on some days I could not come to work until a later time but still scheduled me for earlier. The manager also does not understand how to order materials such as cups, containers and rags which were always scarce due to such incompetence. The deli manager always messed up on the schedule and made the schedule avaible only a day prior to the following week. They also had me scheduled 5 days a week even though I was taking classes.

The work at Lowe's Foods was particularly bad when closing. We had to cut meat and cheese, cold salads, panini case and sometimes do chicken kitchen. We clean the floors, slicers and the endless amount of dishes we have coming from lazy people in early shifts. We also have to clean the salad bar and the windows and the tables and block.My coworkers were usually lazy and did not want to get customers, so I got most of the customers and cleaned te most. We were also shortstaffed a lot because one person called out all the time and store management fired two people because they "stole" something, while they complain about being short staffed. We are also expected to have full on conversations with every customers and be unrealisticly frtiendly to them. Most customers at the store are very obnoxious and rude too.

We get paid 9.50 an hour in the deli. However, all the merchandise inside the store is about 1.5 times as much as it is in walmart for the same items. Prices in the store are pretty ridiculous and our pay is hardly enough to get any items at the store regularly. We get 15 minute breaks which are only for people who work six hours and 8 hours gets 2 breaks and 1 thirty minute lunch which goes by pretty fast. We also have to approved by management in order to leave and that can around 10:30 pm even though it says we close at 9:30.

I have been with Lowes Foods for several years, worked in different departments, and under several different department and store managers.

I enjoy my work, however, management (both department and store level) has made it nearly impossible for me to want to try and stay any longer.  

Management does not communicate with the store associates, they play favorites, and do not address issues when brought to their attention.  Current store manager says "if you're not happy, there's the door" - even when you go to him with policy violations or other issues that directly affect other hosts, guests, or the store.

There is little to NO chance of advance to team leader, supervisor, or management positions unless you are one of the ones they play favorites with.  My store recently had a large number of new jobs become open due to a remodel - our store manager started offering some of the new positions to people BEFORE they were posted for all to see.  Only a select few were even granted interviews for the new positions they applied for.

There is ZERO appreciation for anything you do.  I'm not saying I need an award or gold star on a daily basis, but every now and then would be nice - you know like when I come in on a day off, or stay beyond my time, or go above and beyond what is needed.  I am an extremely hard worker and can work circles around some of the kids in there half my age but it gets me nothing but more work without compensation or even consideration for advancement.

The Job/Life balance is frustrating because there are no set hours and requests for certain times or days off so you can attend to family needs go ignored.

Lowes Foods has a veneer of a down-home sensibility that quickly fades once hired in and trained up. If your store is of a certain size, the Chicken Kitchen and Deli are folded into one department, still with the demands of both yet with the staffing of one, often requiring hosts to run between the hot bar, deli, salad bar and sandwich counter while keeping track of the disparate needs of all of these spots. The various retail cases can empty out quickly, leaving hosts in a cycle of production that resembles one of the hells in Greek Mythology, on top of helping guests. Many hosts will clock out for lunch and continue to work through it, just to finish their work and maintain the company's policy of avoiding overtime pay as much as possible. 

Store Management seems to get a pass for incompetence, leaving the responsibilities in the laps of the assembled hosts to maintain standards on their own, on top of the constant needs of their immediate surroundings. Burnout is rampant, thanks to over-work, under-paying, and under-staffing, all motivated by Lowes Foods commitment to the bottom line. Full time employment offers Paid Time Off, 401K and healthcare, but that becomes a cold comfort in the wake of low wages and unrealistic expectations. 

What winds up hurting is to hear that the company has the money to open up multiple new stores and expand its reach across the Southern states, yet can't seem to find enough to support the needs of its front-line work force. In spite of all of the pageantry of Chicken Dances, cute names and service with a smile, Lowes Foods does not value you.

I'm currently a morning book keeper/Customer Service Leader. A typical day at work for me is being there by 6 am to clock in and taking out the first register till and counting it to make sure the standard amount of money is in the till. Next is counting the cash office to make sure everything is balanced out. Then i put all Tills out in its registers and file reports to make sure sales match. (Ex. Western Union, Lottery, Money Grams). Once completed i deposit money to our bank manually. Once that is done i'm going back and forth loaning money to registers, And coaching new cashiers how to handle their money and supervise all cashiers and bagger's to make sure they follow their duties. I've learned how to manage inventory in the store, reconcile tills, manage employees breaks and schedule when we are short an employee, i also learned how to process Western Union transactions and file paperwork and Vendor payments. The most important value i learned is providing excellent customer service to all guest that shop at our store. Management is a little shaky in some departments of our store schedule are late at times, Managers are not up to speed during some changes in the store. Co-workers are friendly but most are not dependable at all making it hard to call people in if someone calls out. The hardest part of the job is multitasking. This skill is crucial to being a customer service leader. If you are a book keeper you have to do both manage money and make customers happy. The enjoyable part of the job is meeting new people and seeing the smiles of customers faces when they shop here.

A typical day as an Office Clerk at Lowes Foods would include supervising and providing every guest with the fastest and most pleasant checkout experience possible.  The basic duties of an office clerk are to perform sales cash and invoices. I have learned many new skills at Lowes Foods including how to process invoices, balancing out tills, processing payments and processing returned checks, performing surprise till audits and detail audits, while learning how to manage more than eight host at a time. Management and Co-Workers at Lowes Foods I would say are above and beyond excellent. We are more than just a guest service leader, cashier, bagger, manager, or office clerk. We are local legends who go beyond the standards to give that guest an unbelievable experience throughout their shopping experience. The hardest part of the job would have to be seeing a fellow host who should really doesn't belong in retail give a guest a bad service. This is a difficult task for me especially. I want our guest to be treated with up most respect at all times and when you see a fellow host going below the standards and you talk to them several times and nothing really happens, that to me is hard having to deal with it. The most enjoyable part would be Customer Service I enjoy helping my fellow guest even if its something simple as checking to see if we have a product in the back that wasn't out on the shelves to helping them with a checkout issue. I enjoy helping and letting that guest know that I am their for them.

There are some days that require strenuous work such as being on your feet, a lot of moving around but it does get the job done at the end of your shift. I love how busy I was and not just standing around, it requires a lot of movement and lifting. I like seeing customers with a smile on their faces with joy when I was able to help them. Hardest part of the job was inventory that had heavy lifting and being stuck in a cold freezer for an hour. Other than that, I can't really complain. 

I have learned a quite bit from working as a deli and bakery clerk. It takes a lot of practice and determination and once you are used to it, you need no help at all. 

Co workers can be friendly. But some of them like to stir drama. I was just a young 18 year old just wanted to do my job and stay away from it all but unfortunately there were a few of them trying to get you into trouble when I had nothing to do with it. Management was fine at first when I started working. For a few months or years working, their attitude started to change. One minute they are fine, next minute they take it out on you or write you up over the littlest mistake you did. 3 strikes and you're out. I had a manager who always sided up with one of the Co workers who worked their since the beginning of time, picking on another worker. Not very mature, especially if it's a manager. 

I would say overall it isn't a bad place to work at. I do miss my old job and if I lived in North Carolina, I would go back or find another store and work just as hard like I did back then.

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