Mentor blog #5

On Thursday morning I returned to the market. Every thursday morning at 8:00 a delivery truck comes to drop off chips, ice cream and cheese only if it is needed. We we very short on chips and ice cream not so much on cheese. Once everything is unloaded Ghaidan gave a check to the delivery man because they only except checks, the amount depends on how much merchandise we need. After I put the chips an ice cream where they belong,I realized that one of the cheeses that was delivered was expired I quickly notified Ghaidan and he told to call the company and tell them that the cheese that was delivered this morning was expired and we need new cheese asap.  Two hours later the delivery man came back and gave us new cheese and took back the expired one. Volunteering to help at Uptown market has really helped me be more open to talk to people. I usually don't like making any calls or talk to random people but i've slowly get go of my shyness.  I began to work behind the counter, I would say it was one of the annoying positions. I would constantly deal with rude customers but I learned to be patient and talk to them in calmly manner so I wont aggravate them more. The store is located in what people might call " the ghetto" rude/ crazy customers were things employees were use to.  I learned that Safety is very important when you have your own store you want to make sure that you, the empolyees and customers are safe. Cameras are located around the store in case of any incident, being behind the counter I am able to see everything going on around the store.

Time logged for this session: 4 hours
Total time logged: 16 hours

Mentor blog #4

On our fourth meeting I spent a bit more time at the market, before I made the list of what merchandise was needed my mentor explained that maintenance is very important. So we began our day by cleaning the fridge and making sure the all the products were organized. We sweep the floors and cleaned the windows making the store look nice and clean. I then made a list of the products that were needed, there was not a big increase on cigarettes like there usually is.I encountered a problem of writing it down on the list because I knew cigarettes at this market sell very quickly but didn't want to risk buying more and lose profit instead of gaining.Ghaidan said we were better off leaving the cigarettes off the list but it is always important to me good educated guesses.We then headed to the warehouse and bought all the supplies that was needed. Once we got back to the store I found it difficult to unload some boxes from the van. We organized everything on the shelves and stayed at the store for an hour or so just monitoring the employees. He explained that It is very important that your employees get the feel that your always around because you dont ever want them slacking off or doing something there not suppose to. At the end of the day Ghaidan counted the money from the register, reset it to its neutral amount again.

 Time logged for this session: 4 hours
Total time logged: 12 hours

Mentor blog #3

On our third meeting I returned to the market, Ghaidan explained I was going to make a list of supplies that is needed for the store by myself and then go to the warehouse as well. He will be there to help me if I had any questions but I was going to do what he does every other day for the store. I was a bit nervous but I started by looking around to see what was needed and noticed a increase in Coca-Cola, milk, juice and cigarettes. Once I was done he made sure that everything I wrote was correct and then we headed to the warehouse. When we arrived I picked out everything we needed, he obviously paid. Just like the other day we took everything back to the market, I asked one of the employees to help unload the van and continued by organizing everything where they belong.  My mentor then counted the money from the register and reset it to its neutral amount again. Overall I enjoyed doing everything by myself except handling the money. Although Ghaidan was with me, I felt alone and got a feel of what he does by himself every week.

Time logged for this session: 3 hours
Total time logged: 8 hours

Mentor Blog #2

Today I returned to my mentors market,  he explained to me how every other day or two he looks around the store and makes a list of merchandise that is needed. So we began our day by writing down the goods that were out of stock or low in stock, for example  Sprite, Arizona, low fat milk, juice, and water. We then went to a warehouse named Pitco Wholesale in Brisbane which is kind of like Cosco, everything is sold in big packages. We went around the warehouse getting everything that was on the list after 40min or so headed back to the market. On our way to the store we faced a lot of traffic which was a big problem because we wanted to get the merchandise back to the market quickly. When we arrived my mentor, Ghaidan and I  unloaded the merchandise off the van into the market. This was also a huge problem because there isnt enough employees and it was just us taking heavy boxes into the storage room which was very tiring. Once everything was in, we cleaned the shelves and fridge makinf sure everything looked nice and clean. We organized the products in the fridge or wherever they were located from old to new in the back. After that was done he counted all the money in the register and reset it to its neutral amount again and we went to the bank to deposit the extra money that was made during the day.

Time logged for this session: 3 hours
Total time logged: 5 hours