admin
What began as a high school job of sacking groceries has turned into a lifelong career for Jerry James.
For 25 years, he’s worked at Snyder’s Supermarket and served as manager for 16 of those years. In 2004, he added store owner to his title.
“It was always a dream being in the grocery store business to be the store owner,” James said. “I’ve just always wanted to have my own business, my own store and to treat my employees the way I was treated over the years.”
This May, Snyder’s Supermarket will celebrate 40 years of serving Northeast.
“There’s not too many (grocery stores) around that can say they’ve been in the same spot for 40 years,” he said.
When Snyder’s opened at 2620 Independence Ave., Bill Snyder owned the store and was one of the first in the area to offer check cashing and money orders, James said.
“It’s a good store,” James said. “Mr. Snyder was an excellent person to work with.”
Over the years, the store has seen several changes. James still remembers when UPC codes didn’t exist and cashiers had to type in the price of each item when checking out customers. Scanners have also improved and the store utilizes the Internet for communication, he said.
“It still boils down to basic service. Without our customers, we’re all out of the job,” James said. “We’re all about keeping our customers real loyal and treating them with lots of respect.”
As James continues to thrive in the grocery store industry, he’s passing down his knowledge to his three children, Jamie, Jennelle and Jason. All three currently work at the store and have done so since a young age. Jennelle still remembers standing on a milk crate to reach the cash register and Jamie recalls always having excellent meat at home from the meat department.
“They put in a lot of sweat equity here,” James said.
A number of employees have worked in the store for 10 to 20 years and last summer, the store finally lost its longest standing employee – J.R., who worked at the store for 37 years.
For cashier Christine Spencer, the store is like a second family.
“He’s (James) like a father figure to me and his daughters are like sisters. We’re really close,” said Spencer, who’s worked at the store for 12 years. “I can always come to him or his daughters if I need something or if I’m upset. He treats us all like family. He really does.”
Asked to describe some of the highlights of the store, James said the store continues to offer check cashing, money orders and money grams.
In addition, there’s a newly added dollar section and the meat department offers beef ground daily and fresh, never frozen, fryers.
Customers can also request certain cuts. James listens to customer’s needs and as a result, has begun offering chicken feet.
“If they want something and we don’t have it, we’ll do our hardest to get it,” he said. “It still boils down to having a good product and selling service first.”
-
