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The discovery that Rutherford County is “the place to be” continues. This past Tuesday witnessed yet another company that has come to our county. Save-A-Lot, a discount supermarket chain with approximately 1,250 stores in the United States, held its grand opening. The new store is located in the White Oaks Plaza in Spindale. The store occupies over 13,000 square feet. Most important, it creates 20 new jobs! Supervisor Mark Sykes referring to the new store proudly states: “I think it’s wonderful to be here. We’ll offer great food, great prices and great people. We are very impressed and already like Rutherford County. Save-A-Lot is your neighborhood grocery store. We offer discount prices every day, so you can bring home fresh foods at low prices.”
The attitude that occupies the entire store is very refreshing. It is all positive and dedicated to making sure the customer is accommodated. The store will be open Monday-Saturday 8am-9pm and 10am-8pm on Sunday. A nice welcoming touch to the daily operation is that there is always free coffee at the front door. It is there for customers to enjoy. As we talked to shoppers, the feedback was totally positive. Simply said, they liked the interior and the prices very much. During the grand opening throughout the store there were food samples offered in every department. At checkout, permanent carry out bags, free two liter bottles of Pepsi and free loaves of bread were offered. The prevailing message of the employees was “How may I help you?”
Save-A-Lot was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Earth City, Missouri. The route of the company’s growth strategy is its licensee relationship, in which Save-A-Lot acts as a wholesaler to its independent store owners as opposed to a franchisor. Everything in the operation is designed to save money so as to pass the savings on to the customer. A good example of this philosophy is that everything possible in store is offered in the original cartons which eliminates the necessity of stocking the shelves. The aisles are very wide and the store very clean.
The big plus is that the new store has created new jobs. When talking to Hope Roper, a new employee, concerning her job, “I didn’t think it would happen. I’m very happy to have a job. I love it here.” Hope has been out of work for three and a half years. The same feeling was echoed by another new employee, Christy Summers. She said she too was out of work and looking for a job when Save-A-Lot came and hired her. She is very happy and said “This company is awesome!” Every employee spoken to could not say enough good things about Save-A-Lot. They were happy to be there and repeatedly said it was the best company they have ever worked for. To them, it was more than a job, it was a place where they couldn’t wait to come to work.
The supervisor and district manager both repeated that they loved the attitude and work ethic of the people in Rutherford County. Yes, Rutherford County wants to get back to work and everyone is grateful for a job. Let us hope we will continue to be discovered by many more companies like Save-A-Lot.
