Shawn and Adam work together to stock the shelves and store back-stock at Cash & Carry.

The day started in the early morning, before traffic began, with snow still scattered across the ground. The parking lot was full of customers, loading their vehicles with piles of products. I stepped out of my car and took a long, cold breath bracing myself for the new adventure. This was no normal day in the office for me.

Walking up to the store I could see the trolleys lined up against one side of the building, and empty boxes stacked up on the other. I entered to a busy store but was still greeted by the closest cashier. I searched for Adam and found him sipping on coffee looking over a pallet full of boxes. Adam greeted me with a bright smile and we started the tour. He walked me around the back to a long and wide aisle, where the store kept the back stock of products. On the other side were the recycling and compactor as well as more back stock. Adam continued with the tour and we walked through the aisles that Houston’s stocked.

As we finished the tour we came back to the pallet of boxes. This pallet, as he explained, was referred to as a stack. Adam then briefly explained how our merchandisers work to develop relationships with each of the stores. In this instance Shawn, the merchandiser for this store, has built such a great relationship with the staff that they are willing to place the stacks within the store so he does not have to go back and forth to retrieve product. We proceeded to unpack the stack. Adam made a quick strategy so no time is wasted. Many of the merchandisers know their stores inside and out, which helps them make quick sorting decisions. The trolley was loaded perfectly, almost like Tetris, and we began taking product down aisles. While working on stocking a shelf we were also facing out other products that Houston’s stocks, making the product look presentable and accessible.

Challenger Glass is professionally merchandised by Houston’s at Cash & Carry.

The biggest aisle that we worked was the flavored syrup aisle. This is where I learned that our merchandisers do so much more than stock shelves. They must track the sales of the flavors and order accordingly, but this can be a real challenge. One day you can sell out of a Torani flavor and you will order up, but then it will not sell for a month. Not only can this cause the store to have extra inventory, but also it takes up space for products that are moving consistently. While we were stocking the bottles we had many customers come up and ask about different flavors. While I worked with him, Shawn was approached by a customer that who asked about product availability. It was a great experience to see that he had built such great rapport with these customers. As a trio, we were able to finish the flavored syrup aisle in half the time that would normally take. At this point I was somewhat exhausted, because the Torani and Monin cases are heavy.

Once everything was stocked, we came back to where we met and Adam explained another important step. The packing list, the form that came with the stacks, is looked over to ensure that everything came in and there were no discrepancies. The packing list includes each item ordered as well as the quantity. If something were missing then the merchandiser would have to investigate why it did not ship or where the product was. As Adam read the packing list to me, I checked off items. Luckily we were not any missing items.

The main thing I took away from this experience is that our Merchandisers wear many hats on a daily basis. They go into Cash & Carry representing Houston’s, but while on the floor they are also represent the store they are at. In one day, they fill the role of receiving, customer service, purchasing, sales and inventory control. Next time you are at Cash & Carry and happen to run into a merchandiser, let them know they are doing a fine job.

By Evan Castaneda, Inside Sales Rep

The post An Inside [Sales] Look Into Merchandising appeared first on Houston's Blog.

The Merchandising Division began in 1984 as a direct result of Relationship Selling. Greg Dann, who was the only outside sales person for Houston’s, was visiting a local Cash and Carry and asked both the Manager and Assistant Manager why a pallet of kitchen items had not been put on the shelves. Both said that they did not have the time and labor to get to it very often.

Relationship selling refers to the sales technique that focuses on the interaction between the buyer and the salesperson rather than the price or details of the product. 

Greg talked in depth with them about that part of their business since Houston’s was not stocking any kitchen items at that time. A deal was struck that if Houston’s put the product on the shelves on a weekly basis we would gain not only the kitchen items but also add the janitorial, bar supplies, paper napkins and straw business.

Thus was the beginning of the Merchandising program.

Merchandising set at a Cash & Carry store in Springfield, Oregon (Image: Geoff Dann)

The URM Cash & Carry business came along a number of years later. A former Manager of a United Grocers store took the job as the URM Cash and Carry Division Manager. This covered all five stores that existed at that time. His previous relationship with Houston’s in the United Grocer’s Cash and Carry showed him what his stores could look like so he moved all of his business to Houston’s. A few years later they added one more store.

People buy from people they like.

The term Cash and Carry now applies to multiple customer groups. Cash and Carry stores are generally warehouse grocery stores geared toward supplying food service operators like restaurants, schools, and churches. It’s also open to the public and similar to Costco but without membership requirements.

Merchandising Division Manager, Bob Baldwin (Image: Andy Rubio)

Houston’s provides on-site employees to perform services such as store set-ups, place orders, stock product, and schedule returns. Product offerings vary depending on the customer and where they are located.

Bob Baldwin, Division Manager, has been with the Merchandising division since he started in April of 1993. His 24 years of service has seen the division grow from a handful of stores to locations in 11 states.

Bob notes that “As a whole, the merchandisers take pride in what we do. There have been merchandisers around for 10+ years. That says a lot for the program and a lot for the company.”

This last year brought changes to the division’s leadership with Geoff Dann stepping in as Director of Merchandising. Geoff is a 17 year veteran of Houston’s and brings with him the knowledge and experience of being out in the field and established business relationships with many of the customers.

“Everything is open to brand new development. There is always something evolving and when it does, it changes quickly”, per Geoff. In his new role, Geoff’s primary goal is to create a clean line of communication with his staff while setting protocols and developing monthly projects.

The division that initially started with 5 employees has grown to 6 territory managers, 3 leads, and 27 full/part-time merchandisers that cover a variety of Cash & Carry stores across the country.

An End Aisle Display in one of the many Houston’s Merchandising Accounts. (Image: Andy Rubio

Merchandising positions are intermittently available and the management team is always looking for hard-working, reliable staff. Check out Houston’s website to see if there is an open position available near you!

Acknowledgements go out to Greg Dann, Senior Vice President of Merchandising, for his input and history of the Merchandising program.

This article is the first in a grass roots series by Melissa Anderson that will highlight a department or division within Houston’s and HTrans. Each department plays a significant role in the success of Houston’s. Through these articles you will be introduced to who we are and what we do.

The post Our Roots: Merchandising appeared first on Houston's Blog.