New uniform standards

[Racket_Man]

over the last year or so I have noticed that the local chain grocery stores have been upping their uniform standards as in making them more "office-y"

now the store my GF works at has change standards like 4 times in the last 6 years. the latest (starting about 3 months ago) consists of a white long sleeved button down "dress" shirt, long black tie (both sexes) semi-dress pants and semi-dress shoes. this "unifrom" applies to all workers even the cart gatherers.

the reasoning behind this is "so our customers have a pleasent shopping experience and our employees look 'professional' ".

today I went to another chain store in my area for some BBQ supplies (got the meat and and brats done before the heavy rains started) and saw a lot of the workers in nearly the same uniform again even the cart gatherers.

now these store are not really upper class stores. they are your ordinary everyday grocery stores. I kinda get the drift but what is next a suit coat for the butchers or backroom people?

has anyone else noticed this? maybe it is an upper Mid-west thing????

[Becks]

Nah. The ShopRite I worked at had the same dress code.

White shirts do NOT belong in a grocery store!!!!

[dragon_wings]

White shirts do NOT belong in a grocery store!!!!

QFT!
<filler>

[senor boogie woogie]

Working in a supermarket is hard work. This was my first job and I decided at 17 never to work in a supermarket, even as a manager (who can make decent money). One needs to wear clothing that is durable. There is a lot of lifting, cleaning, watering, not to mention being out in a black top parking lot picking up carts.

If I was a CEO, this would be my dress code:

Senior Managers in the office would be the only ones who have to wear a tie with the long sleeve shirt.

Most of the staff on the floor would wear the following:

A polo shirt with the company emblem on it in the warmer months, and a white shirt with a button down collar in the winter months. NO TIES. Also NO DRESS SHOES for anyone except the manager. I would authorize plain black sneakers with black shoestrings. The reason for sneakers over dress shoes is that there are a lot of wet and slippery surfaces in the back and there can be a lot of accidents. Backs of supermarkets are kind of gross anyway, with old parcels, boxes and garbage. When I worked in that supermarket, a lot of us wore aprons. I like the aprons actually. It protected your clothing from filth and there were extra pockets.

When I was in high school working for that supermarket, a classmate from my high school came in one day looking for a job. He was an acquaintance, and knew him to be a very nice, humble, polite person who would of made an excellent worker. But the guy was wearing blue jeans to apply. It did not matter that the pants were clean, pressed and dark, they were still jeans. He wore a nice, long sleeve button down shirt........but with no tie.

I know this because the assistant manager told me this, and expressly said that his application was rejected for wearing jeans, even thought that is what we wore on duty. It's a respect thing, and it is asinine. It is also asinine to make any employee but management wear ties.

[fireheart]

Here's my store's current uniform:

Girls:
-Company shirt in either long, 3/4 or short-sleeved in 3 different patterns.
-Black business skirt or business slacks.
-Tan or black stockings if you're wearing a skirt (several people however, have been wearing tan stockings and have copped flak for supposedly NOT wearing stockings)
-Black socks if you're wearing pants (nobody cares what colour socks )
-Black work-safe shoes (enclosed heel and toe)

Boys:
-Company shirt in long or short sleeved variations in 3 different colours.
-Black leather belt.
-Black business slacks.
-Black socks (again, nobody cares)
-Black business shoes.

Both departments can wear a jumper, vest or cardigan for when it's cold, but it has to be black.

Guys shirts generally need to be tucked in.

Hair needs to be off the face or tied back if at a certain length.

If you work in fruit/veg, bakery, deli or seafood departments, you wear an apron and either a cap or beret depending on department, as well as safety boots when necessary (usually cleaning). Meat employees wear a white polo shirt over their work shirts, an apron and then wear the boots where necessary.
The bakers wear all white.

If you're in nightfill or grocery, you can get away with wearing the company polo shirt. Everyone else has to wear the standard business shirt.

The OLD uniform however, consisted of pretty much what was described above, but both sexes had to wear WHITE shirts and a tie (boys) or a scarf (girls). Nightfillers had polo shirts but could get away with polo shirts in the company colours.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

White shirts do NOT belong in a grocery store!!!!

White shirts do not belong in any retail environment.

They'll stay white for approximately six seconds. By that time you're either sweating from the lack of A/C or lifting boxes and getting dirty.

Also, nobody decides where to shop based on how "professional" the employee uniforms are. If they did, Walmart would have no business.

[Aisling]

The uniform for the local, family-owned chain of grocery stores my Sweetie works at is, for men, pretty much that: button-down white shirt (long or short sleeve), tie (any color), black or dark blue pants, black shoes. Women can wear white sweaters/knit shirts instead of a blouse, and don't wear a tie. I think the uniform's been pretty much the same for decades though.

[DerangedHermit]

At least they don't have to wear yellow or purple.

[Becks]

Oh, how I loathed wearing white shirts during my two stints at grocery stores.

At least at SR we got the shirts (and ties, aprons, hats {as needed} and nametags) for free, and replacements as needed.

At the hell hole that I worked at most recently, they only supplied the hats and aprons, and if you lost them and/or your name tag, you had to pay for replacements.

[mattm04]

At least they don't have to wear yellow or purple.

The only thing good about the purple is it doesn't show dirt as much. However, the purple shirts (dept. managers) are the lest likely to get dirty.

Another supermarket chain in my area has their employees wear white dress shirts with a tie, khaki or black dress pants and a vest with name tag and embroidered logo on it for the people stocking dry goods, cashiers and car collectors. Employees who work inn the meat, bakery, deli, etc wear different uniforms., Every time I am in said store or store whit similar dress codes, you can tell who just started and who has been working for a while, but the amount of dirt on the once white shirt.

[Muses_nightmare]

Not just retail, but when I was dealing at the casino, we wore white tux shirts. And yes, while it's not quite the same amount of messy that comes with working in retail or a grocery store, the cuffs of the shirts were nearly black at the end of every shift from the table. Seriously, when you've been on the table for 45 min and then get your break, your hands are black. It's just gross. I heard somewhere that casino chips are dirtier than money, don't know if that's true though. It was nearly impossible to keep those shirts white.

The other places I worked weren't so bad, Zellers it was a grey and red polo type of shirt and black pants & shoes, and the gas station was a long-sleeved denim shirt and black pants and shoes. Though in the summer the denim was just awful. The shoe store I worked at we had to be dressy, which kind of sucked when you got stuck in the stock room shifting product around. Yeah, heels and ladders are really no fun.

[Indigo]

My uniform can be: pants (at least knee length and no holes/stains), skirts (once again at least knee length and no holes/stains), a shirt/blouse (no holes/stains). Shirts have to be at least short sleeve - sleeveless is allowed if they have a collar. No questionable slogans or graphics allowed. Shoes must have a back strap (no flip-flops) and if you're scheduled for stocking they must be close-toed.

Add the store vest and voila - you're done. It also helps that I work in a camping equipment store so we're expected to get dirty.

[Andara Bledin]

I heard somewhere that casino chips are dirtier than money, don't know if that's true though. It was nearly impossible to keep those shirts white.

I'm sure the chips and cards are probably pretty nasty, but can you imagine what lurks in the felt? There's no way that stuff could not be gross.

^-.-^

[Sapphire Silk]

White shirts do not belong in any retail environment.

They'll stay white for approximately six seconds. By that time you're either sweating from the lack of A/C or lifting boxes and getting dirty.

The same could be said for nursing A lot of nurses wear other color scrubs for that very reason. My students have to wear white, and they hate it because it is so hard to keep the uniforms clean.

Unfortunately, the public has an expectation of nurses to wear white. Hospitals used to give us a lot of leeway as long as our uniforms were neat and clean, but patients complain that they can't tell the nurses from the cleaning staff (which is actually a legit complaint). So the push is back to white uniforms for the nurses, or a single color usually blue, and everyone else wears a solid color dedicated to their department.

But back to the OP: that directive is probably the brainchild of some new exec trying to look like he's doing something.

[dalesys]

When I worked at Penguin Town, Wyoming fueling trucks our uniforms were white with red piping. Try washing windshields, checking & topping off oil, airing tires and pumping diesel. We learned to pour a can of Coke™ into each load of washing.