Specialty Food Magazine

Matt Caputo, CEO, Caputo's Market & Deli During most of the year, the majority of our crew work around 30 hours per week by choice and we are really flexible with their schedules in general. Payback for this flexibility comes during our annual health insurance and benefits meeting. We put a big calendar on the wall listing all the shifts we need filled in November and December. During the meeting we remind everyone that we expect them to step up their hours significantly during the holiday craziness. Before the meeting is dismissed, we ask them to sign up for as many shifts as possible on the spot. I always break the seal by putting myself on the calendar first on all the peak days. We get about 75 percent of the shifts we need covered this way. The rest are filled by a mix of old employees who have returned to visit family for the holidays and administrative staff who are almost entirely ex-cheesemongers themselves. Promoting from within has all sorts of benefits. Joe Caradonna, CEO, Caviar & Bananas In our world, it's all hands on deck every day. Being tucked in between the world-renowned shopping district on Charleston's King St., coupled with the historical College of Charleston, we are very busy during holiday seasons. Our business is well known for specialty retail "gifty" items, which people love as stocking stuffers and interesting Christmas gifts. Furthermore, we are celebrated for our gift baskets. Normally, we see hundreds of advance orders to be shipped around the country throughout the season. It's wild. Needless to say, these projects always require extra staff to do things like packing crinkle paper and tying ribbons for hours on end. The months of November and December are circled in red on my calendar so that we're prepared in every way. Whether we will be able to hire new staff to help … that will be the million-dollar question. I've spent a fortune on recruitment ads and gotten zero response so it could be difficult this year. Kate Kirkpatrick, director of communications, Aldi U.S As a company, we've been growing quickly—we're in the process of opening about 100 stores this year—and these new employees will help support our continued cross-country growth and help us prepare for the busy holiday season. We are kicking off our hiring efforts with our first-ever National Hiring Week from September 20-24, when each store and warehouse will hold hiring events to fill available positions via in-person and virtual interviews. Like most retailers, we expect a significant uptick in shopping traffic during the holiday season, so this effort will allow us to ensure all our stores and warehouses are equipped to provide the best shopping experience for our customers. We're confident our award-winning offerings like compensation and benefits will help us bring in top talent and we repeatedly hear from employees that their favorite part about working at Aldi is the people. We look forward to welcoming new team members and showing them what being part of the Aldi family is all about. Greg Sarley, SVP of merchandising, Harry & David Across our 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. gourmet food and gifting brands, including Harry & David, Cheryl's Cookies, and The Popcorn Factory, we're hiring approximately 10,000 seasonal associates as we prepare for the busy holiday season. About 4,500 of those hires will work at Harry & David in Medford, Oregon and at our Hebron, Ohio distribution center; and approximately another 1,200 of these roles will be remote contact center positions. To seamlessly handle the influx of holiday shoppers, we are expanding our workforce to ensure we deliver an excellent experience for both customers and gift recipients. We have a wide variety of positions available in key areas such as production, gift assembly, and distribution. As we look to attract highly motivated seasonal workers, we're offering flexible schedules and a robust incentive program featuring employee discounts, bonuses, and product giveaways. With these initiatives and our commitment to fostering a diverse, inclusive workplace, we provide a welcoming, safe, and fun environment where all our team members feel respected, valued, and empowered. Each year, our seasonal associates play a crucial role in helping us deliver holiday smiles and we look forward to their fresh and unique perspectives and many contributions. 36 SPECIALTY FOOD SPECIALTYFOOD.COM RETAIL THERAPY Q: What is your holiday staffing strategy? Arielle Feger is a content associate for Specialty Food.

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