The Truck Finale

You want me to come in when?

My third and final day at store 3512 started before the sun rose at 5:45 am. With a fog advisory active this morning, there was a heavy feeling in the air. Foreshadowing to the amount of lifting I'd be doing later perhaps?

Store Manager Rachel had (jokingly?!) told me she’d be in at 3:45 and I could come in then. I literally don’t even think that time exists. But lucky for me, the truck was due to arrive at 5:45 and I told her that I could do.

A special guest

First, let me start off by asking who do you think came and saw me at the store today? It was my dad and stepmom. Not sure if he caught wind that I was… ahem… disappointed that neither of my parents had come to see me, but he answered the call and of course had to stop for a (quick!) photo op and tour of what truck day looked like. It was fun giving them a glimpse into the store just like I was getting.

The slide

Did you ever go down those long metal slides when you were a kid? You know the ones that burn your bum and you can get some real speed going on? That’s what the truck slide is like. Imagine a case of Monster barreling down on you, and you only have a split second to catch it. I did that 945 times today. We did it so many times, I thought a quick video was in order:

Are we unloaded yet?

After about 2 1/2 ?hours of sliding boxes and cases of drinks, we finally had the truck unloaded. Rachel had told me this was the largest truck this store had ever received. She said the two people that usually unloaded it were done around noon. It was my mission to beat that, because we had 3 including me today. Time would tell if we’d make this goal.

Do you want to see just how much we unloaded? If you were in the store this morning, you saw the stacks, but in case you weren’t, this is how packed the store was:

I workout

For funzies, I thought I’d track the first part of the unloading process, where we were schlepping boxes too and fro on my Apple watch. My results weren’t bad.

I maaaaay have underestimated my abilities to clear totes

After a quick break for an apple fritter and helping some guests at the register, the unloading team split up to clear the floor of our shipment. Jen and Becky took to the coolers to stock the drinks, and I started unloading the totes.

We did break briefly to set up the freezer case. Using the planogram, we set up what was received in our order today. Not too shabby!

To say I underestimated how long it would take to get the truck put away is an understatement. After all, Rachel had said the team of two are usually done by noon. Alas, with 3 of working, it took until after 3 to get everything put away and our mess cleaned up. But we did it, and Jen and I were pretty proud of the work we did to get the store stocked and ready to go!

Time for lunch!

Anyone who knows me, knows I eat lunch early. Like 11. But today I took a late lunch so we could get the job done. I treated myself to two of my favorites, Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza and Potato Cheese Bites. I was so hungry I almost forgot to snap a photo.

A heartfelt thank you

While I was scarfing my face, I noticed a board hanging up right outside the office. It had notes from team members to other team members thanking them for being “Here for Good”. I knew I needed to thank this wonderful team for allowing me the privilege of disrupting their work for 3 days. I truly appreciate everyone in the store for welcoming me into the fold. I feel like one of the family now.

The day is through, right?!

Casey’s isn’t my only job. On Thursday nights, I also teach cycling at the YMCA in Indianola. So after a quick costume change, I headed over to the YMCA, which happens to be across the street from the Trail Ridge Casey’s. We have a great view of the store from the cycling studio. Someday, I am going to get everyone at the store with a membership into one of my classes!

Every great story has to come to an end… or does it?

Lucky for me, I had the opportunity to do my immersion at my favorite store. While I already knew some of the team members, I’ve been able to connect deeper to those I worked with the last three days.

This week was a first step into what I hope is a long relationship of listening to what’s going on in stores and getting feedback on how we can use digital tools to make their lives easier. The work will never end, but that’s okay when you are having fun.

Have you read about Day 1 and Day 2?

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