Dia De Los Muertos: This Mexican holiday — the Day of the Dead — typically coincides with Halloween and is celebrated over several days beyond, allowing for a respectful, sometimes humorous homage to those who have died. It’s a big tradition, especially in the U.S. Southwest, as I discovered while traveling regularly in Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California.
I was thinking about this, and especially the term “graveyard shift,” seeing all the mock tombstones about. The overnight “graveyard shift” term originated in the late 1800s — so called due to these hours being often quiet and deserted, resembling the stillness of a graveyard, according to a search on grammar-monster.com. (No pun intended).
Are overnight graveyard shifts common in the produce aisle? No, but taking a page from the grocery handbook, there’s a place for overnight shifts, and with them, many benefits.
I once supervised a busy but equally challenging store. The backroom receiving area was compact and shared by all the store’s departments. There was constant congestion and no organization. So, when the produce delivery arrived, pallets were parked everywhere, access to most everything was blocked and clerks were compelled to pull needs from any pallet they could reach.
Meanwhile, produce stock in general became aged or damaged and the cold chain neglected. While the store had strong sales, the gross profit was low and shrink was high. Something had to give.
The solution was a produce graveyard shift.
At first the store manager resisted, only because his background was from a much smaller-volume operation, and he couldn’t envision how an overnight shift could help. I persisted, however, and changed the produce deliveries so these arrived at 10 p.m. (store closing time) with scheduled graveyard shifts to match. I worked the first set of deliveries to train a couple of clerks.
Since produce is such a bulky business, it was counterproductive to work the load in the compact backroom area. So, after closing time, we staged most of the pallets on the sales floor aisle to begin. Then, one pallet at a time, we pulled the load into the back room and cooler, rotating the produce and arranging and separating everything in neat stacks so that the day shift crew that followed the following morning could easily identify their needs and easily access everything — all in a safe, clean and organized manner.
The result? Morale rose as the crew no longer had to fight the congestion, shrink returned to an acceptable level and sales increased.
However, the benefits didn’t stop there. Once an overnight team gets used to the process, they find they have ample time left over. They cleaned, built displays, made price changes and did a dozen other chores, as time allowed, delegated by the produce manager.
Even if a store doesn’t need to break down trailer loads of fresh produce overnight, a graveyard shift can be of help.
Take the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays for example. In many stores I managed and supervised, even having a temporary graveyard shift or two during these peak sales days can make a big difference.
Imagine having an overnight shift or two that does much of the prep work for an upcoming, busy day: trimming, crisping leafy greens, building displays, rotating product, setting the wet rack, setting up lobby displays — all the chores that take up so much time and space otherwise — so that the day crew can devote their entire shifts to maintaining standards and stock levels on the sales floor.
Nothing impacts the holiday season than a prepared, organized produce department.
It may take a little extra labor, certainly requiring a willing volunteer or two who are up for the challenge, but this generally avoids spending overtime labor dollars in the process. An overnight shift or two helps grease the way for increased productivity, capturing otherwise lost sales, less shrink and a stronger gross-profit margin.
The graveyard shift can work wonders. I’ve done it myself many a night. Certainly, I didn’t want to get stuck doing it for extended periods, but I have to say, it works rather well.
Armand Lobato’s more than 50 years of experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions. He has written a weekly retail column for nearly two decades.
