Hannah Taplin /// Photo Essay

As the Slicer Spins

An inside look at the daily life of the Knapp Corner deli.

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The neon Meijer sign illuminates on the wet pavement in the early morning hours.

           The alarm goes off at 4:15 AM. Groggy and wishing for five more minutes of sleep, I fumble around in the dark for my uniform, name badge, and my first cup of coffee. The moon guides my path to the frosty, black Toyota Camry. Another day, another drive down Leffingwell over to Knapp, turning at the back drive of the dimly lit parking lot of Knapp’s Corner Meijer. I slip into the blue collared polo, put my Samsung Level earbuds in, and head inside.

           This morning does not change. It has been my routine for the past year and a half. Now, the store is still quiet, echoing the wheels of carts pushed by eager-to-leave third shifters, and the hum of floor polisher vibrating the soles of my New Balance shoes. 

One of the many wall decals in the Meijer deli; a reminder to both team members and to customers.

 The process is the same day to day, having them all blend together. I asked this question to my deli team members. Martha, a woman who mainly works at the salad bar counter and does the cold side markdowns on subs and Grab-and-Go meats, answered: “Nothing changes. It’s a routine. Nothing happens out of the ordinary here in the morning. Sometimes we have a bat or a weird customer, but most of the time we are typically able to go from one task to another with ease.” 

Martha spends many of her early mornings doing Grab and Go markdowns.

The main opening tasks on the cold side of the deli include:

1. Setting up and plugging in the slicers; if needed, they are sharpened and greased.
2. Restocking and cleaning olive bar, which sits directly across from the deli.
3. Setting up sub shop and refilling the items used before close the night before.
4. Making subs with pre-packaged items in order to put them out before lunchtime; it should be noted that each store has a standard of making at least 85 of these subs per week. 
5. Help the Starbucks next to the department with the tables and cheers if need be. 
6. Cutting Grab-and-Go’s for second shift, if not already done.

Her first day in three weeks, Christine, a longtime team member, is happy to be back to work. She was recently hospitalized with pneumonia and influenza

Christine spends many of her mornings setting up the olive bar, directly across from the deli counter.

Christine takes her time setting up the olive bar, particularly when there are more than a few to do.

Nadine, the deli order writer, does inventory on what she needs to put in for the Wednesday morning order.

The usual cold-side team includes Christine, Jean, and Dorothy, not to mention myself. These three ladies have more than ten years of deli experience between them. This job was always meant to be temporary, but when the economy took a toll on their lives, they were all forced to go back to work. Christine had retired shortly before the recession from more than thirty years in an office cubicle, Jean was a preschool teacher, and Dorothy was a stay-at-home mom who worked part-time at Taco Bell. Despite this, they all take pride in their work and generally enjoy their days spent in the deli.

Jean, who just returned from her paid vacation in Florida, shrugs. “It’s not brain surgery and time goes by faster when you don’t spend time complaining.”

We call our morning crew “Dream Team” since we work so well together and always find things to talk about, like local sports, politics, or music. Everyone coming from different backgrounds, we discuss our childhoods, even dark stuff.

Dorothy and I have even come up with a running joke. Every time someone brings up a childhood trauma, we go: “Beanbag and tea time!”

The other side of the deli – “hot-side” – is a whole other group of people whom we don’t cross paths with. It is a sixty-person department, often too busy to stop and make small talk. However, Adam, the team manager, spends most of his time over therapy helping the mostly understaffed hot-side with frying, pizza, and stocking. With him is his right-hand-man, Eric, who runs the deli when Adam and no other manager is in sight. 

Customers are always our priority and we do our very best to accommodate every request. Most of them are the kindest people, but every occasionally, one of us has to deal with a pain in the neck and entertains the rest of the team when they have left. We carry our stories past the four walls of the store and to our homes, often making it to dinner tables in between clattering plates.

Jean does not particularly care for setting up the sub shop, but she always does it with a smile on her face and roll of the eyes, as if to say: “Great. More veggies to cut!”

Eric and Adam lost in an early morning conversation as they return a cart to the front cart corral.

Dorothy follows safety procedure closely, as she cleans her slicer. The policy is every two hours, if not more when necessary.

Eric, an up and coming deli leader, spends many of his mornings kneading dough for the lunchtime pizzas.

The deli provides the perfect view for sunrises every morning, even though team members complain that it is blinding at times.

Jean returns from break, making sure to wash her hands and taking special precaution for her skin condition.

Maria, one of three cheese stewardesses, informs a customer about dessert cheeses.

Knapp Corner is currently fifth in the company for Grab and Go sales. It is usually first or second; a major drop in the winter months compared to the summer.

On our slower days and little to do, we often look at next week’s ad in preparation.

 

Adam, the head manager of the deli department, takes a smoke break.Many times, Adam does not have a chance to take full breaks due to the busy and demanding role he has. 

Christine informs her customer about options for ham, naming sale items and premium meats, such as True Goodness and Dietz & Watson