>> Maura Harvie: A lot of my customers have become like my friends and my family.
>> Granny Del: Well I just love the people.
I just love to be with people and see people, and just like to work here.
>> Susan Jones: Mitchell is a great place to work.
It’s in my hometown, I’ve worked here for 25 years, it’s a great family owned
business and I enjoy coming to work every day
>> Tina Walker: I’ve lived a lot of different places, and Albertville is my favorite place
that I have ever lived.
>> VO: Since 1945, Mitchell Grocery has been headquartered in Albertville, Alabama, where
it plays a big role in the economic vitality and the close knit community.
It has grown to become one of Alabama's largest employers.
Three generations of Mitchells have led the companies continuous growth, as well as it's
expansion into five southeastern states, since its humble beginnings in two downtown Albertville
storefronts.
>> Jack Mitchell, CEO: There were not really any supermarkets in this part of the country
at that time, so the business was done with general stores out in the rural areas.
And so we sold some groceries, probably half of the business was livestock feed to these
country stores.
>> David Mitchell, President: So I started working when I was 12, worked summers, afternoons,
after school, and then after I finished college I went to work full-time in 1984.
>> Jack M: My sons came into the business at a young age, pretty much like I did, working
in the company and trying to learn all jobs.
>> Jay Mitchell, Vice President of Retail Operations: When I was five we opened Albertville
Food Land store, and I pestered dad and worried him about wanting to be up there and be a
part of it.
Until he finally had the linen company make me an apron like the stock crew wore and they
let me follow them around and pick the boxes up and act like I was working and for compensation
I got to sneak in the deli and get a free coca-cola so you know, for a five year old
that's a pretty good deal.
>> DM: It was a fun place to play.
I had some cousins, and we would climb on the bales of flour and climb on the racks,
and do things we wouldn’t allow them to be done these days.
My son Jackson has been working in the retail stores, he’s doing some things at the warehouse
this summer.
>> VO: From its roots as a small town and rural wholesale grocery supplier, today Mitchell
stocks, sells and distributes 25,000 distinct products that range from fresh produce to
meat, dairy, bread and frozen goods.
Mitchell Grocery Corporation services approximately 200 stores through its wholesale division,
which employs 550 people.
Its retail division began in the 1980s and has been expanding ever since.
>> Jay M: Currently we operate retail stores within about a 100 mile radius of here, and
we employ around 1500 people in those retail stores.
>> Kirk Clark, Advertising Director: Our company operates supermarkets under the name of Food
Land, Food Land Plus, Warehouse Discount Grocery, Food Giant, and Super Dollar.
>> Jay M: In a week's time there's over a million people who are shopping our stores
and our customers stores.
>> KC: Customer experience is paramount in anything that we do.
Not only are we in the grocery business, but we’re in the people business as well.
>> Pat Gillihan: Food Land is a great place to shop, I really enjoy their assortment of
vegetables and fruits, and the price.
With the grandkids and great grandkids that’s what everybody needs is good prices as you
can find and I found that at Food Land.
Oh, they’re always friendly, always willing to help, they take you to whatever you are
trying to find and get it for you.
To an old woman that means a lot.
>> George Wells: I’m a lifelong resident of Albertville, and I have been a customer
of this organization for as long as it’s been in existence.
I like shopping at Food Land because the people here.
Very, very friendly people, they look after you.
And then the other thing is, there’s no telling who you’re gonna see that you haven’t
seen in 30 years when you come in here.
>> KC: Part of our culture in every one of our stores, is when someone comes to work
with our company, that it is instilled into them the importance of customer service, customer
satisfaction.
Not only in the store, but all the way to their car.
It’s our intention to make sure that each and every customer is completely satisfied.
And that sets us apart from other stores.
Because we react to our customers’ needs, in a timely fashion so that they won’t have
to go anywhere else to shop.
We still offer fresh, quality produce, just like you would find in a farmer’s market.
We still cut meats in each and every one of our stores daily.
And we welcome those requests from our customers.
It gives us the opportunity to serve them even better.
>> Tammy Hix: Oh, when I come I love to get the specialty salads they have, they make
all of those fresh like every day.
They have that rotisserie turkey salad that my husband loves to make sandwiches with,
and they have an awesome jalepeno bread, their breads and cookies they all make fresh, They‘re
just absolutely wonderful.
>> KC: A good strong independent grocer truly has an advantage today over the competition
by offering the simple things.
>> Jay M: I think as independents we're able to have a closer relationship with our consumers.
We're able to know them a little bit better.
We're in a position that we can tailor our individual stores more to the neighborhood
that they're serving, and have store managers that are part of the community, live in the
community, and you know, support the local charities and local schools.
>> VO : The closer relationship with customers and community extends to employees as well.
At Mitchell, the average number of years worked per employee exceeds 20.
Some have worked here close to 40 years and many have been promoted from entry-level to
managerial positions.
>> KC: Whether you work for the Food Lands, or the Food Giants, or the JMBL company, Warehouse
Discount Grocery, Super Dollar, we’re all part of the Mitchell family.
>> Jay M :I think the family atmosphere over all is a very big plus to working here.
we’ve had kind of a running joke around the company for a long time that either you
leave in a year or you stay for twenty, there’s not a lot of middle ground.
Most of the people who fit, fit long term.
>> Gary Dean, Store Manager: Mitchell Retail is a super company to work for.
They’re just good, down-to-earth people.
>> Jay M: we look for people with a high degree of personal responsibility, and we give them
a high degree of autonomy to handle their area of the business in the way they see fit.
>> GD: They don’t micromanage, they empower you to run their store, and as long as you
run a good operation, clean inviting store, you’ll have a job as long as you want it.
>> Jack M: We’ve had a lot of people that have been able to move up in their career,
and take more responsibility.
The majority of our people are homegrown, they came up in the company.
>> VO: Family legacies go beyond the Mitchell family here: Kirk Clark is making a career
here like his father before him and worked his way up from store management to marketing
and advertising for the company.
>> KC: The opportunity that was presented to me, is the same opportunity that’s available
to anyone.
>> DM: One of the things we try to do is encourage our leadership to be involved in professional
groups like the National Grocer’s Association, or the Alabama Grocer’s Association, And
we financially support that, and give them the time to do that.
The independent retailer is sort of like the bedrock of the community.
And so we support our management in those stores, and our leadership in this company,
to get invested back in the community, to give something back.
>> Jeannie Lyle, Executive Director, United Way of Marshall County: United Way of Marshall
County presented Mitchell Grocery with the star award this year for outstanding campaign
participation.
They have an excellent campaign, they volunteer without reserve for any and everything that
we have in the community.
They provide not only manpower but food, and just support to the United Way and our many
agencies to help folks in need.
>> Jack M: I’m proud of our employees for a lot of reasons, but one of the main things
that we try to instill in them is teamwork.
Go the extra mile and do the job right the first time.
>> KC: Our leadership in this company provide clear, distinct examples of the culture to
follow, and it’s very simple.
Number 1, take care of the customer, number 2, do the right thing.
>> VO: Sticking to its long held principles of putting customers first, and doing the
right thing, has helped Mitchell to grow over the years.
And the company plans further steady growth in community retail stores.
Mitchell is always looking for new team members to share its growth and vision of providing
real value for their customers and real opportunities for team members.
>> Jay M: When I think about the people we need to hire, we want people with drive, we
want people with ambition, we want people who enjoy retail, enjoy dealing with people
and have a commitment toward the company.
>> GD: When we’re hiring new cashiers or any individual in a store, what we look for
is somebody that smiles, good personality, outgoing with customers, and you can pick
up on that in an interview, if they’re what you need in the grocery business.
>> Granny Del: you gotta be on time, you gotta do your work that you’re assigned to, and
not try to do everybody else’s job,
>> Jay M: The impression we leave with our customer is very important, so we expect all
of our employees to be clean cut and well-groomed and present themselves in a professional manner.
I think one of the key advantages for somebody coming to work at Mitchell Grocery now is
stability.
Over our 60 year history we’ve never laid off workforce, we try to work with each employee
to maximize their potential.
There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity to grow with us as the company grows.
We feel like the future of the independent grocery businesses is very bright.
We always have the opportunity to outdo chain stores and big box stores especially on service.
>> DM: When I’m traveling around the country or I meet somebody I don’t know, I’m proud
to say that the people I work with, the team members in our company are well rounded, solid,
hard working dedicated individuals.
And I’m proud to be part of them.
>> Jay M: I’m very proud of the employees who work in our stores and in our company,
because they feed the southeast.
There are hundreds of details that have to be seen to every day and have to be executed
flawlessly.
Our people go above and beyond to get that done everyday.
>> Jeannie Lyle, UW: From my perspective, if I knew a young person looking for a job,
I would say, "hey, come look at Mitchell, it's a great place to work".
>> Maura Owens: I hope there’s more opportunities for me in this company, it’s a really great
job and I love it here.
>> GD: I hope I can work here for 20 more years at least.
I do.
>> KC: And as long as we keep our eye on the ball, our future looks bright.
>> Granny Del: They’re good to me, and I enjoy it, and that’s it.
>> VO: Mitchell Retail is always looking for new team members to share the company’s
growth and vision of being the trusted community supermarket to provide real value for their
customers and real opportunities for team members.