Familiarity with produce aisles tends to speed up my food shopping expedition - not one of my top 5 weekly activities, if I'm truthful. Lawrence Market is where I get my feel-good-service-gee-I'm-appreciated-as-a-customer fix.... and last Friday night's experience at the Loblaws at St. Clair and Bathurst was a delight at many levels.
I had a list; and I was in a big hurry. My daughter and 3 month old granddaughter were visiting, and we'd had a busy afternoon early evening. They both have an early bedtime currently, so deciding to go to a store I'm not that familiar with had its drawbacks from the get-go; I went after being told this location had an edge on freshness and variety. 'Turns out that's true - and their service was truly outstanding from any other grocery chain I've experienced in Toronto. The Sobey's in Gravenhurst can give anyone a run for their money most of the time - but not on Friday. Whoever does the recruiting and hiring at Loblaws should be commended, along with the team that is currently gifting people with their above-and-beyond attitudes. I encountered not one, but THREE young persons who went out of their way to be helpful, cutting down my frustration and the time it took me to seek out things on my list.
The first was a young man stocking the meat department; I asked if he happened to know where the minced garlic was - I'd looked in all the usually condiment-type spots. I explained I was fairly new to the store and didn't know where to find things easily. He stopped what he was doing, made eye-contact and told me he too was 'new' but he thought he knew where it was. He TOOK me to the spot on the shelf, (he could easily have pointed me in the direction of the aisle) and took the time to look, find, and point out. He then asked me if there was anything else he could help me with!? (Psst., yes, one question - I had in mind but didn't vocalize - 'are you the franchisee's son? :-) )
The next person helped me get the ready made salads into dishes, showing me the container, checking in with me to see if it was too full, and inquiring if there was anything else she could do for me. With patience, with what appeared to be authentic joy in our connection and transacting. Wow.
As I was cashing out, I noticed I had my husband's favourite brand all right, but it was sliced bread not bagels, so I told the check-out person I needed to go and change this. No eye-rolling, no pushback, she said, 'that's o.k.'.... but here's the best part - when I raced to the bakery shelf and back (conscious that the person behind me could justifiably feel fed up and possibly homicidal if I keep them waiting for long due to my not paying enough attention) I returned to find she had rung in and bagged everything - in the bags that I had brought in to the store with me, which required her to get out of where she was, come around and get the bags from my cart. WOW!!!
Of course, I returned home faster than expected and feeling fabulous about the transaction. I mattered to those people! Lawrence market connection at Loblaws! Who'd 'a thunk it?
I will return to this location again - not just sometime, but on my very next trip.
Thank you to the team at Loblaws St.Clair and Bathurst!
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