PRICE CLUB NOW COSTCO article by: James Thomas Fridas
It came as a shock in 1994 when Price Club and Costco announced they would merge into one company! Well it happened and I for one was not happy because my pay went down, now I hear the employee's are earning upwards of 20 plus dollars an hour!
I started at the Redwood City Price Club in 1988 as an independent contractor, I was demonstrating the Salad Shooter it was an incredible kitchen tool to say the least! I went on to demonstrate the Food Saver until about May of 1989 when the Price Club started their own Demo Division called PCD short for Price Club Demo.
So I went to work for Price Club. As we began we only worked three days a week, Friday Saturday and Sunday, it was OK but I wanted at least five days, Helen Robinson was our Supervisor and she said they were not getting any week day demos.
On one particular Friday Joe from Continental Foods who had me doing the companies product demo came in around noon to see how we were doing, I told him we were doing great and may sell out before 3pm he said that he had 12 cases in the freezer how could we?
I said that first I am the best salesman on the floor so it stands to reason if I am that good and the product is good we are a team that can't be beat! So hen he returned I asked him why they didn't demo on Monday, Joe looked in shock to me and said no one demo's on Monday!
I said Joe, do people stop eating on Monday? He looked surprised and asked me if I did a demo how do I think I would do I said Joe I would sell out!
Well next Friday when I came to work Helen my supervisor came to me and said that we had a special request Demo for Monday from Continental foods and they requested me, I said great couldn't wait!
Well Monday came and as I was almost sold out I went to lunch and returned around 1 pm, about fifteen minutes later at 1:15 Joe from Continental Foods came in with a real worried look on his face and asked me how I was doing? I said Joe, I am the best sales man on the floor, you didn't send me enough product!
So he goes to the freezer and comes back and says I didn't send you enough product, so I will schedule another demo and send in more product OK Joe lets do it. About five to ten minutes after Joe leaves another representative from another food company stops by my table and with a surprised look he states, Your doing a demo!
I replied No it only looks that way this is an illusion! Then he asked me how it was going I replied that I was about to sell out and it was going great, he said I will have to look into doing demo's during the week, after that we started getting demo's during the week, so all those people who are doing demo's during the week owe it all to my persistence to get more work during the week.
A few weeks later Costco followed suit and thy were doing week day demo's as well. My mother was the supervisor for the demo's at the South San Francisco Costco for a private Demo company.
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Copyright © 2013 [JAMES THOMAS FRIDAS]. All Rights Reserved.
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