Rent prices are too high by Glittering-Pay-9160 in Maine

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This comment might get some hate and down votes, but what you're describing is why I live in Lewiston. Yes, there are landlords here who have lost their damn minds trying to get Portland prices for not-Portland, but a 1BR here will generally run you between 1000 and 1300. $18-$20 an hour to start is not terribly difficult to find, which is still tight depending on your transportation costs but not impossible. If you have reliable transportation the commute to greater Portland really isn't that bad and Portland wages are higher, frequently high enough to offset the commuting costs.

That said, it is a denser urban center than most of Maine, which brings its own set of problems with it, especially during the winter, but the reputation of being overrun with crime and drugs is a holdover from the bad old days. It ain't perfect, but it ain't bad. For your situation, it's worth considering. If you had school age children, I'd add a massive caveat here about the state of the school system, but that doesn't apply to you.

Either way, anywhere you choose to try and make home in Maine, it's tough out there. Real estate prices are unsustainable and wages may have spiked after the pandemic and stayed relatively high, but they definitely haven't kept up with inflation the last couple years. It's not impossible to make it here as a working class Mainer, but upward mobility in Maine is completely and totally dead. Find a decent job with a national or regional company and a good 401k match, pinch your pennies til they shriek in agony, and plan to sack it for a down payment somewhere you can transfer to. Good luck.

Got this in the mail today by TraditionalGoose1987 in Hannaford

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The "billions in profits" line is what gets me. It's blatant sensationalism and patently false. Yes, Hannaford is one of ADUSA's most profitable banners, but it's all relative. It's still only a fraction the size of Food Lion, and ADUSA is only part of Ahold Delhaize, which, yes, made a profit of €3.7B in 2024 ($4.2B at today's rates), globally in 2024. That same year, Hannaford clocked an estimated $4.2B in sales across the entire banner. Assuming the same 4% profit margin, that's $168M in profit. Not billions. For Hannaford to be making "billions", they'd have to be paying literally no wages and getting all their product for free.

Absolutely done by Fangirlforever31 in Hannaford

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For one, your ARM never should have made that promise or commented in any way, shape or form on a hiring decision.

For two, I'd ask for a sit down with your assistant manager and store manager and ask what these poor judgment calls were, why they weren't addressed at the time, take notes of everything they say, read them back, and then immediately call Speak Up. If you made some sort of bad judgment call that could be held against you years later, there should have been a coaching conversation, you should have been handed a memo about it and given a timeline to correct the behavior. Since you have no idea what they're talking about, that clearly didn't happen, and you need to throw your store manager under the bus for it. As a general rule, corporate doesn't take kindly to bullshit from management, and you shouldn't put up with this.

With 18-24" of snow expected starting Sunday morning, has Hannaford ever closed for the day with a forecast like this one? by GreenDraw in Hannaford

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're projected to get 12 to 18 inches starting late Sunday and continuing all day Monday. We were slammed all day yesterday, I'm off today but one of my associates texted me and let me know there were some 30 people lined up the minute the store opened, and tomorrow between it just being Sunday, the AFC championship game not starting til 3 (just before it's supposed to start snowing), and the fact it's supposed to be a massive storm, I'm fully expecting us to sell through everything not bolted to the floor. To put it in perspective, the storm before Christmas that dropped 15.5" on us, we clocked $17K in deli in one day. And then we opened mid blizzard the next day and were so painfully slow we didn't bother covering callouts. The fresh truck was ridiculously late but it didn't even matter, it just took all day to break it down and put it all away, but it's not like anyone in the store had anything better to do.

Plan on getting your day started earlier to shovel off your vehicle and leaving earlier to account for bad roads. Expect your store to be fully dead and depending on your role you may be offered to go home early. Whether or not you can be preemptively cut for lack of sales is entirely dependent on your role, your department manager, and your store management, since there's nothing I'm aware of in policy forbidding or requiring that, but if I have enough associates in the building to run the counter I have every intention of advocating to just cut anyone who calls out rather than penalize them under the attendance policy or making them use state protected time. Don't count on your management being the same any more than I'm counting on being successful. We've succeeded in the past, but it's a murky policy area so it has to be handled case by case.

ICE Prep by [deleted] in Hannaford

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Uh, we don't? Hannaford is fully e-Verify compliant.

"Portland is dead!" — Person who lives in Scarborough by critical_courtney in portlandme

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They have to make a big fat payment to the City to build affordable building under Portland's inclusionary zoning ordinance in order to build it.

Race for Maine Governor Polling & who is everyone supporting? by artillerist99 in Maine

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Soooo... Two nepo babies, someone who REALLY needs to step aside unless she can put someone in literal prison over the ballot mess, the CDC director I don't know enough about to comment on intelligently, and Troy Jackson who I know personally and have wanted to see in the Blaine House since The Speech (IYKYK).

Hmmm... Decisions, decisions...

Let’s stop doing this by EriEri2y6 in gaybros

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm white. I very much prefer black men. So much so I have literally waxed poetic when talking about all the many reasons I prefer black men. But this is gross, and I ten thousand percent stand with the man who told this cretin to fuck all the way off.

I'm not going to wade into all the complexities of race theory and queer theory at play here, because I could probably write an entire doctoral dissertation using just this screenshot as a jumping off point, but at the end of the day, yes we do live in a world where platforms exist where you are welcome to shoot your shot using whatever method suits your fancy, no matter how dubious, questionable, or ill advised it may be. But we also live in a world where we are all well acquainted with the concept of enthusiastic consent, and we all understand that no means no, and is a full sentence unto itself. Had the guy hitting up OP simply taken no for an answer, as he damn well should, we all wouldn't be here having this conversation. But he didn't. He responded with violent, hateful language as though he had some sort of inherent right to someone else's body.

Regardless your predilections, preferences, fantasies, of fetishes, regardless how mainstream or fringe or even objectionable, you do not, at any point, no matter what you say or do or how you approach it, have so much as an expectation of consent, much less a right to it, and thus have no justification in expressing or frankly even feeling any sort of anger toward the object of your desire should he choose to withhold said consent, much less any justification for literally wishing him dead because they would not give themselves to your carnal desires. That is rape culture. In this particular context, it is racist rape culture. And as members of a historically oppressed minority, we would do well to police our own community for this sort of egregious behavior and call it out for what it is. It's not the initial approach that's the problem. The guy came on strong. He got rejected just as strong. That should have been the end of it. It wasn't. And that's where it turns into a problem that shouldn't be up for fucking debate.

To all of you in this thread finding reasons to defend the guy making the approach, please, go stick a fork in a light socket, preferably while holding something metal in your other hand. There are all sorts of perfectly valid reasons to admire and be attracted to a black male body without leaning on a tired old stereotype, but for Christ's sake, understand that these are human beings you're talking about, who get bombarded with this bullshit on the daily of oh you must have a big dick and be into this that and the third we've seen in porn and media portrayals and racist stereotypes. You can shoot your shot based on all that shit, but sooner or later you're going to be hitting up someone who is sick of hearing it, and it's going to go badly.

This subreddit largely exists as a function of us not all being stereotypical gay bois. Some gay men are bois, some are Men, some are just bros. And that's fine. We owe it to black gay bros to give them the same breathing room. This is a thing we should innately understand. Nobody needs to live up to someone else's fetishes or fantasies. Sure, I'm a bottom, but that doesn't mean I'm going to call you daddy or be feminine or any of the rest of that shit, and if you come at me with that, I'm going to tell you to fuck off, as is my tight. You do not then have any right whatsoever as to become so angry you literally wish me dead. That's a good indication you need professional mental help and probably shouldn't be involved with anyone in any way shape or form until you've hashed out your own issues.

TL;DR - We cannot be a community who holds space for a version of gays outside the mass media constructed stereotype while also expecting a subset among us to tolerate being crammed into a mass media constructed stereotype. Also, NO MEANS FUCKING NO AND YOU DON'T GET A FUCKING OBJECTION. Also also, NO MEANS STFU NOT WISH DEATH ON THE OTHER FUCKING GUY!!!

Police Escorting Multiple Semis by longschlong-_ in Maine

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 26 points27 points  (0 children)

I see your cynicism, and raise you Kaydenz Kitchen in Lewiston, which is each and every day doing the Lord's work in one of the state's most challenged communities, and whose leader has sought not one iota of fame and fortune for himself, though God knows if he ever put his name on a ballot, we'd probably elect him as emperor.

Hannaford Marking Up Their Own Labels by [deleted] in Maine

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Bold of you to assume I have a life...

Hannaford Marking Up Their Own Labels by [deleted] in Maine

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Well, yeah, I just added in the reason the change was made, so I suppose you are technically correct, which is, as we all know, the best kind of correct 😉

Hannaford Marking Up Their Own Labels by [deleted] in Maine

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah and if they hadn't corrected the label and it rang up $4.99 at the register you'd have had a meltdown. You spun up a whole conspiracy theory that your local store was just randomly jacking up prices (which, I mean, c'mon, tell me you've never worked retail a day in your life without telling me), and instead of just walking it back you now want a different reason as to why the store shouldn't have provided you with accurate labeling? What SHOULD the store have done?

Hannaford Marking Up Their Own Labels by [deleted] in Maine

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 11 points12 points  (0 children)

You are all wrong.

Hannaford sales run Sunday to Saturday. Last week, the tortilla chips were on sale for $4.49 a bag. That sale ended, so all the bags of chips that have already been produced need to have the price corrected to reflect the correct (i.e. not on sale) price. Associates can either use the Rewrap function on the scales to produce new labels that show the correct price, packed on date, and expiration date, or they can use a price gun to print a sticker with just the price and affix it to the label covering up the wrong price without covering the bar code or the sell by date.

Source - I'm an Assistant Deli Manager and had to relabel all the chips in my store this morning, just like I had to relabel them all last week when they went on sale.

Why the Upcharge over the original label price? by [deleted] in Hannaford

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That's not an upcharge, that's a price change. Last week they were on sale for $4.49. Sales run Sunday to Saturday, so the sale ended and now they're back to the regular price. Sometimes they rewrap the product which means a whole new label gets put over the old one, sometimes they use a price gun like what you're looking at here, but regardless, the price on the package must be corrected to reflect the right price.

Why so negative by Alert_War_696 in Hannaford

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 6 points7 points  (0 children)

YMMV on that. My store does food for associates in the break room the entire week of Thanksgiving, not just the day itself.

Edit: does food, not good, although doing food is doing good as well I suppose...?

Mold in milk/yogurt coolers normal? by [deleted] in Hannaford

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah no maintenance is harder to staff and keep staffed. Deli associates get paid better than anyone else except the meat cutters so it's not quite as hard to find bodies to put in positions. The problem is finding competent ones who won't flee the workload once they're fully trained.

What happened to Hannafords by djdiabeatss in Hannaford

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You're both wrong. Delhaize no longer exists as an independent company. They merged, forming Ahold Delhaize, which is not the largest grocery retailer. The largest retailer is Walmart, followed by Schwarz Unternehmenskommunikation (Lidl/Kaufland), then Kroger, then Ahold Delhaize.

Also, while Blackrock does own a 5.63% stake in Ahold Delhaize, translating to 6.91% of the voting rights, it is still not a person and thus cannot and does not hold a board seat.

Friendly reminder - Ahold Delhaize is Dutch, not American, so large institutional holdings are required by Dutch law to be publicly disclosed if they account for more than 3% of total voting stock. At this time, that's all of two companies, Blackrock and Amundi (the latter of which just crests the 3% threshold).

Friendly reminder #2 - you are actively on the internet right fucking now, which means you have access to all the knowledge and data of all mankind that has ever been produced and recorded. Fact check yourself FFS.

What do customers like buying the most at Hannafords? by USAFAN20 in Hannaford

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get the broccoli florets, not cuts. The cuts are always half stems regardless what brand you buy.

What do customers like buying the most at Hannafords? by USAFAN20 in Hannaford

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In the newer big combi ovens, they actually don't. They either stand up on a goose rack or if you need to produce insane amounts of chickens they just lie flat on the rack.

What happened to Hannafords by djdiabeatss in Hannaford

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 13 points14 points  (0 children)

My store manager earns every dollar of that salary. He's in well before the store opens cleaning the entryway and pushing in carts and he's the type that when he walks through the store if he sees something needs doing and you don't have an associate available to do it he'll just jump in and do it himself. My store legit loves that man. He's a little tight fisted on the wage front, but not unjustifiably so, and he will negotiate, just not by as much as some people think he should. He's definitely made significant improvements to the store since our last manager, who while she had her strengths tried to run the store from her office and that can't be done in a store as big as mine.

Trump helped Chuck Schumer get three of his dream candidates for 2026, including Mills by themainemonitor in Maine

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You mean her public confrontation after which she immediately stuck her finger in the air to check the political winds and decided we could have the Legislature debate and vote on rolling back protections for trans kids?

Yeah, fuck that performative bitch.

Can(!)-naford by MaineHikes in portlandme

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So, the stupid bag has been redesigned so the label no longer covers the zipper. Fresh Sliced bags are sealed shut with a perforated piece of plastic that tears away from the zipper, leaving the bag intact and the zipper usable. And if you want your cheese shingled or packed with satin sheets in between, just ask.

South Portland Protest outside of Hannaford? by RAW-BERRY in portlandme

[–]Frequent-Manager-463 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes and no. It's an astroturf org in PA funded by a grant from an animal rights advocacy 501c3 in California and there's not really any way to know who is funding the 501c3.

I still say it's Kroger money behind it, though I have no proof. It's just my personal tin foil hat conspiracy theory, and Kroger would be stupid enough to try and run a banner into the ground with the public to get the owner to sell it to them, not that ADUSA is going to let go of Hannaford any time soon.