Store Manager Award Winners Show Their Appreciation

By: Jordan Pietrak, Manager, Education, Food Marketing Institute 

At FMI Connect 2015 we introduced a new feature to the annual Store Manager Awards. We posted the photos and stories of our ten finalists on the FMI Facebook page and invited fans and followers to “like” their favorite store manager. After one week the store manager with the most likes would receive the FMI Store Manager People’s Pick Award along with $500 to celebrate with their store employees who make the stores so great. The response was astounding—with almost 5,000 likes on all related posts in one week. After a virtual tie, we were pleased to announce that Steve Gannon of Winn-Dixie and Mark Hubbard of Food City were the recipients of the first ever FMI Store Manager People’s Pick Award!

We’ll be launching the 2016 Store Manager Awards on November 16, 2015. But before we do that, we wanted to check in with our FMI Store Manager People’s Pick Award winners to see how they celebrated with their employees. Here’s what they shared:

Steve Gannon of Winn-Dixie

“I used my FMI Store Manager People’s Pick Award to put on a luncheon at the store to make it easily accessible to all associates, their families and our superiors.  The turnout was better than I anticipated with about 50 associates and their family members as well as our District Director.  We had BBQ, a two liter bottle drink race, and a “Prize Wheel” for associates to spin for the chance to win a special prize. All in all it was a blast and I knew my associates appreciated getting recognized for all the hard work that they do, just as I appreciated being recognized by the Food Marketing Institute. Recognition goes a long way with people, and I am glad I was given the opportunity to share this feat with my team.”

 

Mark Hubbard of Food City

“I hosted an employee appreciation luncheon from the FMI Store Manager People’s Pick Award. I hosted it at the store and had gourmet hamburgers from our specialty meat department, hot dogs with homemade chili, baked beans, homemade potato salad, slaw, potato chips and a homemade banana pudding from our deli bakery. It was a great luncheon and there were two great parts—it was a thank you not only supporting me in the People’s Pick Award but, also a thank you for all that the employees do every day for our store and for Food City.”

 

Know a fabulous store manager? Visit www.fmi.org/StoreManager starting November 16 to nominate them for the 2016 FMI Store Manager Awards.