I Say Hello
added 12/17/08
I Don’t Know Why You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello
General Manager’s Report
by Terry Appleby
January 2009 was to have marked a new milestone for the Co-op—and especially for the Lebanon store—with the retirement of long-time manager Bob Hayes.
In fact Bob moved up the date when he signed on, in November, to manage the new Littleton Co-op until its opening in the spring. After that, Bob and his wife, Tootsie, will head off to a well-earned retirement.
Bob was the first person hired for the Lebanon store in June of 1997, months before the store actually opened. It took me five or six interviews to finally decide to hire him. He had the resume all right—he had managed just about every grocery store in the Upper Valley. He knew the business and all the interviews went well, pretty much. However, there came a time in each one when Bob would tell me some story about how he had “bucked the system” at one job or the other. He’d tell me about how the owner of one business gave him bonus money for his managers and told Bob the money was only for those managers. Bob then went out and spread the money around to everyone. (Not that I’m against spreading the wealth, but this guy was proving to me he was a maverick! Yikes!) It went on like that, interview after interview. He’d tell me about how his boss would tell him one thing, and he’d do another. I had a dilemma. Finally, I just trusted my intuition and hired him and have been glad that I did ever since.
Bob came to the Co-op as a chain-store guy and left a Co-op guy. He has often told me he would never go back to working only for the money. He strived to understand our way of doing business and thrived at it. He put all his effort into making the Lebanon store the successful entity it has become, by dedicating the store to serving members. The store operates the way it does because of the great staff who work there, and the staff is there largely because Bob recruited them. Through his contacts developed over many years he was able to attract veteran grocery people to his store and turn them into veteran Co-op people. He was so successful, many area grocery managers began to throw him out of their stores, but that never stopped Bob.
As his career with the Co-op progressed, Bob became ever more attuned with our mission to benefit the members and community. For the past several years, he has been the driving force behind our Hanover Cooperative Community Fund, helping to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to benefit the Upper Valley. The Co-op owes Bob its thanks for all he has done and for a job well-done!
The new guy on the block succeeding Bob Hayes is Bruce Follett. Bruce has worked his way up through the ranks at the Co-op and is ready to take on this next challenge. He began his career as a clerk in the produce department at the Hanover store, and it wasn’t long before he took on a management role. Bruce served as the produce manager for a couple of years and then moved on to become merchandising manager for produce. He eventually took on responsibility for the bulk, floral, and cheese departments as well. Bruce has been successful at every step along the way, and we’re certain he’ll have new success with his latest (and biggest) challenge.
We are truly lucky to have had the leadership of Bob Hayes for the past 11 years, and we wish him well in his future. We are doubly lucky to have a talented replacement in Bruce Follett to build on Bob’s great work!
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