Lunch Hour at the Co-op
added 02/23/09
Member to Members
by Helen Brody
“Did you say two turkey and four Muenster?” asks the deli clerk.
“No,” replies the young customer, “two Muenster and four turkey.”
“No problem,” says the clerk, quickly slipping two slices of Muenster and four of sliced turkey into a plastic bag.
Hanover Co-op
By 10:15 on any school day morning, the Co-op deli in Hanover is poised to greet as many as 100 Hanover High School students, all animated and ravenous, who begin arriving in groups to stoke up for the rigors of the coming afternoon.
“Wow! I beat the kids,” chuckles one customer just minutes before the mid-day surge.
“Don’t blink,” says Ray Mitchell, Hanover Deli Supervisor. “They’ll be here.”
The requests are inevitably modest, a few slices of a meat or cheese before the student moves over to pick-up a warm freshly baked Milano roll and a packaged condiment. Then he or she takes leave with sandwich fixings in hand to assemble back at school.
For those choosing something from the prepared foods case, the staff—who have learned the names and culinary preferences of many of the young customers—will cheerfully microwave Buffalo wings, honey-barbecued chicken, mozzarella sticks, and other finger foods before packaging them to keep warm for the migration across the street. As a dividend, the students often pick up a free snack at the coffee bar as they pass by on their way to the cashiers.
Says Ray, “Just like I did in high school, they like to get out of the building for a few moments each day and appreciate the quality and variety of the reasonably priced choices we have.”
Dani Monteith, Food Services Manager at the Hanover Store, gives high praise to the students for their courteous behavior. As in any group of young people, however, the occasional offender deviates from the norm with a burst of loud talk or high-spirited behavior. No problem; Ray, who spends much of his time on the retail floor, is often acquainted with the young miscreant’s parents and will be quick to remind the culprit of that fact. Such a gentle reminder inevitably serves to restore the proper decorum.
One might wonder how regular shoppers greet the mid-day hurly-burly. Most seem to enjoy the enthusiastic hum of the high schoolers throughout the store. There is always an athletic epic to be rehashed, the adventures of that day’s chemistry class, or a daunting homework assignment. Recently it was the definition of a sentence “object” that was the crux of a recent grammar test. Of course, the dizzying world of teen-age social life is inevitably a hot topic.
Lebanon Co-op
Rather than students, those on a career track in neighboring offices provide the lunch rush at the Lebanon store—on a good day they walk or, to stay fit, jog to pick up their victuals. And, as the filled parking area suggests, many customers drive to the store.
With a greater amount of prepared food space than Hanover, Lebanon offers a broader variety of salads, soups, and hot entrees as befitting customers looking for something more substantial than those things that entice a high school student.
At the Lebanon store, the deli clerks move over to assist in the prepared foods section to help serve entrees and salads from the case or make sandwiches.
“As with the students, however, time is of the essence,” says Caren Giaccone, Prepared Food Supervisor, from behind the counter. “They only have thirty minutes for lunch, so most of what we sell is take-out, and we send them on their way as quickly as possible.”
The prep kitchen behind the prepared foods case works closely with the sales force to keep it apprised of supplies in stock. When the last plate of hot sandwiches is pulled from the oven, there is the fateful cry “That’s it for sandwiches,” so customers and staff can be forewarned.
Joanne Bouchard, a 12-year Co-op veteran, is the Food Services Manager in Lebanon. Coincidentally, her family once farmed much of the land on which the Co-op and hospital sit. During the lunch hour rush, as a person who relishes meeting the customers, she is eager to pitch in wherever she is needed.
Co-op Community Market
The Co-op Community Market on Lyme Road has a lunch crowd from neighboring stores and offices, and they also gird for a three o’clock surge when the Hanover elementary and middle schools are dismissed. Hot dogs rotate on a machine with warm rolls in a case below, and there are hamburgers, slices of pizza, and pre-made sandwiches for self-service. “We keep a good assortment of things, because they come in with their mothers and are just very hungry,” chuckles store manager Helen Daisey.
As so often happens at the Co-op stores, these hectic times rarely pose undue problems. Experience, efficiency, and infinite good humor tend to carry the day.
Helen Brody can be reached through her website at www.newhampshirefarms.net or through messages left at the Service Desk in either Co-op store.
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