What does reopening Poverello Thrift Store look like?
These are trying times we’re living through. With half of all working adults out of work, and many without enough to eat, we’ve all learned how vulnerable we are when we have so many living paycheck to paycheck. While it looks like some retail and businesses will open on Monday the 19th of May, We will not. Here’s what we’re doing to make sure when we do open, we will have as safe an environment as we can make Poverello for everyone.
ROAD TO REOPENING FOR POVERELLO
PHASE ONE – COMPLETED
This means splitting the staff from one zone (all staff were using the whole Wilton Manors facility) into Four Distinct Zones: Eat Well Center, Wilton Manors Thrift Store, Pompano Beach Thrift Store and Administration. These zones will reduce the total number of people ever in one section of our facilities. Our lunch room remains closed and staff maintain their location restricted to their assigned zone.
Only employees, no volunteers, no work program participants nor any clients allowed into the space. Only deliveries, workers/repair, mail and pre-approved press (all observing social distancing)
PHASE TWO – CURRENT
Expand the workforce of people preparing, delivering and accounting for Healthy Grocery provision to our Eat Well Center Clients to include Pompano Beach. Adding people to the following Zones: Thrift Store Wilton Manors, Eat Well Center Wilton Manors
PHASE THREE –
Employees are added to each zone according to need with appropriate social distancing, training including where to park, where their “go” zones are, including assigned bathrooms and sign in/out stations.
Client facing service improvements include addition of shade and climate control to outdoor walk up stations, and staffing stations for summer months.
Encourage more home delivery,
Implement QA protocols for accuracy of orders.
Implement employee screening measures (including temperature and self-reports), testing
Conform to daily check in / Mid-Day / check out procedures that include handwashing after arrival, after each break, after each meal or drink.
Prepare workspaces by utilizing signage, floor markings, directional traffic flows, enforcement actions.
- Personal health certification for all staff.
- Required face masks for all staff and clients to be served.
- Health safety education for staff and clients to be served.
- Distribution of cleaning supplies and masks for staff.
Specifically, staff and clients will confirm that:
- They will always wear a face mask or covering (except when isolated behind a closed door that others do not enter).
- They will not come to work or to pick up groceries if they have COVID-19, think they have it, or have related symptoms (All clients are eligible for our touch-free delivery of groceries).
- They will keep work areas clean and sanitize their hands frequently.
- Staff will always remain in their assigned zone while on the premises.
- No clients or visitors are allowed in the building except those approved by the CEO.
PHASE FOUR
Reopening the Thrift Stores involves preparing all the spaces, volunteers and staff to conform to social distancing, implementing cleaning schedules, sanitizing schedules and adding staff to the Thrift Store Zones.
PHASE FIVE
Reopening the Live Well Center involves preparing all the spaces to conform to social distancing, implementing cleaning schedules, sanitizing schedules and adding staff and Volunteers to the Live Well Center Zone.
Thrift Store Manager Position
SUMMARY: The provides supervision, oversight and management of thrift stores operations to generate revenues to support TPC programs and administration. The Manager manages staff and volunteers, oversees sales, donations of merchandise, promotion of the store in the community, and internal fiscal controls. The Manager is a member of the Senior Management Team. As Store manager, he/she responsible for ensuring the staff give great customer service as well as monitoring the financial performance of the store.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Core duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
- Manage the two locations: Pompano Beach & Wilton Manors.
- Alternate rotating shifts between the two locations (Pompano Beach & Wilton Manors).
- Develop and implement written procedures for store operations, including opening, and closing the store; procedures for accepting, sorting, pricing donations; security procedures for staff and volunteers.
- Handling of cash, sales, gift cards, vouchers, deliveries/pick up coordination, and other relevant procedures as needed.
- Oversees the processing of donated items, manages the rotation of items and the disposal of donated items in a timely fashion.
- Processes include sorting, tagging, displaying and disposing of donated items, providing leadership to staff and volunteers; sets standards for merchandise and communicates same.
- Manages supply inventory, completes purchase orders as necessary and monitors all invoices.
- Experience with “point of sale,” computerized sales and inventory systems.
- Contributes to the development of annual revenue projections and meets financial goals.
- Understands budget management, controls petty cash expenditures.
- Maintain and increase knowledge of resale, thrift, consignment and retail trends through daily reading (e-mail list serves, publications) and participation in webinars, staff meetings, and periodic offsite training.
- Meets periodically with other thrift shop managers for networking.
- Participate in training required by accreditation standards, plus performance and quality improvement efforts.
- Attend manager/staff meetings and keep store personnel informed of new policies and directives.
- Ensures all store maintenance is accomplished.
- Ensures staff assignment, breaks, PTO (vacation, sick, personal leaves, etc.) are scheduled.
- Training, supervising, discipline and appraising staff & volunteers (assistant manager, third key, cashiers, donation door attendant, drivers, driver assistant, sorters, front desk/dispatcher, among others).
- Managing budgets and maintaining statistical and financial records.
- Create and maintain overall store presentation.
- Motivates and inspires the team to achieve store productivity goals.
- Provide input to senior management decisions.
- Knowledgeable of and ensures compliance with all company policies and procedures, as well as legal requirements.
- Verifies bank deposits and cash drawers at close of business and responsible for communicating over/shorts to accounting.
- Be available to customers and provide prompt and accurate checkout, ensures opening of second register as needed to ensure short wait times to checkout.
- Direct oversight of opening and closing procedures by delegated staff.
- Knowledge of company and store policies and procedures.
- Evaluate procedures and make recommendations for increased efficiency, savings and cost reductions.
- Provide leadership to staff and promote effective communication on all levels.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: This job has supervisory responsibilities on overseeing the thrift store employees/volunteers, included but not limited to: Consignment/Online Sales Coordinator Thrift Store Assistant, Third Key, Cashier, Greeter, donation door attendant, Back-Room, Sorter/Pricer, front desk/dispatcher, drivers, drivers’ assistant, among others.
EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE: Associate degree required. Bachelor’ degree in business, financial or marketing is highly preferable. Minimum three years’ experience in retail management experience. Knowledge of city ordinances and associated inspection and compliance. Workforce management.
COMPUTER SKILLS: To perform this job successfully, an individual should be proficient with MS Office: Excel and Word, Outlook, database programs, point of sale software, internet. Online HR and payroll access, Point of Sale and inventory software.
TYPE: Full-time (temporarily available, COVID-19)
INTERESTED? please email your resume and cover letter to: volunteer@poverello.org
August/2018 Hunger Fighter
We want to congratulate the drivers team: Lee, Cori, Michael, Nelson, Bobby and their supervisor: Mario Rosario, for the excellent work done in favor of our community. Well-deserved recognition as August / 2018 Hunger-Fighters.
POVERELLO VOLUNTEER “UNCLE AL” ISN’T SLOWING DOWN
In the clothing sorting area at the Poverello Thrift Store, “Uncle Al” has become a regular fixture, volunteering his time four mornings a week for well over a year now. Most people at Poverello probably don’t even know that his last name is Gibson, or that his friends also call him “Alley Paley.” But the connotation that this man is either your “uncle” or your “pal” says a lot about his character.
Born in Brooklyn, raised in the Bronx, and eventually settling in Seaford, Long Island, Al Gibson at 89 years of age is not even thinking about slowing down. “No matter what ails you, you’ve got to keep moving,” he said while taking a break from his volunteer duties. And when he’s not volunteering at Poverello, Uncle Al is the day manager at le Boy, a gay club in Fort Lauderdale.
In 1950, Uncle Al was drafted into the Army, serving for two years as a mess sergeant at Army bases in New Jersey, Georgia, Texas and California. But it was his service at Camp Desert Rock in Nevada that was the most memorable. For believe it or not, Al and his company were ordered outside to witness firsthand (and at relatively close range) an above ground test of an atomic bomb. “It goes without saying,” he remarked, “that it was an experience I will never forget.”
After he got out of the Army, Al went to work for his father and mother at their office furniture and interior design business, S. Gibson and Son. During this time, he married and had two sons and a daughter (and now six grandchildren as well). But it wasn’t long before he went his own way, purchasing a competitors office furniture and interior design business in the garment district of Manhattan. His sons took over running the business when he retired to Florida in 1980.
When Uncle Al arrived, he purchased a condo in Fort Lauderdale, where he still lives today. At the time, his mother was living in Broward County, with other relatives in the area as well. He eventually took a job as controller for American Excess, a company that bought and sold excess inventory. After leaving that position, and taking a much needed break, he was at it again, this time taking a job as a bartender at the Fort Lauderdale gay club Johnny’s. Before long his involvement at Johnny’s grew to working in the office and as a club manager. It was at Johnny’s that Uncle Al first became acquainted with Poverello. As part of his duties as a manager at the club, he would occasionally conduct auctions, raffles and car washes to benefit Poverello, raising a lot of cash for the charity. A little over a year ago, after operating for more than 30 years at its two locations, Johnny’s closed its doors, opening the next day as le Boy at its new location on 11th Street at the original Bill’s Filling Station location.
“Poverello is the greatest charity around,” Uncle Al remarked. “They do a world of good here, and they have a wonderful group of volunteers. I love working here and would do anything they asked me to do,” he added. “It’s part of what keeps me going.”
Article written by James Stoup, Poverello Volunteer
03/16/2018.