i'm so cheesy
so those of you who are close to me know that i went back to work a couple years back. got hired on at Kroger and placed in the deli. at first, i was set to hate it. but i worked with a good crew and my manager is such a lovely woman and, honestly, i would pretty much do anything for her. anyhow, she went on maternity leave and we got a temporary manager to steer the ship. and through a series of unimportant events, i moved from the deli proper to the cheese shop. which is part of the deli, but still something of a separate entity.
at first, i hated the very idea of it. but, as i got acclimated and learned my way around, i came to enjoy it. i am very good at my job and i've managed to bring sales up a wee bit here and there.
i've been talking about showing off my shop for a good while now, but never got a chance to get pics. that would have required charging the batteries on my digital camera and then hauling that in to work with me and trying to take pics when no one was looking. not the easiest thing to do with a full on digital camera. but! i've moved into the 21st century finally. i got a smart phone. and i finally managed to snap some pics of the shop.
i am really proud of my shop. i get compliments on it from customers and higher ups and vendors alike. when i had the olive bar, i got compliments on that, as well. lots of different people told me that it was the best looking olive bar around. so... yeah.
so here is my cheese shop. hopefully, the pictures are good. i'm still getting used to the phone. i apologize if the photos are crap.
here we have the blues and the bloomy section (that means the bries) i sell a lot of the Salemville blue and gorgonzola. and quite a bit of the double and triple creme bries
next up are the washer rinds and what Kroger considers the specialty cheeses. washer rinds include the French raclette (the large wheel next to the Saint Andre), the Port Salut (orange rind) and the morbier style (small wheel immediately in front in the left corner). at the back are the aged and young manchegos and the naked goat. there's a gran queso and the drunken goat. and that takes us into the crumble and grate cheeses.
the grates and crumbles (though, technically, i don't have any crumbles here) are all the Italian style cheeses. the wheel at the back with the lovely purple rind is merlot bellavitano. there is also an espresso bellavitano, a Kentucky bourbon bellavitano, and a black pepper bellavitano. the Sarvecchio parmesan and the rosemary olive oil asiago are all made by the same company as the bellavitanos. i also carry parmegiano reggiano, Parrano with and without truffle, Stella black wax parm, asiago, and romano.
from the grates, we move into the melting cheeses. provolone, Jarlsberg, Jarlsberg lite, havarti with and without dill, fontina, and some jack cheeses make up the majority of what's in this section. there's also some butterkäse, some grand cru (which is similar to a gruyere) and Emmentaler.
more of the melting cheese section. and the flavored cheeses. i have Cotswold, Irish cheddar, smoked cheddar, muenster, colby, a cheddar with porter, and even some white Stiltons with fruit in them. one comes with blueberry, one with cranberry, and one with mango ginger. (those are at the left edge of this pic. there was a better view of them in the last one)
flavored cheeses move into most of the cheddars, and then the goudas. i say most because there are more on the other side of the gouda, but that's because its all one maker's cheese. there's some horseradish cheddar back there, one called Marco Polo, cheddar with Irish whiskey, an applewood smoked cheddar, a buffalo wing cheddar, and even some plain old farmer's cheese.
the rest of the goudas, and the last bit of the cheddar. the four big wheels on the end are all from Henning's in Wisconsin. there's plain yellow cheddar, garlic and dill, chipotle, mango fire (it has habanero in it), and even some cheddar with Hatch chili peppers in it. my goudas include a plain one, a Mediterranean flavored one, a 1000 day aged gouda, and a few other varities.
i have been in a few other stores and no one has their cheese shop as full as i have mine. and i wonder how they get away with it. also, i am not pleased with how it looks at present because i was off yesterday and i had to work in the deli today and my manager had someone cut cheese who knows pretty much fuck all about cutting cheese. so i have work to do to make it look the way its supposed to when i get back on Thursday. hopefully she doesn't have anyone else cut cheese while i'm off. (i am actually really annoyed because i have a very set way that i present my cheese.)
also, in case anyone is interested, this is my back room storage. i am not supposed to have this much backstock. but i had distro on cheeses i don't normally carry and a transfer from another store that i was unaware of until i got to work the day after it happened. so...
at first, i hated the very idea of it. but, as i got acclimated and learned my way around, i came to enjoy it. i am very good at my job and i've managed to bring sales up a wee bit here and there.
i've been talking about showing off my shop for a good while now, but never got a chance to get pics. that would have required charging the batteries on my digital camera and then hauling that in to work with me and trying to take pics when no one was looking. not the easiest thing to do with a full on digital camera. but! i've moved into the 21st century finally. i got a smart phone. and i finally managed to snap some pics of the shop.
i am really proud of my shop. i get compliments on it from customers and higher ups and vendors alike. when i had the olive bar, i got compliments on that, as well. lots of different people told me that it was the best looking olive bar around. so... yeah.
so here is my cheese shop. hopefully, the pictures are good. i'm still getting used to the phone. i apologize if the photos are crap.
here we have the blues and the bloomy section (that means the bries) i sell a lot of the Salemville blue and gorgonzola. and quite a bit of the double and triple creme bries
next up are the washer rinds and what Kroger considers the specialty cheeses. washer rinds include the French raclette (the large wheel next to the Saint Andre), the Port Salut (orange rind) and the morbier style (small wheel immediately in front in the left corner). at the back are the aged and young manchegos and the naked goat. there's a gran queso and the drunken goat. and that takes us into the crumble and grate cheeses.
the grates and crumbles (though, technically, i don't have any crumbles here) are all the Italian style cheeses. the wheel at the back with the lovely purple rind is merlot bellavitano. there is also an espresso bellavitano, a Kentucky bourbon bellavitano, and a black pepper bellavitano. the Sarvecchio parmesan and the rosemary olive oil asiago are all made by the same company as the bellavitanos. i also carry parmegiano reggiano, Parrano with and without truffle, Stella black wax parm, asiago, and romano.
from the grates, we move into the melting cheeses. provolone, Jarlsberg, Jarlsberg lite, havarti with and without dill, fontina, and some jack cheeses make up the majority of what's in this section. there's also some butterkäse, some grand cru (which is similar to a gruyere) and Emmentaler.
more of the melting cheese section. and the flavored cheeses. i have Cotswold, Irish cheddar, smoked cheddar, muenster, colby, a cheddar with porter, and even some white Stiltons with fruit in them. one comes with blueberry, one with cranberry, and one with mango ginger. (those are at the left edge of this pic. there was a better view of them in the last one)
flavored cheeses move into most of the cheddars, and then the goudas. i say most because there are more on the other side of the gouda, but that's because its all one maker's cheese. there's some horseradish cheddar back there, one called Marco Polo, cheddar with Irish whiskey, an applewood smoked cheddar, a buffalo wing cheddar, and even some plain old farmer's cheese.
the rest of the goudas, and the last bit of the cheddar. the four big wheels on the end are all from Henning's in Wisconsin. there's plain yellow cheddar, garlic and dill, chipotle, mango fire (it has habanero in it), and even some cheddar with Hatch chili peppers in it. my goudas include a plain one, a Mediterranean flavored one, a 1000 day aged gouda, and a few other varities.
i have been in a few other stores and no one has their cheese shop as full as i have mine. and i wonder how they get away with it. also, i am not pleased with how it looks at present because i was off yesterday and i had to work in the deli today and my manager had someone cut cheese who knows pretty much fuck all about cutting cheese. so i have work to do to make it look the way its supposed to when i get back on Thursday. hopefully she doesn't have anyone else cut cheese while i'm off. (i am actually really annoyed because i have a very set way that i present my cheese.)
also, in case anyone is interested, this is my back room storage. i am not supposed to have this much backstock. but i had distro on cheeses i don't normally carry and a transfer from another store that i was unaware of until i got to work the day after it happened. so...