Grand Opening a Supermarket in Curitiba
HAVANA TIMES – My working life in Curitiba, Brazil boils down to some informal jobs as a painter, a few disastrous attempts to become a salesman, and a sort of career as a butcher in various local supermarkets.
But I had never been involved in the opening of a new supermarket. It’s not the same to show up and find everything already done as it is to build it with your own hands.
With about 12 days left before the opening of XV de Novembro, in the city center, all of us department heads were called in to take part in the final touches.
The finishing touches involve a lot of organization and cleaning, carried out alongside construction work (which thankfully we don’t do ourselves), as well as coordinating the subordinate staff.
When I got to the butcher shop, it didn’t even look like one. It was a dirty, chaotic space, and I didn’t even know where to begin to give it shape.
You had to go get your own supplies, equipment, and furniture from a warehouse on the fourth floor of the market. Up and down the stairs. Many times, because the staff elevator still hadn’t been adjusted.
I already knew the job wasn’t going to be easy, that it would require many more hours than those of an ordinary employee, and would bring plenty of headaches.
At the market where I had been training, I used to get Wednesdays off, but at management’s request I moved my day of rest to Sundays, which meant working ten days in a row.
Days of getting up at five in the morning and arriving home at seven in the evening, after hours between work and public transport. Days of going to bed at nine at night and, in the two free hours I had, juggling my basic personal needs with the hiring and management of the staff I was going to work with.
I never imagined the inauguration of a market would be so demanding. As an employee, you show up at your workplace and take everything for granted, but every single thing, cleanliness, machine setup, every detail, has cost other people countless hours.
No meat has arrived yet. In a few days, huge quantities will begin to come in for the first week of sales, which will be full of promotions and in which we’ll work under the spotlight.
The challenge of being in charge of a butcher shop has been put on hold by the challenge of helping prepare a supermarket, working with a team of people I didn’t know, and familiarizing myself with an environment that was also unfamiliar.
The Muffato group has a strong drive for expansion and a policy of promoting the most committed employees. At 46 years old, and just starting life in a country that still feels foreign to me, this is my best chance to do something with my life.