With five locations spread across central and southern California, our Fruit Growers supply centers are fully stocked with all the irrigation parts, fertilizers, power tools, and ag supplies to keep our customers’ operations running.
Who keeps those supply centers running, though? That would be store supervisors like Neil Wotring and Scott Parvel, two hard-working members of the FGS team who are highlighted in this month’s installment of “Who We Are.”
What products are popular in your stores right now?
Neil Wotring (Woodlake location): We have wet winters where a lot of weeds grow, so we’re selling a lot herbicides at the moment. Fertilizers are popular right now, too, as well as power products like weed whackers, pull saws, and blowers. People are getting ready for the year, so they’re stocking up on what they need. Once it warms up a bit, we’ll transition into pesticides as the bugs start to come out.
Scott Parvel (Santa Paula location): This time of the year, most of what we sell is fertilizers and irrigation. It’s all across the board, though — everything from irrigation to homeowner tools to power equipment.
There are several Fruit Growers stores in California. What makes your store different from the others?
Scott Parvel (Santa Paula location): We supply more fertilizer than any of the other stores, and we cover a very large area. Our district extends as far south as L.A. County and as far north as Santa Maria. We cover everything within that big area, and our store is big, too.
Neil Wotring (Woodlake location): Woodlake is a smaller town so you get a lot more locals and repeat customers than you would in a large city, and you can spend a lot more time with them. I had regulars at the Porterville store too, and I still miss them! One of them called me today, but in Woodlake, it’s a smaller community, and that allows you to spend some good one-on-one time with the people who come in. It’s really nice.
Describe a typical day in your store. As a store supervisor, what are your responsibilities?
Scott Parvel (Santa Paula location): Every day is different! It’s never the same, but that keeps things exciting and fun. It’s a great job.
Neil Wotring (Woodlake location): Fruit Growers supervisors aren’t like standard supervisors. We do everything: the logistics in the background, the organization, inventory, making sure the pricing is correct, and getting a lot of face-time with our customers at the counters. We’ll jump on forklifts. We’ll pull items for customers. We’re right there, shoulder-to-shoulder, with our counter people as well as our warehouse people.
The supply stores are known for their high level of customer service. How do your customers respond to that?
Neil Wotring (Woodlake location): I’m proud of the way we help people. It encourages them to come back and become our “frequent fliers.” At the Woodlake store, we have people who come in just to grab a free cup of coffee, even on days when they don’t need something. It’s a personal touch that we’re proud to offer. It makes the store smell nice, too, because we get the good stuff. That Kona blend!
Stay tuned to hear from the rest of our store supervisors!
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