Taking stock of the store

By Dustin Lemmon, Staff writer

Tuesday nights are the longest for Scott Hershman. He and his crew of four start stocking shelves at the Rock Island Country Market at 10 p.m. and don't get done until around 9 or 10 a.m. the next day.

Mr. Hershman has been stocking shelves at the Rock Island Country Market, formerly an Eagles store, for 20 years. He started out as a bagger and worked his way up through various departments.

In 1986, he joined the night crew, preferring the night shift to the hectic pace of daytime hours in the store.

``I was comfortable with it,'' he said of working nights. ``It's pretty easy going. You don't have the problems everyone else does'' on days.

Mr. Hershman said he wasn't necessarily born to work the graveyard shift and wasn't always a night person.

``I think I made myself into one,'' he said. ``You've got to change a lot. My mom thinks all I do is sleep and I say `No, I'm up all night.'|''

Mr. Hershman said about 75 percent of the employees stayed at the 24th Street store after Eagles sold it to local ownership.

After the ownership change Mr. Hershman and the other department heads were put in charge of making ads, something they never had to do when it was owned by the Eagle's chain.

Mr. Hershman and his peers choose the design for the ads, including the color scheme and pictures that are used.

``It's kind of fun,'' he said. ``I've never done that before.''

The busiest nights for Mr. Hershman and his crew are Tuesdays and Fridays when the store receives new shipments and they have to stock the shelves. On Sundays and Wednesdays they spend the night scanning goods to see what items they're short on and what is dated.

``We order everything,'' he said. ``We try to order new things to keep up with the competition.''

After 20 years of stocking shelves at the store, Mr. Hershman can predict what items will sell fastest.

In the cold months ``all of the soups and chillies just fly out of here,'' he said. ``Of course in the summer we sell more ice cream.''

The new craze is low-carb foods which are filling the shelves. Mr. Hershman said he's been told they're hot sellers for people who are trying the latest diet fads.

``We're getting all of that in here now,'' he said. ``I've never dieted myself.''

Staff writer Dustin Lemmon can be reached at 786-6441, Ext. 213, or by e-mail at dlemmon@qconline.com.